Too late to up the ABV?

[Plan9]

I brewed a AG stout a little over a week ago.
My efficency sucked, and I ended up with a SG of 1.040, and that was with 1lb of unfermentable Lactose for sweetness.
It stopped fermenting at 1.026
That puts it at 1.8%ABV
I was going for a low alcohol breakfast stout, but damn, not that low.

It tastes good, just too damn weak!

Can it be saved?
Maybe boil up some corn sugar and pour it in?
Pitch more Nottingham with that?

 

[cheezydemon]

I would go with some dark DME and maybe WL irish Ale yeast. It has never let me down.

 

[bradsul]

+1 to the DME but if you still have it in the primary don't worry about more yeast, there is tons in there already. Before I went adding more sugar I'd give the primary a swirl (not a shake) to see if the SG will drop a little more, I think it's a little too early to start thinking about fixing it.

 

[Plan9]

+1 to the DME but if you still have it in the primary don't worry about more yeast, there is tons in there already. Before I went adding more sugar I'd give the primary a swirl (not a shake) to see if the SG will drop a little more, I think it's a little too early to start thinking about fixing it.

I thought of that, and gave it a swirl last night. I'll check it tonight. I'm in no hurry, I just want to have a plan.

 

[Yooper]

I wouldn't add sugar- that will dry it out, and boost the ABV, but make it taste "thinner" and not good in a stout.

If it were me, I'd go ahead and boil up some DME in some water, cool it and add it. That's assuming that the hops/SG would still be in balance. You won't need any more yeast- you can just gently add the cooled extract/water. 2 pounds of DME will give you about 17 points in the batch. I'd use as little water as possible to dissolve and boil the DME.

Incidently, I think it may ferment out a bit more and give you a slightly lower FG.

 

[Shawn Hargreaves]

If you like the flavor and just want more alcohol, you could always add a bottle of cheap vodka

 

[Austin_]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but I have a very similar question. I have some of the Austin Homebrew Alcohol Boost sitting around that I never used. I messed something up up in my last batch last week and ended up with a really low SG (1.032). Can I boil up the booster and gently pour it in to the carboy and let it ferment some more?

 

[conpewter]

I agree with Yooper, it does seem you have a bit of a stuck fermentation, I'd swirl it as said but also add in some boiled DME to get the yeast kicking again and make sure your temperature range is good for the yeast you are using (Usually above 60 is good) but that shouldn't be an issue in the summer

 

[Boston Brew Guy]

If you like the flavor and just want more alcohol, you could always add a bottle of cheap vodka

Is this really a way to boost ABV without messing with the flavor? I have wondered about it, but not sure if I would ever do it.

 

[Saccharomyces]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but I have a very similar question. I have some of the Austin Homebrew Alcohol Boost sitting around that I never used. I messed something up up in my last batch last week and ended up with a really low SG (1.032). Can I boil up the booster and gently pour it in to the carboy and let it ferment some more?

Sure just be sure to boil it well. You don't want to introduce any nasties. When I added DME to a batch like yours I sanitized the pot and lid before the boil out of paranoia...

- Eric

 

[Plan9]

So swirling didn't help.

I finally got around to adding some extract.
Yesterday I boiled 2 lbs of dark DME in a little under 1 Gallon of water.
The SG on this was 1.101
I poured it in and it started fermenting within the hour.

I don't know what the math will be to figure out the ABV when it's done.