To Amylase or not to Amylase....

[ToilAndTrouble]

Clear Candi Sugar - 4 lb
Belgian Pilsner - 8 lb
Briess Pilsner - 5 lb
Styrian Golding Pellets 1.4% AA - 2 oz
Saaz, Czech Pellets 3.83% AA - 6 oz
White Labs Belgian Golden - WLP570 - 1 vial
White Labs Belgian Strong Ale Yeast WLP545 - 1 vial

1 liter starter on a magnetic stirplate for 24 hours with DME at 1.040.
Wyeast Nutrient Blend - 1/2 tsp to starter

OG: 1.075

Current gravity is at 1.030 after 2 readings a week apart and 1 month in primary fermenting at 72F. Beer tastes very green with airlock activity every 5 minutes. Mashed at 160F for 60 minutes, used BIAB, sparging with 170F water, and boiled for 90 following hop schedule. Wort was aerated via wort sprayer and chilled in an ice bath in the primary fermenter. Yeast was pitched at 70F.

My primary question is this: is it too soon to call this stuck?

I think I mashed too high and probably denatured my amylase... or I didn't mash long enough. I probably should've gone for 75 minutes... I'm still newbish, so I'm not sure where my major mistake is/was.

Thoughts? Thanks in advance.


EDIT: An estute employee of my LHBS pointed out something, I measered two different temps, one outside the bag 160F, and another inside 152F. He said it's simply possible I was not stirring often enough. He also recommended a 90 minute mash. Live and learn.

 

[WoodlandBrew]

Yeah, 160°F will denature the enzymes pretty quickly. Adding enzymes may take it down to bone dry. If it's drinkable I would leave it.

 

[ToilAndTrouble]

Yeah, 160°F will denature the enzymes pretty quickly. Adding enzymes may take it down to bone dry. If it's drinkable I would leave it.

There is no level of prior innebriation that would make what I have in primary drinkable. It's unpalatably green.

I think that since it stalled, the yeast didn't have the opportunity to clean up after themselves. I bought some amylase and I'm going to give it a shot. I hope it will kickstart the yeast enough to get them to clean up after themselves. If it's dry, that's fine. It was meant to be a Duvel clone which has a hint of sweetness while mostly dry. I will be happy if I can get it closer to the FG of the recipe and drinkable.

As a side note: I started as an all-grain brewer. This was the same recipe I attempted on my first-ever brew and it bombed exactly the same way. Talk about jumping straight into the deep end! I've had a few successes under my belt since. This time around, I know what questions to ask because I actually took notes!

Bottom line: I overshot my mash temp and did not stir enough.

Thanks for the response!

 

[AerationStation]

Do you have a pre boil SG for the batch? You can figure out your efficiency just to make sure you didn't get good extraction.

Also, did the ferm temp take a dip early on in fermentation (first week or so)? Could be the yeast fell asleep to protect themselves, you could try rousing the yeast and heating it up a bit top get them to reduce the left over intermediaries (responsible for the "green" taste)

 

[ToilAndTrouble]

Do you have a pre boil SG for the batch? You can figure out your efficiency just to make sure you didn't get good extraction.

Sadly, I forgot to take an SG reading... I will in the future.

Also, did the ferm temp take a dip early on in fermentation (first week or so)? Could be the yeast fell asleep to protect themselves, you could try rousing the yeast and heating it up a bit top get them to reduce the left over intermediaries (responsible for the "green" taste)

I have been monitoring the temperature and it has never dropped below 70. When you suggest "heating it up a bit", by how much approximately?

 

[AerationStation]

Id probably kick it up to 75-80F, it's high but most of the flavor compounds have already bed produced at this point so you'll have a little leeway with hot flavors. Definitely rouse as well, try to get those suckers back up in to solution.

Adding a little nutrient like you mentioned is a good idea. Personally I've never had success with repitching but if you're going to do it make a small (500ml) starter and pitch at high Krausen.

 

[JimRausch]

Here's my guess at what happened:
4lb. of sugar in a 5G batch will give you about 32 points, about 40% of your fermentables. Then a high mash temp. gave you lots of complex sugar molecules, and not much maltose. So your yeast went to town on the simple stuff, burped satisfyingly, and said "to hell with that hard stuff, I'm going to sleep". I agree with you that most likely the only way you're going to get this down where you want it, is to add the amylase. Then rouse the yeast and hope for the best. Good luck, I hope it turns out!

 

[ToilAndTrouble]

Here's my guess at what happened:
4lb. of sugar in a 5G batch will give you about 32 points, about 40% of your fermentables. Then a high mash temp. gave you lots of complex sugar molecules, and not much maltose. So your yeast went to town on the simple stuff, burped satisfyingly, and said "to hell with that hard stuff, I'm going to sleep". I agree with you that most likely the only way you're going to get this down where you want it, is to add the amylase. Then rouse the yeast and hope for the best. Good luck, I hope it turns out!

This^^

I may have confirmation bias, and I appreciate every assessment I've received thus far (no dismissal of anyone, all have great input), but I'm thinking amylase.

I think I'm pressing the easy button. I will rouse. I could warm, but the yeasties are pleasantly snoozing but also starving slowly. If they are anything like me, I wake up in the middle of the night thinking how much it sucks if it's too hot in the room and I'm hungry. I figure, yes, I started this mess, but the strains that know how to make the "green flavor" could probably metabolize it too given the right incentives. Amylase is just finishing what I started and failed to do.

Thank you all for your input.

The LHBS dude sold me on a $0.90 packet of dry wine yeast (Cotes des Blancs by Red Star) to add with the amylase. I trust this dude because he is no nonsense and hasn't steered me wrong to date. But, the strains of yeast I used have Low to Medium flocculation: WLP570 to WLP545 respectively. I'm willing to bet that just the amylase and rousing will do. What are your thoughts? Would introducing a third strain keep the other two from getting off their butts and doing something?

 

[FatDragon]

Did all of your sugar go in before pitch? You could have spoiled the yeast by feeding them too much simple sugar all in one go. Normally Belgian brews with high percentages of simple sugar get most of their simple sugar in multiple additions to the primary fermenter to avoid this problem. You'll probably have to repitch some fresh yeast to get down to a reasonable FG, maybe with another small simple sugar addition midway to keep it active. Warmer temps should help too, and wouldn't introduce as many problematic flavors in a Belgian as they might in other styles.

 

[Owly055]

This^^

I may have confirmation bias, and I appreciate every assessment I've received thus far (no dismissal of anyone, all have great input), but I'm thinking amylase.

I think I'm pressing the easy button. I will rouse. I could warm, but the yeasties are pleasantly snoozing but also starving slowly. If they are anything like me, I wake up in the middle of the night thinking how much it sucks if it's too hot in the room and I'm hungry. I figure, yes, I started this mess, but the strains that know how to make the "green flavor" could probably metabolize it too given the right incentives. Amylase is just finishing what I started and failed to do.

Thank you all for your input.

The LHBS dude sold me on a $0.90 packet of dry wine yeast (Cotes des Blancs by Red Star) to add with the amylase. I trust this dude because he is no nonsense and hasn't steered me wrong to date. But, the strains of yeast I used have Low to Medium flocculation: WLP570 to WLP545 respectively. I'm willing to bet that just the amylase and rousing will do. What are your thoughts? Would introducing a third strain keep the other two from getting off their butts and doing something?

What kind of amylase are you using that you expect to be active at fermentation temperatures? Normal Alpha and Beta Amylase will do nothing at fermentation temperatures..... A fungal amylase is the only thing that will do the job. Ordinary alpha and beta amylase require mash temps to operate. Fungal amylase will keep right on converting if added at this point and will ultimately result in a very dry beer. I believe glucose is what it breaks starch down into.


H.W.

