Treacle Beer Mistake

[Xzarfna]

Hey there!
I recently made a big batch of beer and had 500g of dark spray malt left over. So, i thought i might as well make a small batch to use it up.
I added 1 can (454g) of black treacle to a few litres of water and had a hop bag with my leftover hops in there boiling away. However i accidentally put 500g of dark muscovado sugar into the mix thinking i had planned it (using beersmith 2) but i had not! Beersmith now says the beer will end up around 14% alcohol :S

My question is, how long should i leave this before bottling? i don't want to have a gusher or bottle bomb but unfortunately i only have another 9 days before i have to leave to visit my parents.

Should i simply bottle after 8 days and hope for the best? or wait until i return (Just over a month) before bottling?

P.S. I am using s-05 yeast for the first few days until it stops due to high alcohol then adding part of a sachet of champagne yeast to get it to finish.

P.S.S yes, the fermentation atm is very violent, it is in a plastic demijohn and treacle coloured foam is forcing its way out of the airlock and looks like it just ate a lot of expired chilli if you know what i mean...

 

[zzARzz]

US-05 is tolerant to about 12% ABV, so if you use BeerSmith to calculate your ABV based on your OG and current hydrometer readings, if it's near that point you could probably pitch your champagne yeast in before you leave and let it sit until you get back. The extra time will help settle out some of the nastier flavors as well.

You may want to trade out the airlock for a blow-off tube, though, by running some food grade vinyl tubing from the stopper in your demijohn into a bucket or milk jug of water (maybe put a little sterilizer or bleach in the water so it doesn't stagnate) before you leave. It should help alleviate any worries of clogging or the water in the airlock evaporating since you won't be around to monitor it. Just be sure to keep the bucket/milk jug lower than your demijohn (such as on the floor with the demijohn on a table) to avoid the possibility of a back-siphon once the fermentation temperature drops.

 

[Xzarfna]

cool thanks
Wasnt sure if leaving it on yeast for a month might mean the yeast would autolyse and make the beer taste funny :S
Then again, god knows what this will taste like as it was just thrown together and then made twice as sugary by accident XD

 

[aiptasia]

Autolysis is more of a risk for huge batch brewing under pressure, such as the big conical fermenters at larger breweries. For most small batch brewing under 20 gallons, I wouldn't worry about it. BTW, the off flavor from Autolysis is a soapy flavor, as the fats in the yeast break down creating... well... soap!

I wouldn't worry about the champagne yeast addition unless: You underpitched (too little yeast), didn't oxygenate the wort properly and/or didn't use a good yeast nutrient on the batch. For big gravity beers, it's essential to pitch the right amount of a big batch of starter yeast into that wort. I've become a big believer in using pure oxygen and a metal airstone wand to oxygenate my big beers to get over the 1.020 "stuck" fermentation hump, but putting a lid on the fermenter and shaking the hell out of it for five minutes works just as well. Using adequate yeast nutrient in conjunction with the oxygen can also get you well over that hump so that you have a more balanced, less malty tasting beer depending on the style.

PS: I've let batches of beer sit for three months on the yeast cake with no ill effects.

 

[Xzarfna]

ah, see the only "nutrient" available was a teaspoon of Barley Malt extract normally used in baking bread i had lying around that i normally use for making yeast starters. I suppose if the US-05 can get to 12%, i could leave it there instead of letting it get to 14 and have a sweet syrupy beer.
If i did this however, should i bottle it before leaving, cos otherwise wouldn't the yeast be unable to ferment more to carbonate in the bottle after a month?

 

[zzARzz]

Funny that you should mention that because I recently had a stout in a carboy for 5 months and thought for sure that I would have that lovely autolysis asphalt flavor, but the beer actually turned out to be quite good. If the area you are fermenting in is pretty cool and temperature stable I don't think it will be an issue.

I used black treacle in a Scottish Heavy I did and it gave it a very floral aroma and flavor. To help smooth out some of the hotness from such a high ABV you may want to dry hop it with a varietal like Target, Saphir or Horizon just before you leave. Normally most people dry hop for up to two weeks, but I've read of people doing it for as long as a month with great success.

Of course you could also just dry hop it with some star anise and call it "Jagermeister Beer." :cross: