too heavy?

What went wrong? Was this supposed to happen? Should I throw it out? What do I do now?

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Fraoch
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too heavy?

Post by Fraoch »

i was given a recipe for a beer ( a black ale) i used to drink 20 years ago by tracking down the head brewer. The recipe called for a certain amount of sugar to be added as it fell short of the SG by 1014 or so. Being a bit up myself i wont use sugar in my beers. I ended up increasing the amount of malts by the given ratio until i reached the gravity required. On second thoughts this was a mistake as i ended up with 1.2kg black to 3.25 pale to brew a beer of 27 litres at 1048 given 100% mash. I used Wyeast 1098 British, this then whipped through the fermentation process until 36hrs later when the crop started to collapse and would not respond to "dropping". I now have a beer of SG 1020 that wont "brew out" to the required grav of 1012. Is this a yeast problem? or is it that the amount of black causes the beer to have a large amount of dextrins and will it eventually brew down given more time in the fermenter?If i had substituted the sugar for rice how would this then affect the SG? and is this a perfectly fine thing to do?
Homer Simpson
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Try Champagne yeast

Post by Homer Simpson »

Your SG was very high to start. The Yeast that you are using is being killed off by the alcohol content thus the fermentation process stops at a higher than normal SG. Champagne yeast can withstand higher alcohol content and thus will finish out the rest of the fermentation process. The yeast will have an effect on the taste of the beer. Forutnately you started with the 1098 English yeast. This will cover most of the champagne yeast flavor and your beer will finish out nicely. Watch out though, the alcohol content will high. Let us know how it turns out.
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jeff
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I don

Post by jeff »

If the beer started at 1.048 and ended at 1.020, then the alcohol by volume is 3.75%. Ale yeast is at least good to 8% or more which leaves plenty of margin for a beer at 3.75%. I do agree that champagne yeast is good for assisting with high gravity fermentation, but the problem here seems to be too many unfermentables originating from a high proportion of black malt. I think if the beer tastes good then stick with the recipe. If the beer tends to be too heavy, then cut back on the black, increase the pale and mash at a lower temp. Of course this is all personal opinion. Sorry again; I don
Fraoch
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still trying

Post by Fraoch »

Ive added a tsp of DCL ale yeast and raised the temp to 23c in an attempt to reactivate the fermentation process. So far its still VERY slow but it is fermenting and the SG is dropping somewhat. Think i'll just bottle this one and start again using flaked rice to make up the short fall in SG. You never know, it may taste good in about 6 months when everything has mellowed a bit. When ive sorted out this recipe i'll put it in the library under "Old Ale" as it is a very nice beer from what i remember.
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