 

[ToilAndTrouble]

Did all of your sugar go in before pitch? You could have spoiled the yeast by feeding them too much simple sugar all in one go. Normally Belgian brews with high percentages of simple sugar get most of their simple sugar in multiple additions to the primary fermenter to avoid this problem. You'll probably have to repitch some fresh yeast to get down to a reasonable FG, maybe with another small simple sugar addition midway to keep it active. Warmer temps should help too, and wouldn't introduce as many problematic flavors in a Belgian as they might in other styles.

My addition of the sugar was in the boil, so I very well could have spoiled them. So temp won't hurt... hmm...

Once you add amylase there is no going back... however, didn't I mash too high?

 

[ToilAndTrouble]

What kind of amylase are you using that you expect to be active at fermentation temperatures? Normal Alpha and Beta Amylase will do nothing at fermentation temperatures..... A fungal amylase is the only thing that will do the job. Ordinary alpha and beta amylase require mash temps to operate. Fungal amylase will keep right on converting if added at this point and will ultimately result in a very dry beer. I believe glucose is what it breaks starch down into.


H.W.

My research on this is that standard crystal amylase will work in a fermenter, just slower.

See this thread:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/escape-stuck-fermentation-mountain-ae-rescue-212926/

 

[BigPerm]

How long has this been in fermentation?

I think I mashed too high and probably denatured my amylase... or I didn't mash long enough. I probably should've gone for 75 minutes... I'm still newbish, so I'm not sure where my major mistake is/was.

Yeah, 160°F will denature the enzymes pretty quickly. Adding enzymes may take it down to bone dry. If it's drinkable I would leave it.

Maybe I missed this, but this looks golden/tripel, right? If so, 1.030 is way too high. Its true that higher temperatures will denature enzymes, but at 160F you've got exclusive alpha-amylase activity (ie, contrary to popular opinion, you will still get conversion at 160F. At least a few brewers of sour beers mash at this temp to get a high level of dextrins to give fermentables for the bugs). Meaning a dextrinous wort, which may explain your HG. Given what you've said, I don't think it didn't convert, but a starch test will tell you if I'm wrong. Is it hazy?

My addition of the sugar was in the boil, so I very well could have spoiled them. So temp won't hurt... hmm...

Once you add amylase there is no going back... however, didn't I mash too high?

I don't know of too many people who've had great success using the amylase powder then sell at LHBS. As someone else alluded to, I think that stuff would be more useful in a mash that sat at 170 (for example.)

Here's what I'd do if I were you. First, warm it to 75 or so and see if it gets moving again. Next, I'd boil a half pound of sugar (or DME) and add 1/4-1/2 tsp of yeast nutrient and add to fermenter. I had a saison stick at 1.030 once and this method got it under 1.010. If that doesn't work, you can try a different saccharomyces strain (ie WY3711) which is known for very high attenuation and many be able to take care of some of those extra sugars. If those don't work, you have two options. If it were me, I would pitch brettanomyces and forget about it for awhile. If it were not me, you can use beano tablets which are a derivative of amylase which can work at fermentation temps (even lager temps). Do know, however, that both of these methods will take your beer down to a very low gravity, but I don't see that being a problem with your recipe.

Let us know how it turns out.

 

[ToilAndTrouble]

And... to give a little background, the first time I tried this I made the very large mistake of using beano... Alpha-galactosidase. They should have a warning label on it specifically to noob homebrewers that reads:

We brake for no one.

It never stopped eating starches and it is not self-limiting like amylase. It will go on forever.

 

[FatDragon]

My addition of the sugar was in the boil, so I very well could have spoiled them. So temp won't hurt... hmm...

Once you add amylase there is no going back... however, didn't I mash too high?

