[OhDannyBoy!]

I've made a balls up!...

Brewing the Wee Heavy

Low final OG at 1.083 due to low BH & Mash Efficiency so corrected with DME to 1.099 (with hindsight, I probably should have used X amount of sugar too to keep FG estimate a little lower!?)

New FG estimate with DME addition: 1.030

Fermenting the Wee Heavy

6 weeks at constant 18c - Racked to bottling bucket before checking FG (I know!!). I guess fermentation stuck due to yeast flocculation (Wyeast 1728) and needed to be roused. Damn! FG when bottled: 1.038. Thought I'd give it a chance.

Primed with Corn Sugar to 2.30 volumes of CO2.

Checked after 2 weeks conditioning (as after some research was very worried I may have little bottle bombs in the room!) - Carbonation good but far too sweet!

BIG QUESTION (drum roll) - Should I re-pitch and re-ferment?

Can't re-ferment in bottle as 8 point drop would create 4.08 vols of CO2 + 2.30 already from priming = bombs away!
(Thanks Kai)
http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php/Accurately_Calculating_Sugar_Additions_for_Carbonation
http://braukaiser.com/documents/Kaiser_carbonation_calculator_US.xls


What do you think folks? Cheers, Dan

[Frankenbrew]

The first question is how did you measure FG? Did you use a hydrometer or a refractometer? If you used a refractometer you need to calculate a correction for the presence of alcohol which throws off the measurement.

[dmtaylor]

Frankenbrew may have a point, but in this case it's not the most likely problem.  Personally I think 1.099 was maybe too huge for the style.  Too much for my own taste anyway.

What temperature are you conditioning the bottles?  Fermentation should continue in the bottles, which should trade some of the sweetness for carbonation.  I would keep them warm, 70-75 F (21-24 C), and check a bottle for possible overcarbonation every 3 or 4 days.  When they begin to overcarbonate, I would bleed some pressure off each bottle then re-cap.  You may find they lose enough sweetness this way on their own without having to dump them all into a fermenter for re-fermentation.  Might be worth a try.  That, or just blend with a little water or light beer in each glass so that the sweetness is not overly strong.

[a10t2]

If they aren't over carbonated after two weeks in the bottle, that's a pretty solid indication that the fermentation was finished. In which case adding more yeast wouldn't do anything.

[OhDannyBoy!]

The first question is how did you measure FG? Did you use a hydrometer or a refractometer? If you used a refractometer you need to calculate a correction for the presence of alcohol which throws off the measurement.

I always use a Hydrometer Frank

[OhDannyBoy!]

Frankenbrew may have a point, but in this case it's not the most likely problem.  Personally I think 1.099 was maybe too huge for the style.  Too much for my own taste anyway.

What temperature are you conditioning the bottles?  Fermentation should continue in the bottles, which should trade some of the sweetness for carbonation.  I would keep them warm, 70-75 F (21-24 C), and check a bottle for possible overcarbonation every 3 or 4 days.  When they begin to overcarbonate, I would bleed some pressure off each bottle then re-cap.  You may find they lose enough sweetness this way on their own without having to dump them all into a fermenter for re-fermentation.  Might be worth a try.  That, or just blend with a little water or light beer in each glass so that the sweetness is not overly strong.

Cheers Dave. I was following Jamil's BCS recipe. Should be 9.70% ABV, mine turned out 8.10% @ 1.038 and way too syrupy. Conditioning in the living room at about 20-21c. I will try your suggestion of bleeding pressure... How long would you try this method before re-fermentation route?

[OhDannyBoy!]

If they aren't over carbonated after two weeks in the bottle, that's a pretty solid indication that the fermentation was finished. In which case adding more yeast wouldn't do anything.

I was thinking the same... Wondering if there were just to many Dextrins in there from mashing at 68c and then the addition of DME to adjust OG to 1.099? But if this were the case the new estimated FG of 1.030 should still have been achievable but with less ABV and more body yes? Maybe back to yeast flocculation??? Or do you think there would have been enough re-suspended and transferred when racking?

I did end up with 1 litre more wort in the fermenter (need to adjust Loss to Trub & Chiller for next batch), but after entering session figures into Beersmith the estimated OG for new batch size was spot on at 1.083 @ 56.60% BH Efficiency & 67.60% Mash Efficiency. So I believe conversion was complete (need to get some Iodine for mash test too!).

