PHBalanced
Well-Known Member
Ok here's my story:
Brewing BierMuncher's OktoberFAST Ale - 5 gal AG batch
Was contacted on a Friday to see if I could have 2 different beer brewed, bottled and ready to serve in exactly 6 weeks. This was one recipe chosen. Ran to the LHBS and got the ingredients and was subbed with Wyeast --------- (guess it never got written down) instead of the S-04 due to inventory shortage.
Long story short brew day was a nightmare.
Pros:
Brewed 2 beers and another batch of Ed's Apfelwein AND bottled 2 other batches.
Great day all around and great weather.
Cons:
Missed my OG on both batches by a fair amount. One was by 8 pts and this batch by 14!
Since these were not my first foray into AG I have come to the conclusion that I had a bad grind on my grain from the LHBS (as we were grinding I was told that it had been "acting up" lately.)
SO - to compensate for this under advisement from members of this forum and other brewers I added boiled and cooled DME to make up for lost points.
Transfered to secondary 3 days ago and checked gravities. Brew 1 was right on however the OktoberFAST was sitting at .012 with an expected FG of .017 I'm assuming my yeast was just hungry and really worked on the wort. The gravity sample tasted yummy but just seemed a bit thin to me and my newly pregnant brew assistant aka SWMBO
She had to do the wine drinkers swish and spit technique.
Knowing the style I am aiming for I would love to add some maltodextrin to beef up mouth feel and such but how much? I would be likely to let 5 points slide but the beer is for a special event and I want to present the best product possible. (Using a secondary, using gelatin for the first time, the whole works)
We bottle condition - using corn sugar at time of bottling.
So, how much maltodextrin (or something else) to help me out here AND
Also, any other ideas on the low OG issue?
Sorry for all the extraneous info, Thanks much to all who can contribute!
~~~P
Brewing BierMuncher's OktoberFAST Ale - 5 gal AG batch
Was contacted on a Friday to see if I could have 2 different beer brewed, bottled and ready to serve in exactly 6 weeks. This was one recipe chosen. Ran to the LHBS and got the ingredients and was subbed with Wyeast --------- (guess it never got written down) instead of the S-04 due to inventory shortage.
Long story short brew day was a nightmare.
Pros:
Brewed 2 beers and another batch of Ed's Apfelwein AND bottled 2 other batches.
Great day all around and great weather.
Cons:
Missed my OG on both batches by a fair amount. One was by 8 pts and this batch by 14!
Since these were not my first foray into AG I have come to the conclusion that I had a bad grind on my grain from the LHBS (as we were grinding I was told that it had been "acting up" lately.) SO - to compensate for this under advisement from members of this forum and other brewers I added boiled and cooled DME to make up for lost points.
Transfered to secondary 3 days ago and checked gravities. Brew 1 was right on however the OktoberFAST was sitting at .012 with an expected FG of .017 I'm assuming my yeast was just hungry and really worked on the wort. The gravity sample tasted yummy but just seemed a bit thin to me and my newly pregnant brew assistant aka SWMBO
She had to do the wine drinkers swish and spit technique. Knowing the style I am aiming for I would love to add some maltodextrin to beef up mouth feel and such but how much? I would be likely to let 5 points slide but the beer is for a special event and I want to present the best product possible. (Using a secondary, using gelatin for the first time, the whole works)
We bottle condition - using corn sugar at time of bottling.
So, how much maltodextrin (or something else) to help me out here AND
Also, any other ideas on the low OG issue?
Sorry for all the extraneous info, Thanks much to all who can contribute!
~~~P