Hard to say - didn't you say you read 152 in the bag and 160 outside of the bag? Those are two very different numbers, and so it's hard to say what your actual mash temp was. I find it difficult to gauge my mash temp for similar reasons - my thermometers all take a minute or more to hone in on a steady read and they have shortish probes that don't really get to the heart of the mash. Combined with varying temperatures in the kettle/tun (which I can never seem to "fix" even with a lot of stirring), it's easy to get mixed up on my actual mash temperature. In addition to anecdotal evidence from some brewers that mash temp isn't a huge factor with modern malts, that much sugar should make up for a high mash temp, if you indeed mashed high. I still think a new pitch of healthy yeast is your best step at this point.

tl;dr - Repitch healthy yeast, give them time to work, and worry about mash temp or amylase if that doesn't get you the desired results.

 

[ToilAndTrouble]

How long has this been in fermentation?... Is it hazy?

Been in primary fermentation for one month. It is hazy as hell.

I'm going to do a starch test on it. But beano is out of the question. It cleaves and keeps on cleaving. I posted a link to another thread showing someone using amylase successfully.

 

[ToilAndTrouble]

Hard to say - didn't you say you read 152 in the bag and 160 outside of the bag? Those are two very different numbers, and so it's hard to say what your actual mash temp was. I find it difficult to gauge my mash temp for similar reasons - my thermometers all take a minute or more to hone in on a steady read and they have shortish probes that don't really get to the heart of the mash. Combined with varying temperatures in the kettle/tun (which I can never seem to "fix" even with a lot of stirring), it's easy to get mixed up on my actual mash temperature. In addition to anecdotal evidence from some brewers that mash temp isn't a huge factor with modern malts, that much sugar should make up for a high mash temp, if you indeed mashed high. I still think a new pitch of healthy yeast is your best step at this point.

tl;dr - Repitch healthy yeast, give them time to work, and worry about mash temp or amylase if that doesn't get you the desired results.

You have several valid points. I could just be letting my OCD get the best of me, but as a previous poster suggested a starch test would be a good start at diagnosing and determining next steps.

Also, I have a laboratory grade thermometer that responds in seconds. It will pop if it goes beyond it's range, so you have to watch it very carefully. I use that periodically to gauge temps. Having a range of temps using BIAB makes it difficult though, you are absolutely correct.

 

[BigPerm]

Been in primary fermentation for one month. It is hazy as hell.

I'm going to do a starch test on it. But beano is out of the question. It cleaves and keeps on cleaving. I posted a link to another thread showing someone using amylase successfully.

Like I said, I wouldn't use it either. I would seriously consider a healthy pitch of fresh yeast. I would go with 3711 because its a monster and you want any belgian character it will provide. However, if you get a positive starch test, you may want to pitch some Brett and let it take care of that. Assuming you bottle, starch presence will very negatively impact stability and could lead to overcarbing/gushers/bottle bombs down the road.

 

[ToilAndTrouble]

Like I said, I wouldn't use it either. I would seriously consider a healthy pitch of fresh yeast. I would go with 3711 because its a monster and you want any belgian character it will provide. However, if you get a positive starch test, you may want to pitch some Brett and let it take care of that. Assuming you bottle, starch presence will very negatively impact stability and could lead to overcarbing/gushers/bottle bombs down the road.

I keg.

Best
Investment
EVER

But I'm leaning towards a repitch with 3711 and warming if starch is negative.

Thank you all!

 

[paperairplane]

I say you keep messing with a batch that is ultimately doomed.

The amount of candi sugar doomed this batch in my opinion. Another 5 pounds of base malt and only 1 pound of candi... work on your mash process... lot of things.

If the beer is not drinkable at this point - it's not going to magically become awesome. Maybe throw brett in it and ignore it for a year... maybe you get lucky.

That's the real answer.

 

[ToilAndTrouble]

I say you keep messing with a batch that is ultimately doomed.

The amount of candi sugar doomed this batch in my opinion. Another 5 pounds of base malt and only 1 pound of candi... work on your mash process... lot of things.

If the beer is not drinkable at this point - it's not going to magically become awesome. Maybe throw brett in it and ignore it for a year... maybe you get lucky.

