[ultravista]

My kegged quad is too sweet. Looking for advice on what to do.

Would an addition of bittering hops level-out the sweetness? I was thinking of drawing off some wort, boiling it w/hops, cooling, and dumping into the keg.

Any ideas/suggestions to take the edge off sweetness?

[morticaixavier]

can you give us more info? recipe specifics, fermentation schedule, etc. OG, FG.

I wouldn't pull off any of the beer for boiling. boiled beer isn't very nice.

You could brew a second small batch that you way way over bittered and blend.
You could add brett and bacteria and let them work on the extra sugars causing excess sweetness.

[ultravista]

morticaixavier - it is Rochefort 8 recipe that was over target by 8 points (1.087 vs. 1.079) and only attenuated to 1.021 fermented w/WLP540. Despite time, heat, and coaxing, it did not budge past 1.021.

I just put it under gas yesterday. Maybe the C02 will add a little 'bite'.

Reading numerous Rochefort 8 threads (here and elsewhere) others were near 1.016-1.018 with similar batches.

Not sure what do to.

[morticaixavier]

First off wait till it's carbed up. The higher carbonation levels of the trappist beers can help make them seem a bit lighter than they are flat. 3 gravity points aren't really that much and it might be just right after some time.

Often when you attemp to 'fix' a beer post fermentation things just get worse.

If after carbing up it still just seems too sweet I would probably warm it up and pitch some brett in there to help dry it out a bit. It'll be a different beer but not a bad one.

[dmtaylor]

You hit your OG high, and so it tastes too strong?  Go figure...

It might sound crazy, but you could try watering it down.  After you draw off a few pints, top up the keg again with clean boiled oxygen-free water, and see if you like it better that way.  Or to know for certain, put into your glass a half inch of water with every pint and see if it's a little more easily drinkable that way.

[denny]

Often when you attemp to 'fix' a beer post fermentation things just get worse.

Can I get an amen?  I've found this all too often.  Although, you could experiment with some isomerized hop extract to bitter it up a bit.  But it's kind of a coin toss if you'll make it better or worse.

[Jimmy K]

8 points over OG yet only 5 points over FG? You've done well. I think all you can do is wait. It might age out, in fact it probably will change somewhat. There is also significant alcohol which tastes sweet. Aside from aging I think the best plan is to take notes and maybe add more bittering hops next time.

Blending with another more bitter beer would work too, but I'd still wait to see how it turns out.


Sent from a parallel dimension where beer is made from unicorn tears

[ultravista]

ABV should be approximately 8.9% and near 74% attenuation using WLP540.

Denny - if this was in your pipeline, what would you do?

If I recall correctly, your Rochefort 8 was 1.016-1.018?

[HoosierBrew]

How much candi syrup (D180 or similar) did you use ?  Swapping a little base malt for a little more sugar/syrup should help it finish a few points lower in the future. I've used 1762 many times and can get down to 1.016 pretty regularly.

[klickitat jim]

Could blend with something thats too dry.

[erockrph]

I'd either:

A) Leave it alone

or, if I was feeling adventurous:

B) Brew a Candi Syrup "mead" in the 7% range, and use this to blend with the beer to drop the gravity while still keeping the ABV in the right ballpark.

[ultravista]

How much candi syrup (D180 or similar) did you use ?  Swapping a little base malt for a little more sugar/syrup should help it finish a few points lower in the future. I've used 1762 many times and can get down to 1.016 pretty regularly.

2 pounds of Candi Syrup's D180.

[ynotbrusum]

I would consider blending, but that is something that can be done by the glass to get the full batch ratio right.  I do that with a coffee stout that my wife likes to be more intense than I do - we compromised on this and can do a keg to my liking and add a small amount of coffee to her by the glass.

For your situation, you could try another smaller beer with the same flavor profile, but less malt, fully ferment it and blend back to your liking.

[denny]

Denny - if this was in your pipeline, what would you do?

If I recall correctly, your Rochefort 8 was 1.016-1.018?

I'll check my notes tomorrow on the FG.  If it was mine, I'd drink it or let it age and see what happened.  If I was feeling experimental, I'd hit it with some Brett.  But in all likelihood I wouldn't do anything.