HELP! SG too high

AGbrewer

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So i've got the following brew going, but it still has about 1.5 gallons to boil off and it is already at 1.130 SG and will likely end up at 1.155 or more for 5.5 gallons in the fermenter!

Any ideas?

I've got a 3.5 liter starter that was stepped up 3 times with a 2 liter starter each time. Imperial A-10 is the yeast, which should do up to at least 13%. I've also got a wlp 099 super high gravity yeast that I can use which goes up to 25% but have heard mixed results on that one. Though I have used it before in this recipie, just haven't tasted the final product, still aging on whiskey chips. I've also got the Edinburgh Scottish Ale Yeast WLP028 that should do somewhat over 13%
 
That's a big beer!

I can't speak to using yeasts at that gravity, but maybe you can add some water to bring the gravity back in line? Or just don't boil as long? Bonus beer!

It's probably too late already so I hope you handled the "problem" successfully.
 
That's a big beer!

I can't speak to using yeasts at that gravity, but maybe you can add some water to bring the gravity back in line? Or just don't boil as long? Bonus beer!

It's probably too late already so I hope you handled the "problem" successfully.

I only have a 6.5 gallon fermenter, so I have to boil it down as this is going to require a blow off tube already. I'll probably just throw some of the 099 in after about 3 - 5 days. That's what I did last time, but this time, I came in at 1.154 where as 1.134 is where I was supposed to come in.

This one is going to have to age a while...
 
One thing you might consider is adding a champagne yeast towards the end of fermentation. These have alcohol tolerance in the range of 18%. They ferment very clean and neutral and should not affect the flavor profile. This yeast would be added after you have reached about 10-12% alcohol.

If you leave a lot of unfermented sugar, your final product will be sweeter than you might have been shooting for.
 
One thing you might consider is adding a champagne yeast towards the end of fermentation. These have alcohol tolerance in the range of 18%. They ferment very clean and neutral and should not affect the flavor profile. This yeast would be added after you have reached about 10-12% alcohol.

If you leave a lot of unfermented sugar, your final product will be sweeter than you might have been shooting for.


I have some CBC, is that the same thing as the Champagne yeast?

Also, would it possibly go lower that what I wanted if I used Champagne yeast? I'm shooting for no less than 1.030 as I've made this 4 times now and have figured out that 1.030 is about right for this particular brew for what i want in a finished beer. That is a bit high, but if you look at various other RIS or BDSA beers from Goose Island, Firestone Walker, and others, it is right in line with their FG numbers.
 
I have some CBC, is that the same thing as the Champagne yeast?

Also, would it possibly go lower that what I wanted if I used Champagne yeast? I'm shooting for no less than 1.030 as I've made this 4 times now and have figured out that 1.030 is about right for this particular brew for what i want in a finished beer. That is a bit high, but if you look at various other RIS or BDSA beers from Goose Island, Firestone Walker, and others, it is right in line with their FG numbers.
Don't know what CBC is. A couple of ways to know it's champagne yeast is if it's Prise de Mousse or Lalvin's EC 1118.
 
So i've got the following brew going, but it still has about 1.5 gallons to boil off and it is already at 1.130 SG and will likely end up at 1.155 or more for 5.5 gallons in the fermenter!

Any ideas?

I've got a 3.5 liter starter that was stepped up 3 times with a 2 liter starter each time. Imperial A-10 is the yeast, which should do up to at least 13%. I've also got a wlp 099 super high gravity yeast that I can use which goes up to 25% but have heard mixed results on that one. Though I have used it before in this recipie, just haven't tasted the final product, still aging on whiskey chips. I've also got the Edinburgh Scottish Ale Yeast WLP028 that should do somewhat over 13%
What if you leave some wort behind, fill your fermenter to the desired level and save the rest to pour on your ice cream.
 
What if you leave some wort behind, fill your fermenter to the desired level and save the rest to pour on your ice cream.

Yeah, it's already in the fermenter and had a blow out. Luckily i had a blowoff tube installed. lots of gunk in the discharge reservoir.

Tasted it before it went into the fermenter, and it would have been great on icecream!
 
Question: How low is too low for a RIS this big?