That's the real answer.

DOOOOMED!!!

Maybe so, but what fun would it be to throw up my hands and walk away without a fight? Without learning something? Yeah, I screwed up, but others can learn from my experience.

DOOOOOMED!!!

 

[fastengine]

I havn't made any super high gravity beers but I KNOW that amylase will drop a 1.012 beer to 1.02-.998 in the secondary in a week or 2 at fermentation temps. It denatures at high temps but churns along at room temp. It is how I make my "lite" beers. I think some here are not understanding this.
I would give it a try, but using very small amounts to start with, 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon at first. The problem I would worry about is you will have a hard time judging where it will stop. It is a big beer that needs time anyway, the amylase might just be what will make the most out of that time.

 

[paperairplane]

DOOOOMED!!!

Maybe so, but what fun would it be to throw up my hands and walk away without a fight? Without learning something? Yeah, I screwed up, but others can learn from my experience.

DOOOOOMED!!!

Live and don't learn, that's my motto!

I say put it in an oak barrel, add brett and lacto, 2 dirty gym socks, 1 banana peel - then age it for 27 years. Then dry hop with 14 pounds of cascade. Jamil will piss his pants.

 

[FatDragon]

I say you keep messing with a batch that is ultimately doomed.

The amount of candi sugar doomed this batch in my opinion. Another 5 pounds of base malt and only 1 pound of candi... work on your mash process... lot of things.

If the beer is not drinkable at this point - it's not going to magically become awesome. Maybe throw brett in it and ignore it for a year... maybe you get lucky.

That's the real answer.

Not really, though.

A lot of excellent commercial Belgian beers use 30-40% simple sugars in their grainbills. It's a big beer in the throes of a stuck fermentation, of course it's not great right now. If the OP can get it to finish out with some fresh yeast it'll probably still taste a bit nasty in the short term because a beer like this needs some time to age, but there's no reason to call it a failure at this point in the process.

 

[ToilAndTrouble]

I just did a starch test and it is negative! I even did a control which some random corn bread muffin mix I found in the pantry. Not a trace of starch could be seen in the beer sample. A repitch it is! I was reading up on 3711, I'm not incredibly sure I like the flavor profile. Is there something neutral that's equally hungry? Perhaps the dry wine yeast I mentioned earlier?

Pic 1: Beer sample starch test: Appears negative.
Pic 2: Control test with muffin mix: Positive.
Pic 3: Beer sample appearance against a white background.

Refractometer reading: still 1.030

 

[FatDragon]

Refractometers are notoriously unreliable for fermented beer because the alcohol in solution throws off the reading. There are calculators for adjusting for alcohol content, but they're not considered totally reliable. A hydrometer is a much better way to check your SG/FG. You probably already know that, but it's best to cover every variable...

As for yeast, why not repitch with one or both of the strains you started with? The yeast that fermented all that sugar has grown lazy and unhealthy so it isn't fermenting the maltose in your wort, but a healthy pitch of one or both strains shouldn't have that problem because the fresh yeast won't have been conditioned by working in a high-simple-sugar environment. It's the same reason you use wort and not sugar water to make a starter: both will build up your yeast count, but only the wort starter will give you healthy yeast that will do well fermenting a batch of beer. You may want to wait until someone more knowledgeable chimes in, but that's how I understand the situation.

 

[BigPerm]

Refractometers are notoriously unreliable for fermented beer because the alcohol in solution throws off the reading. There are calculators for adjusting for alcohol content, but they're not considered totally reliable. A hydrometer is a much better way to check your SG/FG. You probably already know that, but it's best to cover every variable...

As for yeast, why not repitch with one or both of the strains you started with? The yeast that fermented all that sugar has grown lazy and unhealthy so it isn't fermenting the maltose in your wort, but a healthy pitch of one or both strains shouldn't have that problem because the fresh yeast won't have been conditioned by working in a high-simple-sugar environment. It's the same reason you use wort and not sugar water to make a starter: both will build up your yeast count, but only the wort starter will give you healthy yeast that will do well fermenting a batch of beer. You may want to wait until someone more knowledgeable chimes in, but that's how I understand the situation.

