Hello,
This is my second batch and the water got hot too fast so I ended up mashing my specially grains from my extract kit at a high temp.
Fermentation took off pretty well but it might have had a shorter fermentation period than my Irish Red. I’ve read about using Amylase to help with a high temp mash batch.
So, should I buy this enzyme and use it with my batch?
TIA
What grains were used and what temp were they held at? Specialty grains don’t need to be mashed. I think what you’re referring to is steeping. Complex sugars are already broken down in specialty grains. All that needs to be done is a steep to solubilize and extract them.
Regardless of what grain you used, I would just let it ferment out. Have you taken a hydrometer reading?
If I’m correct Amylase is used primarily for conversion of starch to sugar. If you’re using extract with specialty grains this isn’t likely an issue for you. One possible negative of steeping your specialty grains at too high a temp is astringency, but I wouldn’t worry too much about it.
Specialty grains were:
0.75 lbs English Medium Crystal Malt
0.5 lbs Belgian Biscuit Malt
This was for White House Honey Ale. OG was 1.085
Temp was around 185
Will the beer still be tasty just taste like a different beer style?
Yep, a little mix up on terminology but that’s ok. You were steeping your specialty grains which is different than conducting a mash. If it were actually mashing you would have more problems but since it was just steeping for color/flavor you will be ok most likely. There could be some astringent characteristics but at this point there is nothing to be done about that. Don’t worry though, when I started there were times when I stepped away and accidentally boiled by grain bag… Still drinkable. Not what you want to do but life goes on and beer gets drank.
:cheers:
Your beer will turn out just fine as inhousebrew has indicated. You weren’t really doing a mash for this beer, just a steep, so the temperatures don’t matter as much.
I would avoid any purchase or use of any enzyme for fixing stuck fermentations. I have used it before, and it ruins the beer. Don’t do it.
I bottled this today and it seems like it is going to be great. I tasted it and I can’t believe how good it tastes already. I will be having this as soon as it gets carbonated.
The White House Honey Ale is a nice kit, I’ve done that and the Honey Porter. As a rule, you shouldn’t mix beer and politics, but one thing you have to give the current administration, is that the kitchen can make a decent beer. (I’d love to know more about the recipes than just being attributed to the White House)
Did you add a couple more pounds of honey? I ask because that OG seems high; 1.085 versus the kit’s expected 1.062. Adding more sugar will raise the OG, and eventual ABV. But a typical issue for extract brews, is that it’s hard to get the top-off water properly mixed in. It’s a non-issue really because the yeast also stir for you, but it can wildly throw off OG readings. A bad OG reading then invalidates your ABV calculations. Extract kits generally hit the mark assuming top-off to 5 gal, and no recipe deviations. So if your OG was off due to stratification, just use the kit’s number when you compute ABV. Also, if you’re using a bucket, make sure gallon lines are printed in the right place, I’ve had two buckets off by a quart or more.
I didn’t use any extra honey or sugars. I did make this out of an extract kit, I guess I should have shaken up fermentor before taking reading. I’ll do that next time, I assumed I had a high SG becauce of my high temp steeping.