I pitched wlp-099 on day 4 and the SG is currently at 1.040 and it will likely drop to somewhere between 1.025 and 1.035 based on the other 3 times I've brewed this beer (unless the 099 kicks into high gear).
 
Question: How low is too low for a RIS this big?

I pitched wlp-099 on day 4 and the SG is currently at 1.040 and it will likely drop to somewhere between 1.025 and 1.035 based on the other 3 times I've brewed this beer (unless the 099 kicks into high gear).
I'm assuming four weeks in the fermenter when I'm doing a RIS. I have got it out earlier, but I've also had close to two months when I tried WLP099 after a couple of weeks on US05 after a bad mash.
 
I'm assuming four weeks in the fermenter when I'm doing a RIS. I have got it out earlier, but I've also had close to two months when I tried WLP099 after a couple of weeks on US05 after a bad mash.

I'm planning on about 3 weeks and primary total. I suppose that for wouldn't hurt, but I will be doing another month and secondary anyways. do you think that pulling it off after three weeks in hurtthe primary if I'm going to do 4 weeks in a primary anyways?

Guess it's really a question of how long it would be safe to be left in the primary
 
Actually went and checked the brew logs instead of trying to remember. The five batches of RIS I've done have been packaged between days 36-40 since brew day. That's just primary fermentation. I'm sure I could have done them earlier, but life just gets in the way if it's not part of the rolling fortnight schedule.

I've pushed a few to bulk aging in a secondary fermenter at the same time as bottling half the batch. The bulk aged beer was transferred to keg and force carbonated after six months.

i've not really enjoyed the bulk aged beer compared to the bottles. Next time I'm going to push half straight to the keg and keg condition. Hopefully that makes it closer to the taste I'm getting from the bottled beer. Probably a few more experiments to go to work out how to do the bulk aging properly.
 
Actually went and checked the brew logs instead of trying to remember. The five batches of RIS I've done have been packaged between days 36-40 since brew day. That's just primary fermentation. I'm sure I could have done them earlier, but life just gets in the way if it's not part of the rolling fortnight schedule.

I've pushed a few to bulk aging in a secondary fermenter at the same time as bottling half the batch. The bulk aged beer was transferred to keg and force carbonated after six months.

i've not really enjoyed the bulk aged beer compared to the bottles. Next time I'm going to push half straight to the keg and keg condition. Hopefully that makes it closer to the taste I'm getting from the bottled beer. Probably a few more experiments to go to work out how to do the bulk aging properly.

@Mark Farrall , Interesting that you preferred the bottle conditioned rather than the bulk aged. I wonder why there would be a flavor difference if it is being aged the same amount of time. Perhaps got some oxygen in the bottles when bottling? Very curious.

My plan was to do a bulk age with all my RIS, but for some reason I keep bottling them after they have barrel aged for 1 month (whiskey chips). However, you have given me a good idea to try an exbeeriment (copyright pending...). I will try a long bulk age on half (6 months) and bottle age the other half of this one to see how it tastes. Both halves will spend 1 month in secondary with whiskey chips (this is a pseudo Goose Island Bourbon County Stout clone). Once that time is up, I will bottle half. The big question after that is:
  1. Should I move the remaining 2.5 gallons out of the keg and into a 3 gallon fermenter to reduce the head space available?
  2. Or should I just simply leave it in the keg that it is currently sitting in?
My first thought was to move it, but on second thought, I could just simply add Co2 to the keg headspace to purge any oxygen and then leave it in the keg until bottling time in the fall.

Thoughts?
 
My bulk aged and force carbonated RIS tasted harsher and more metallic. I'm pretty sure it's going to be some oxidation difference between the approaches. Now to work out the most controlled way to achieve the right amount over a decent amount of time. I was also using swing top bottles previously and they showed the oxidation the earliest. I'm planning to cap more of the bottled beer this time and drink the swing tops first. Oxidation in the swing tops seems to take over some time around six months (or I need to replace the seals).

I thought the added CO2 into the fermenter would make sense. Or just leave it and recognise that it's probably going to be the leading edge for oxidation and so needs to be drunk first once it's bottled.
 

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