This. Take a hydrometer reading. The fact that you think it tastes sweet, its probably still high, but do this before you do anything else.

I suggested 3711 because if you really mashed in the high 150s, 3711 will attenuate the beer to a higher degree and possibly dry it out more. I wouldn't worry about much flavor contribution. So while there's no real reason to not pitch your original strains, but since your goal at this point is attenuation, a more attenuative strain gives you your best shot. You will need to make a starter though because there wont be any oxygen for the yeast to use to reproduce.

Given the information we have, I see no reason you can't turn this into something drinkable. Given your potentially high mash temps, you still may end up with something sweeter than you want. If so, pitch in some brett, let it go until it tastes good, keg and drink. And make something else in the meantime.

 

[ToilAndTrouble]

I just wanted to thank you all. I tried rousing and warming overnight and nothing changed. I called around today to every LHBS within reasonable driving distance (30 minutes) and all were out of WY3711. So I decided to use what I have on hand and hydrated the Red Star Côte des Blancs with some yeast nutrient. Boom, instant airlock activity bubbling every 30 seconds. I've raised the temp to 74F and crossing my fingers. Here is more on the particular strain if you are interested.

http://www.fulkersonwinery.com/usr/Media/Yeast%20Media/FTCotedesBlancsEN.pdf

 

[JimRausch]

I just wanted to thank you all. I tried rousing and warming overnight and nothing changed. I called around today to every LHBS within reasonable driving distance (30 minutes) and all were out of WY3711. So I decided to use what I have on hand and hydrated the Red Star Côte des Blancs with some yeast nutrient. Boom, instant airlock activity bubbling every 30 seconds. I've raised the temp to 74F and crossing my fingers. Here is more on the particular strain if you are interested.

http://www.fulkersonwinery.com/usr/Media/Yeast%20Media/FTCotedesBlancsEN.pdf

Rooting for you!

 

[ChillWill]

Take 200ml, place it in a conical flasks. Add 1 gram of yeast (us05), or 5ml slurry if you don't have dry. Place on stir plate for 48 hours @70f with airlock. Measure... No significant movement in gravity = sugars too complex. Movement down to where it should finish fermenting (1.010-1.012??) = primary yeast dead. The amount of simple sugars have made for a wort deficient in FAN and the yeast aren't happy about it. 20% should be your Max for sugar additions, you're making beer, not fermented sugar water.

 

[AerationStation]

I just did a starch test and it is negative!

SIDEBAR:

From what i recall the iodine test to check for starch conversion to sugar can be a little misleading.

The reason it comes out positive is that the iodine gets trapped in a helix (at least I think its a helix, could be some other structure) created by polymerized amylose and branch-chain amylopectin (I.e starch).

You can break up that helix but still not get full amylose/amylopectin conversion. It's more of a "if it comes up positive we defiently screwed up. If its negative then we might have screwed up".

Food for thought, just thought I'd bring it up.

 

[ToilAndTrouble]

Just to comment:

I don't think the beer tasted sweet at all. Green, but no sweetness whatsoever.

I agree with the assessment that I screwed up: 100%.

About the addition of the sugar: I should have broken it up and added it over time, and not to the boil.

About the iodine test: I'm checking the SG tomorrow. If it hasn't budged, I'm going to purchase WY3711 using the 48 hour starter method suggested.

If that doesn't work, I'm adding 1/8th tsp of amylase to start and adding a blow off.

I just wanted to thank you all for your feedback. Your food for thought has been enlightening.

