watery beer solution

[jack_a_roe]

I did my first partial mash the other day and due to only having limited number of small grain bags the grain was packed way too tight in the mash. After taking a hydrometer reading and tasting, thing are tasting pretty damn watery at this point, especially since it's a porter.

Is there anyway to salvage this batch? Could I take my grain bill and steep in some water for 30 min then rack onto it in a secondary in hopes to throw some flavor back into the picture? I have to rack onto some vanilla beans anyways so it wouldn't be too much extra work.

 

[jack_a_roe]

bueller?

 

[Bsquared]

Have you packaged it yet? if not, add some malto-dextrin with your priming sugar when you bottle the beer. Just dissolve it in the water with your priming sugar that you will boil.

 

[jack_a_roe]

racked to secondary. gonna see where 2 vanilla beans will take it and go from there.

how will malto dextrin help?

 

[McCoy]

Maltodextrin is an unfermentable sugar. The biggest contributor to mouthfeel or perception of body in a beer is residual sugars. Maltodextrin will add sugars that won't ferment out, giving you an FG boost and more perceived body. Lactose, another unfermentable sugar, does the same thing.

 

[pdxal]

Another option would be to make another batch with a higher OG/FG and mix the two.

 

[jack_a_roe]

Another option would be to make another batch with a higher OG/FG and mix the two.

Wow this is a terribly awesome idea. Not sure if I will make a full batch (5 gallons) to mix, probably more like 2.5 gal or something. Thanks for the reccomendation!

 

[RM-MN]

Have you let this complete the ferment, bottled it and let it mature for a couple months? You might be fixing something that isn't a problem. Getting the beer carbonated will help but time in the bottle will help more.

 

[Demus]

What was the OG?

 

[jack_a_roe]

its been in the primary around 3 weeks. i racked it onto a couple vanilla beans a few days ago. this is my first porter but before i racked it to secondary it just tasted pretty darn weak and watery.

OG was 1.060 but i added some extract at the end to try and boost things up. still undershot by a bunch.

 

[Demus]

its been in the primary around 3 weeks. i racked it onto a couple vanilla beans a few days ago. this is my first porter but before i racked it to secondary it just tasted pretty darn weak and watery.

OG was 1.060 but i added some extract at the end to try and boost things up. still undershot by a bunch.

1.060 isn't exactly a weak beer. It's good to taste your samples to learn how your beer progresses, but I think you're judging the samples as if they should taste like the finished product. The most important thing any brewer can learn is patience. Even if a batch IS destined to turn out a little thin, you're way more likely to make it worse by tinkering with it mid stream. Taste, take notes, and leave it alone! Let it age in the bottles or keg for at least 3 weeks before you pass judgement. This is just my advice, but I think you'll learn more this way and you may just be surprised by how much better it tastes than the sample...

 

[jack_a_roe]

This is true Demus. However my concern comes from the fact that my grain bags were packed way way too tight in my mash, to the point where I feel I didn't get nearly the flavor I was supposed to. The gravity is all from the extract basically. I do suppose your right about just letting it go tho. ::cracks homebrew::

 

[McCoy]

Even if the gravity is all from the extract, the beer should not be deficient if you use good brewing practices. Extract is typically not as fermentable as mashed grains, meaning you shouldn't have any deficiencies in mouthfeel anyway. People make award winning beer using only extract. There is other information that may clarify what's going on, like what extract you used and what your grist for the mash was, but it might be impossible to determine exactly what's going on. I suspect it has little to do with your mash, personally. I agree with Demus -- probably better than any other option is to just wait it out .