I had recently brewed an imperial stout. og was 1.095 but only finished at 1.040. 1.023 was the goal. I already racked it to the secondary. Would you think this would be overly sweet or cloying or worse would it taste like unfermented wort? Thanks.
Can I still add a champagne yeast even after I already racked it to the secondary?
Depending on the recipe, it’s possible that it finished that high, but I kind of doubt it. Even if it tastes good, there could be problems. Are you bottling or kegging it? More importantly, why did you rack it before you thought it was finished?
You can add more yeast in secondary, but your best bet is to pitch an active starter. Adding dry yeast probably won’t do anything.
How long was it in primary? If you had it in primary for at least 6 weeks, and you roused the yeast each week, then that yeast is probably done. Was it an all-grain recipe or extract? Did you aerate the wort? What yeast was it? Did you add unfermentable sugars?
It’s possible that if you made a starter and pitched at high kraeusen, you’d get it to ferment down a bit, or you could try a higher attenuative yeast, or warming it up a bit.
After I tried champagne yeast the first time and nothing happened I racked it because I felt it sitting on yeast too long(7 weeks) so I racked it off. Now I wonder if I should just keg it as a sweet beer or try something else. I just don’t want unfermented worty taste. I’ve tried samples and think its pretty good but hard to tell at that stage.
This may change everyone opinions. I mashed at 157F for an hour. Way too high. I got this temp from a gold medal recipe. I was skeptical about mashing at this temp.
157°F for 60 min is a reasonable schedule for an RIS.
How sweet do you think it will be missing the mark by 15 points?
If this is the case, it might be done fermenting. I wouldn’t have racked it unless you were certain it was 100% done fermenting. No way I would mash a RIS at 157 F. I’d do it at about 148-149 F. At a final gravity of 1.040 it probably tastes way too sweet.
You might want to add a gallon or two of very actively fermenting wort, and keep fermentation above 70 F. You could also try adding some yeast energizer, as that’s been successful for many of my stuck high gravity brews. All these actions might be fruitless, but would take fermentation as far as possible.
Try tasting it. It’ll probably be a little harsh on the pallet this young, but you’ll get a much better sense of how sweet the final product will be.
In my experience the only thing that changes in a big stout is the blending and mellowing of the darker grains and any late/dry hops. The sweetness will remain the same.
If all else fails, you could pitch some brett…
Are you testing gravity with a hydrometer or refractometer? You have to adjust a refractometer’s reading because of the alcohol.
If all else fails, you could pitch some brett…
Or lacto…
or pedio…
A lactobacilus sourness is actually pretty nice in a stout. The sourness would balance the sweetness nicely.
[quote=“fimbrew”]If all else fails, you could pitch some brett…
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Good idea…