[dmtaylor]

Frankenbrew may have a point, but in this case it's not the most likely problem.  Personally I think 1.099 was maybe too huge for the style.  Too much for my own taste anyway.

What temperature are you conditioning the bottles?  Fermentation should continue in the bottles, which should trade some of the sweetness for carbonation.  I would keep them warm, 70-75 F (21-24 C), and check a bottle for possible overcarbonation every 3 or 4 days.  When they begin to overcarbonate, I would bleed some pressure off each bottle then re-cap.  You may find they lose enough sweetness this way on their own without having to dump them all into a fermenter for re-fermentation.  Might be worth a try.  That, or just blend with a little water or light beer in each glass so that the sweetness is not overly strong.

Cheers Dave. I was following Jamil's BCS recipe. Should be 9.70% ABV, mine turned out 8.10% @ 1.038 and way too syrupy. Conditioning in the living room at about 20-21c. I will try your suggestion of bleeding pressure... How long would you try this method before re-fermentation route?

My method will truly only work if fermentation is still happening in the bottles as evidenced by over-carbonation.  But if fermentation is totally complete and you're not experiencing gushers at all, then you may be forced to re-ferment by pouring out all the bottles, adding a metric ton of highly active yeast (sometimes called "krausening"), OR simply dilute the beer enough with water or weak beer so it doesn't taste overly sweet anymore.  Perhaps the very last suggestion is really the best and easiest one to do for this batch.  Next time you brew this recipe, don't add so much sugar.

Now I'm also wondering whether the yeast simply has hit its maximum alcohol tolerance.  If that's the case, a more alcohol tolerant yeast strain would be needed.  I'm not very familiar with this yeast strain.

[denny]

accept it and move on.

[WDE97]

My method will truly only work if fermentation is still happening in the bottles as evidenced by over-carbonation.  But if fermentation is totally complete and you're not experiencing gushers at all, then you may be forced to re-ferment by pouring out all the bottles, adding a metric ton of highly active yeast (sometimes called "krausening"), OR simply dilute the beer enough with water or weak beer so it doesn't taste overly sweet anymore.  Perhaps the very last suggestion is really the best and easiest one to do for this batch.  Next time you brew this recipe, don't add so much sugar.

Now I'm also wondering whether the yeast simply has hit its maximum alcohol tolerance.  If that's the case, a more alcohol tolerant yeast strain would be needed.  I'm not very familiar with this yeast strain.

Definitely not the max alcohol tolerance. I use that strain frequently for my Strong Scotch Ales. I've taken it up to O.G.'s above 1.100 and abv of @11% with no problem.

[charlie]

The one time I hit 1.038 FG it was because I accidentally mashed in at 164F. In the end there was nothing I could do about it but put the stuff down the drain. And that was my one total failure as a brewer.

My friend, who is also an MD, says that a 1.038 FG brew will give you the shi*s if you drink it. But I didn't test that because the crap was too sweet to drink.

Charlie

[Barbarian Brewer]

Charlie, it sounds like you and your friend passed up a golden opportunity to bottle and sell 5 gallons of Dr. Charlie's Laxative Elixir!   

[OhDannyBoy!]

Mash In temp was 73c (Beersmith) for a 60 min rest at 68c. Hit 68c pretty quickly.
Ph good at 5.43 after 10 min.

Will triple check actual mash temp next time with Thermapen rather than relying on Grainfather temp display.
Will get some Iodine for mash conversion testing - Maybe need to lower mash temp a couple degrees? Longer rest?
Will check carbonation levels again tonight, see where they're at.

Would like to figure this out as not to repeat!

There seems to be two issues here:-
1. Est Mash efficiency @ 76.60% Vs Measured Mash efficiency @ 67.60% 
2. Est Attenuation @ 67.90% Vs Measured Attenuation @ 59.40%

[Visor]

 I would never intentionally mash at those temps, especially with that O.G., unless I wanted to wind up with syrup which is about what you got.

[jeffy]

I would never intentionally mash at those temps, especially with that O.G., unless I wanted to wind up with syrup which is about what you got.

His mash temp was 154F, not out of range.