To add! Or not to add! (more yeast)

[Javier25]

I brewed an imperial stout about 2 wks. ago. I was meant to be a 5 gallon batch, but because I wanted to hit the intended gravity, it turned out to be a 4 gallon batch. It was 1.082, and I wanted the FG to be 1.12. I added 2 vials of whitelabs Burton ale yeast. I transferred that to a secondary about 2 days ago and the gravity was at 1.040. I was told to add another vial, but don't know if I should. Any suggestions? At this point, I don't care about the abv, I just want to make sure I still have some healthy yeast.

 

[Javier25]

I forgot to mention that it'll sit in the secondary for a month. I don't think the gravity will change significantly though. And when I typed 1.12 I meant 1.012. Sorry

 

[krispy3d]

If it were me, I'd say a beer that finished at 1.040 was undrinkable (but that's just me). Thus, adding another vial of yeast to see if it'll help get that gravity down is worth it, because I can't imagine another way to accomplish that. I still have to wonder why two vials didn't do it in the first place. Something about the viability of the yeast? Or the temperature you fermented at? Or something...

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

Was this AG or extract? I assume you didn't make a starter?

I would add another gallon of wort, then pitch a healthy starter at high krausen. And I would add some yeast nutrients as well. It seems you should be able to get that a good bit lower...

As a bonus, you will get your five gallons. And in the future, always make a starter for your big beers.

 

[Javier25]

This was an extract with a ton of specialty grains. I did not make a starter. Since I don't have what I need to make a starter, I figured 2 vials would do the trick (apparantly not) So, when I boil another gallon of wort, should I just use a lb. of dme? or should i use 1 or 2lb. of LME? Should it be a full 60 min. boil? Also, when I transfered into the secodary, I added toasted oak chips that had been soaking in bourbon. I had intended to let that sit for a month. I was going to add cocoa nibs and cold brewed coffee the last 2 wks. Should I consider the chips a waste, since I would have to transfer after a wk. or 2? Thanks in advance for your advice. I could just be overthinking it.

 

[diS]

Seems that you under-pitched, but it depends on yeast viability.
What was ferm. temperature?

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

What was the expected FG? Why did you transfer before your beer was at FG (assuming 1.04 wasn't what you were hoping for)?

 

[Javier25]

Ferm. temp. Was about 72/73. I was expecting a 1.012 FG. It had spent 2 wks. in the primary, so I just transfered it anyway. You're right though, I should've let it sit for a few more days. And to be honest, I don't know how to check the gravity without siphoning over to secondary. I know that if I was using a bucket I could just sanitize the hydrometer and drop it in, but don't know how to do it with a carboy. This was my first recipe, and I used beersmith to calculate everything. So, whatever went wrong was on my end. Just wish I could figure out what it was. A starter would have been a great idea. It tastes great as it is, but not what I had predicted.

 

[Brulosopher]

Of you used amber/dark extract + specialty grains, you had a rather large amount of unfermentables in your wort. Darker malt extracts have specialty malt in them, this is why most folks prefer using light dme/lme for brewing all styles- it's made of fermentable 2-row grain. My guess is your beer will get a tad lower, though it may not. Also, it sounds like you didn't make a starter, which is imperative for big beers like a RIS. I wouldn't pitch am expensive vial, but might pick up a sachet of good dry yeast. If that doesn't work, you can try Beano, but that may dry it out more than you'd prefer. Recipe?

 

[MG1602]

Start another beer around 1.040-50. Let finish fermenting and then throw your imperial on there.
Should bring it down to a drinkable spot.

 

[MG1602]

Think huge starter. If you throw another vial, it won't do anything but get you down 5 or so points.

 

[MG1602]

Just saw you used a lot of specialty grains. You might be SOL.

 

[g-star]

Take it as a learning experience. You under-pitched and transferred the beer off the yeast to soon. You can check the gravity in primary by sanitizing a turkey baster (or something similar) and withdrawing enough beer to fill your hydrometer tube....simple.

I would get a starter going of some alcohol-tolerant yeast like WLP099 and pitch it at high krausen into the secondary vessel. Drinking a 1.040 beer is like eating a half-baked cake...it is nowhere near done. You would have to worry about bottle bombs as well. Given your starting gravity, you want to get it down to 1.025, lower would be even better. This is your only hope to save this beer.

 

[MG1602]

Not sure if it can be saved. If you are going to attempt to save it, make another beer and use that yeast cake. This is better than just making a starter.

 

[MG1602]

You should try WLP007 because 99 not really needed. Your looking at 8-8.5% ABV. Just did a DIPA with 007 at 1.082 and at D5, was already down to 1.016. Still worried about your recipe, but give the yeast cake a try.

 

[Javier25]

I would really hate to think that I amm SOL. IT was quite costly. Definately some lessons learned on this one. If this turns out it'll be pretty ironic, since I had named it "the black plague" I will work on it some more and hope for the best. It really does have an awsome aroma and flavor. If you are interested, here is the recipe. Maybe that'll help you show me where I went wrong:
8oz. black roasted barley
4 oz. black patent
1lb. chocolate malt
1lb. chocolate wheat
4lbs. dark LME
1lb. light DME
1oz cluster hops (60)
1oz. fuggle hops (30)
1oz. kent golding hops (15)
1lb. lactose
2 viles burton ale yeast
(secondary)
i can't remember how much of the oak chips i toasted. they soaked in 6oz makers mark, in the carboy, for 3 days before i added the beer, 8 oz. organic cocoa nibs, and i don't know how much coffee i am going to use, but i am using verona (starbucks coffee)

what do you think?

 

[MG1602]

Hate to say it buddy, but you might be out of luck. You only had 5 or 6lbs of fermentables.

 

[Javier25]

well, i spent about 80 bucks on this beer. Giving up isn't an option. I will just have to hope for the best. Thanks for all of the advice! It was all helpful. I will keep you updated!

 

[amandabab]

small fermentable build, pounds of heavily roasted grains, dark DME, 1lb lactose.

Its going to finish REALLY high, nothing can fix it. You might blend it with another batch to bring it down.

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

I concur with the notion that you just didn't have enough fermentables. Pitching on a yeast cake might bring you down a couple points, but the underlying problem with the recipe is that there just isn't much for the yeast to chew on.

Here's what I would do...

Brew a low ABV Pale Ale, with lots of 2 row or light extract (90% or so). It should be finished fermenting in less than a week. In the mean time, don't freak out about your RIS, It Will Be Fine... so long as you don't rush things. The beer will hold up just fine to aging anyway and a month or a bit more in primary is no big deal.

Once your Pale Ale ferments, make a a gallon batch of high quality DME, with comparable IBU's to your current recipe, with an SG around 1.060 or so. Pitch it onto your yeast cake. Once it hits high krausen, siphon your RIS on top of it. The goal there is two-fold. Increase the fermentables in your beer and also give it some healthy yeast to work with.


I am brewing an Imperial Stout right now that I'm expecting to have an FG of around 1.033. There's nothing wrong with super-malty beers, but you need IBU's and Alcohol to balance it. And your recipe is looking a bit low in fermentables, so balance it out with some more fermentables and thin it out a bit.