 

[ToilAndTrouble]

I went to check the beer and much to my pleasant surprise, the green apple (acetylaldehyde) flavor was gone. My refractometer read 1.029 but something didn't seem right. The flavor profile had been corrected in four short days using the Côte des Blancs. It tasted slightly sweet, slightly fruity, and a little hot. With the exception of being a little hot, which is not uncommon for big beers as I've read, it tasted perfect to me. These are all characteristic of Duvel and exactly what I want.

I suddenly remembered why I purchased a refractometer in the first place: I was paranoid about infecting my beer because I was relatively inexperienced and I loved the convenience. This is the price I pay for my convenience and my paranoia. I pulled a hydrometer sample and instead of the refractometer's 1.029, I got ~1.015. The picture is a little misleading because of the suds, but I made the executive decision to keg and cold crash it below freezing at 27F. I'm going to condition it based on the schedule in "Brew Like A Monk" for the Duvel recipe, which is where I got the idea for this recipe.

If I had used a damned hydrometer from the beginning, I think a lot of my confusion would have been mitigated. This also means that I don't really know what my OG was. Since my refractometer is off (FatDragon was correct), I really don't know where I started. I find it highly doubtful that the wine yeast really could have corrected the gravity that deeply in the 4 day period that it was in the primary. The flavor profile is where I want it to be and I'm going to let everything precipitate out and start conditioning it.

What a long strange trip it's been. Thank you all for reading and giving your input. I plan to burp the keg regularly in case there is any ongoing fermentation and to prevent overcarbing.

 

[FatDragon]

Your refractometer's probably fine, it's likely that your OG reading was accurate. Refractometers can't read accurately with alcohol in solution. There are calculators out there that correct for refractometer readings of fermented beer, but like the calculators that correct for hydrometer readings taken too hot, they're not fully reliable.

 

[ToilAndTrouble]

Your refractometer's probably fine, it's likely that your OG reading was accurate. Refractometers can't read accurately with alcohol in solution. There are calculators out there that correct for refractometer readings of fermented beer, but like the calculators that correct for hydrometer readings taken too hot, they're not fully reliable.

Well thank you for planting the seed in my head. I would've languished over this longer without your help and the help of the community.

Edit: I will let everyone know on this thread how my Strong Blonde Belgian turns out. I hope she slaps me across the face and it hurts in that good way.

 

[FatDragon]

Edit: I will let everyone know on this thread how my Strong Blonde Belgian turns out. I hope she slaps me across the face and it hurts in that good way.

I see what you did there...

 

[beersk]

I know the trouble with adding Amylase enzyme to bring the gravity down further is that it could potentially dry it out too much. I wonder if you could add half a campden tablet when it's reached the gravity you want it to be to stall the fermentation. Or cold crash, then keg.

Seems feasible, right? Although, I'd think cold crashing wouldn't be the ideal option of the two because of acetaldehyde from refermentation. I tasted a friend's beer who added amylase to, the gravity was at 1.015, but I definitely got acetaldehyde. I told him to let it sit another 5 or so days to let that clean up before he cold crashes and kegs.

 

[ToilAndTrouble]

Exactly. The general consensus was a repitch would do more for me than amylase. It worked so well that the wine yeast that I used cleaned up the acetylaldehyde perfectly.

If I had used a hydrometer instead of a refractometer I would have realized that it was closer to FG. Since I thought it was so far off I thought amylase was an option. But it was a matter of measurement as opposed to method.

I was already hesitant about adding amylase. The first beer I ever brewed was this recipe. I've brewed several beers since with great success. Fermentation became stuck the first time and I added Beano (alpha-galactosidase). It turned into a nightmare very rapidly.

This experience has taught me two things:

1. Repitch when necessary. The yeast is mightier than the enzyme.
2. Always double check your measurements and the way you measure.

 

[helibrewer]

Try this calculator in ther future, it is pretty accurate for post-fermentation
refractometer-calculator/

 

[ToilAndTrouble]

Try this calculator in ther future, it is pretty accurate for post-fermentation
refractometer-calculator/

Thank you very much. That is now bookmarked.