Last night I moved an Imperial Stout from primary to secondary. Before pitching I measured an OG of 1.101 which was just what I was shooting for (in the 1.1 range). My gravity reading last night after racking to secondary was 1.028 which was slightly higher than what I’m looking for. My goal was to hit an FG of somewhere in the 1.020 to 1.025 range. I hopped it enough that even at 1.028 it didn’t taste too sweet (had a very nice/bitter dark chocolate aftertaste) however I would like to dry it out and bump up ABV a little bit more to bring out the warmer alcohol notes.
What ideas do folks have for dropping gravity just a little? We’re talking no more than 10 points… any and all suggestions are welcome.
Extract-based recipe or AG? If extract, you’re likely done. The easiest way to get a few more points of attenuation would be to have left it in primary on the yeast cake until you reached your target gravity - racking off the yeast with a high ABV and not much fermentables leaves you with no easy options. If you have a fresh batch brewing, you could try scooping some of the krausen off and adding it, or you could make a big starter and pitch when it shows krausen - what you need is some strong, active yeast (assuming that there’s anything left to ferment).
Extract based recipe. I left it in primary for three and a half weeks - was definitely done fermenting on that, as I’d checked gravity a couple of times and it had stalled before I racked yesterday. What I’m worried about in adding additional healthy yeast is dropping the gravity too low. Would adding a smaller amount of active yeast work for that? Thanks for the quick reply!
adding more wont drop the gravity. The yeast from primary fermentation likely exhausted their food supply the first time around. For extract i think youre around the right FG but that depends on the recipe i suppose
It sounds like the beer is finished. You could lower the gravity by adding some simple sugar, but you’d also probably want to pitch additional yeast, and it would also change the beer fundamentally.
Your best option is just to keep good notes so that you remember to adjust the recipe next time.
