Woodforde's Admiral's Reserve cock up :( - advice needed

[BrewStew]

ok, i think my measuring lines on my bucket for my admirals reserve are miles out after calculating my ABV. i think too much water got put in

OG was 1.032 and is now 1.011 which is a mere 2.8%
it's now on day 8 in the fermenter and have had steady readings for 2 days.

if i chuck in say 500g of light spraymalt now and give it a gentle stir, what are the odds of it working to achieve a higher ABV but still half decent taste? will i need more yeast?

[StevieR]

Brewstew, I've read quite a few posts on the forum where others have made this mistake....I think most of the fermenter marking are way out.

I would have thought that it would be fine to add the spraymalt at this stage.

I'm assuming that if you note the increase in SG this gives you at this point you should still be able to calculate the final alcohol content

Hopefully one of the more experienced brewers should be along soon to add their comments too.

Either way, let us know what happens.

[Chris The Fish]

as long as there is viable yeast in there in theory it should break down the excess spray malt and give alcohol.

if your looking at a beer at 2.8% id say go for it, what have you got to loose?

ive got a wheat beer on the go at the mo which is barely 3.5% and its taking me ages to drink it, its just too weak to gain pleasure from.

If you have some yeast nutrient id stick some of this in as well just to be on the safe side.

so,

Boil up some water and add the spray malt (not too much water now!)
then add some yeast vit to the wort
then add the sugar solution and gently stir, making sure you rouse the yeast at the bottom.
Then take a reading, if your at 1011 now, and after the extra spray malt it comes out at 1020 (this is a hypothetical example), then add the 9 extra points onto the initial SG and see where you end up.

this may be bad advice but after a little think i reckon you cant go far wrong as long as you dont oxidise the wort.

as for pitching more yeast, if there is no activity after 2/3 days then go for a repitch.

If this still doesnt work, rack the beer and then add a bottle of vodka to spice the little up (im serious, cant let good beer go to waste )

as my experience of brewing is down to 13 brews so far, this may be completly bonkers advice - but if i dont work at least youll have 30 odd pints of vodkabeer...

[BrewStew]

ok, i went for it... boiled some water, added 500g of light spraymalt, slowly poured it into the fermenter onto the back of my sterilised plastic spoon so as not to airate it. then i stirred the beer making sure i got the yeast back into suspension. all was fine, took a hydro reading and it was only 6 points higher (1.017). if it stops again at 1.012, then by my calcs that'll only be around 3.5% .

the good news is, this morning it had a nice head on it so i'm guessing the yeast isnt knackered

i've sent the missus to the brew shop to get me more spraymalt as i recon it'll need more.


MORE bad news though, i started the john bull wheat beer last night. and intentionally only added the water to the 4.75gal/22 litres mark so there'll be no wastage when i put it in my cornie (and to bump the strength up a bit) the OG only came in at 1.035 !?! which makes me wonder how weak it'd have been had i gone to the full 5 gallon mark!

[CrownCap]

BrewStew, reckon we ought to get together for a bit of blending - I've got a Muntons Smugglers Special that stuck so I added dry beer enzyme and its now knocking on 6.5% and still going Between us we might be able to mix up a reasonable pint

[BrewStew]

6.5%

have you tasted it yet ?

i'm hesitant to let the yeast eat up all the flavour with mine so hope the spraymalt works *fingers crossed*

failing that i recon your plan of mixing yours with mine in two cornies sounds good , we'll take a cornie and a tap on my bar each a see who can drink the most

[CrownCap]

Only tasted from the sample jar so far (still in secondary). Its still got a decent body and taste but the alcohol is starting to come through now. It's going to be quite a warmer!

On a more serious note (well as serious as it get round here) if you're adding more malt I'd go for a hopped variety or else you will start to unbalance the beer since the bitterness in the original kit won't be sufficient to cut through the extra sugar added.

[BrewStew]

My local brewshop has run out of yeast vit so i took the plunge and added another 500g LSM to the admirals which should bring it to a respectable 4.2%, so i just hope the flavours ok now *fingers crossed*

same story with the wheat beer - stirred it up with 1KG LSM and that should hit a pleasant target of 4.5%. again (and especially as it's supposed to be a wheat beer) i hope the flavour holds.

if this is gunna happen to every kit i brew i'll be joining the 'dark side' of AG much sooner than i first planned

[CrownCap]

I think its time to measure out and mark up your fermenter(s) BrewStrew. I did mine and found they weren't too far off, but I still marked off some 'exact' (give or take 1/2L i'd guess) measurements just to be sure. Once done there's no need to do it again.

[BrewStew]

wasn't the bucket marks on the wheat beer this time... I pre measured and marked it, and I intentionally UNDER filled with water by 8 pints to exactly fit in a corny later. the kit was a 3kg tin... about half a kilo lighter than the woodforde's ones are. wonder if that had something to do with it.

[CrownCap]

The 3kg kits should generally weight in at an OG of about 1040 with a 23L brew length giving an ABV of 4% (with 75% apparent attenuation).

The 3.6kg kits should have an OG around 1048 to give an ABV of 4.8%. There are of course slight differences in the amount of fermentable sugars but they will never be too far off that mark.

The best way to tweak those values slightly is by varying the brew length, and generally those kits aiming to give a higher ABV do just that. I have a Brupaks POY IPA waiting to go and that recommends a 20L brew length.

[J_P]

I'd agree with crowncap on this and mark out exact measurements on your fermenter and work to those. Both of mine were way off.

[fivetide]

I fill another bucket, treat with Campden then pour into FV from height using a litre or two litre jug. this keeps things accurate and helps with the aeration too. Arrived at this method more by luck than any cunning plan though, I must admit.

[BrewStew]

well after only 2 days in the pressure barrel it's tasting lurvely it launched itself into the glass and had to be left to settle as the glass was full of soft smooth and creamy foam. the tcp flavour and smell has subsided a little, so i think it'll be ok (campden tablets on standby for the next brew)

all in all... RESULT! i recon i saved it.. and thanks go to y'all for helping out

[iowalad]

Another potential issue is hydrometer calibration and adjustment for temperature.

My hydrometer measures .002 high. You can test it in water - it should read 1.000 at 15C/60F. Even if you are spot with this test your hydro could still be off.

Secondly are you adjusting your measurements for temperature?

http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixA.html

Having accurate measures on the FV is a must have for me.

Good luck.