Please help me fix my barley water!!!

[Prodigalx2]

I need some advice... When I brewed last weekend I got a stuck mash and my efficiency was pitiful. I ended up with an OG of 1.031. It has already finished fermenting and the FG is 1.006. It's SUPER watery and I was wondering if it could be saved. I'm thinking about doing a heavier concentration of 2-row and adding it to the fermenter. I'm going to try and bring it up from 9 gallons to 15. How much grain should I use in this mash? The original beer was only supposed to be 1.045 gravity. Thanks for your help!

-Pete

 

[motobrewer]

honestly, i'd leave it alone. trust me, 1.006 tastes watery now, but after carbonation it will be fine. i went thru the same panic mode when I brewed my first beer.

it's already fermented out, adding additional wort will cause more harm than good i believe.

 

[Prodigalx2]

What would the harm be? Lots of esters? I was assuming that it would be just like pitching over the same yeast twice...

 

[Prodigalx2]

I just did the calculations and this beer turned out at 2.5%... How carbonated are you suggesting I get it to? BTW I force carbonate. Thanks!

 

[suprchunk]

What did you brew? If you want to add more fermentables, depending on the style, there are tons of things you can use. Honey, molasses, etc.

 

[Prodigalx2]

It's a blonde ale. Honey may be a good idea! Are you suggesting that adding more wort would be a bad idea as well though?

EDIT: Another question, how much honey would you recommend?

 

[riverfrontbrewer]

Prod-

I think your alcohol is at 3.275%, a pretty nice lawnmower beer.

1.031-1.006 = .025 x 131 = 3.275

Not sure how to bring it up and not ruin what you have already...maybe a small wort of DME and water? A gallon? Three?

Good Luck!

 

[riverfrontbrewer]

After actually thinking for a minute, what about this....make another batch, but at a higher OG, then when it's ready, blend the two for bottling/kegging?

 

[dantodd]

buy a couple sealed bags of extract and put them in hot water to help them thin out. Then sanitize the outsides of the bags and dump in the extract, or part extract/part honey. Using a larger amount of wort will lower your bitterness too much.

 

[bullinachinashop]

Sounds like you have 9 gal of lawnmower beer. I'll bet it will be fine and as Durango stated above, you could just make a heavier beer and blend some at bottling.

I would be reluctant to start messing with it otherwise. You may just spend more time and money and end up with an infection.

I would bottle it and move on.

Figure out your stuck mash problems before you brew again.

Brew on,

Bull

 

[motobrewer]

harm meaning infection, bad taste, etc.

also i'd be extremely difficult to know the end result of adding random stuff at this point. your recipe is x% 2-row, y% caramel, etc. now you're adding a bunch of 2-row wort and i think you'll just end up spending more money creating something that isn't as good.

i'd say just keg it up, suck it down, and brew it again. as stated before, 1.006 isn't going to be water after carb.

heck, most belgians finish below 1.010, don't they?

 

[Prodigalx2]

I'm going to try kegging some of it and see how it is carbonated. If it's any good then I'll just cut my losses. If it still tastes like barley water I'll try blending it in the kegs. Thanks for all your input, I REALLY appreciate it!