Attempting to Fix a Poor Brew after Bottling

[OlsBean]

Totally unsure what title to use to describe my issue so MOD's please feel free to change, if you can think of something more descriptive.

I brewed Bulldogs Easter Chocolate Stout before Christmas pretty much as is apart from adding 400g of Lactose halfway through the Primary Fermentation and brewing it slightly short at 20L instead of 23L.

I bottled (360ml bottles) on Christmas Eve (SG 10.060 FG 10.014), gave it a full 2 weeks in the warmth to carbonate then put it outside, in the cold to condition.

After a few weeks it has slightly poor carbonation, a complete lack of head retention, practically no bitterness and I can only describe it as being overall very thin.

I know that time may well help with some of the issues but I was going to try an experiment a little, I am bringing in 6 bottles today, I'm going warm them, open them, add a pinch of yeast (I have a tub of Youngs General Brewing Yeast) a 1/4 of tsp of sugar and I might add to 2 or 3 bottles a drop of liquid Bittering Hops Concentrate I have left over from a Brew Barrel Alpine IPA kit. Recap them and leave them to carb up again. I'm guessing these steps won't fix the head retention and I was wondering if anyone else had any experience of trying to fix an undesirable brew after racking? Is there anything else I could try experimenting with, would for example adding a little more Lactose to the bottle help?

I know there are very mixed reviews about this particular kit but it was a Birthday Kit.

TIA

 

[IainM]

A bit of maltodextrin might help with the head retention.

 

[Sadfield]

Instead of fighting against the lack of body, you could work with it. Turn it from a Stout into a Pale Ale.

Hops have a number of benefits, they provide bitterness, flavour and are foam positive. A strong hop tea, ideally of American hops, would add bitterness, flavour and help the head retention issue, and could turn your lacklustre Stout into a Black IPA, after priming with sugar and yeast.

 

[OlsBean]

Instead of fighting against the lack of body, you could work with it. Turn it from a Stout into a Pale Ale.

Hops have a number of benefits, they provide bitterness, flavour and are foam positive. A strong hop tea, ideally of American hops, would add bitterness, flavour and help the head retention issue, and could turn your lacklustre Stout into a Black IPA, after priming with sugar and yeast.

I had a Black IPA the other week at Brewdog which I enjoyed, not sure that in this case it would work well as this particular Stout is extremely chocolaty.

 

[OlsBean]

Just finished adding the additions to the bottles, first 6 bottles was kind of a disaster, I opened all 6 at once added the yeast to each one, by the time I went to add the sugar, the first bottle was foaming out of the top, bit like when a Mentos Mint is added to Cola. I quickly re-capped those ones without adding sugar. So I did another 6 and was more prepared with this in mind. I added sugar and yeast to each one, one at a time, quickly re-capping before moving on to the next one.

 

[Clint]

Regarding ibu. ..stouts are generally lower...20-40 with imperial being higher 60 (?) Looking in the gh book...so if you prefer or primarily drink higher ibu beer this may be your perception of it.
If it definitely isn't off I'd leave it and try a bottle every week or fortnight. ..

 

[Thumper]

A bit of maltodextrin might help with the head retention.

Tesco do an artificial sweetener which is chemically identical to splenda- 99% maltodextrin, 1% sucralose. £1 a pot. You could use that.

 

[Clint]

Why add lactose to the brew then complain about lack of bitterness. ..? The lactose is unfermentable so would work against the bittering in the kit ...you have likely changed the kit to a chocolate MILK stout....

 

[terrym]

I was going to suggest you left it. Its a strong beer that you have brewed, that will benefit from a long conditioning period imo, especially since there are complex flavours in there. You could have brought them back into the warm, given them more time to carb up. If there is a smidgin of yeast present it will eventually work on the sugars, perhaps it just needed time (although you didn't tell us how much priming sugar you initially added). And after this period out to storage again. The extended conditioning time may also benefit the head retention, something to do with smaller bubbles after longer conditioning as I understand it.

 

[BeerCat]

I have been thinking of making a hop tea that i keep in the fridge to dose up dull beers. Maybe 2 weeks is not long enough to carb beers at this time of year. Some of mine are taking ages.

 

[Sadfield]

Mmmmmmm.........chocolate orange IPA......"show me the way to amarillooooo..."

 

[OlsBean]

Why add lactose to the brew then complain about lack of bitterness. ..? The lactose is unfermentable so would work against the bittering in the kit ...you have likely changed the kit to a chocolate MILK stout....

Probably inexperience, this was I think only my 3rd kit and I am still very inexperienced, I was adding it ironically as I thought it might help with head retention. Maybe it has and if it has then I would hate to see what this stout is like without it.

Edit, checking my notes it was only 300g of Lactose.

 

[OlsBean]

I was going to suggest you left it. Its a strong beer that you have brewed, that will benefit from a long conditioning period imo, especially since there are complex flavours in there. You could have brought them back into the warm, given them more time to carb up. If there is a smidgin of yeast present it will eventually work on the sugars, perhaps it just needed time (although you didn't tell us how much priming sugar you initially added). And after this period out to storage again. The extended conditioning time may also benefit the head retention, something to do with smaller bubbles after longer conditioning as I understand it.

Batch primed with 90g of Sugar. I have 54 Bottle minus the 12 I have already doctored left so I will leave those now to see how they come on.

 

[Clint]

It's all a learning curve...I'm sure it won't go to waste!

 

[terrym]

Probably inexperience, this was I think only my 3rd kit and I am still very inexperienced, I was adding it ironically as I thought it might help with head retention. Maybe it has and if it has then I would hate to see what this stout is like without it.

Edit, checking my notes it was only 300g of Lactose.

I think if you have just started homebrewing its best not to try to try to change things too quickly, especially since you don't really know what you are doing, although we have all done it. By all means introduce changes but a little at a time. And if you are doing kits its best to try a new one more or less unchanged to see what its like, but if you think you need to change it, do something you have tried on another beer so that you know how it will work.
That aside I used to use lactose years ago, and frankly never really liked it, and dumping 300g into a beer may just have turned it into something completely different to what the original kit was like, but perhaps now you will never know.

 

[terrym]

Batch primed with 90g of Sugar. I have 54 Bottle minus the 12 I have already doctored left so I will leave those now to see how they come on.

How was the priming sugar mixed in? Could it be it wasnt mixed properly.

 

[Thumper]

I think if you have just started homebrewing its best not to try to try to change things too quickly, especially since you don't really know what you are doing,

I modded my fourth kit with some unhopped liquid extract from H&B, as well as coffee and black treacle. Theres not enough IBUs to balance the malt and ABV, and the twang... my god, THE TWANG!

It's starting to condition out now and it's turning into a decent stout, but it's never going to be a masterpiece. I'll try and keep a few bottles long term, though, just to see what happens.

 

[terrym]

I have just done a small extract brew based on 3 jars H&B LME to try something out. I bottled it today and the taster was fine. I have used it before and that was OK too. However in the past I have used LME specifically sold for home brewing and that did have the dreaded twang. So where's the logic in that??!!

 

[OlsBean]

How was the priming sugar mixed in? Could it be it wasnt mixed properly.

I would like to think it was mixed well, added as a syrup to the bottling bucket first, siphoned into that and gently stirred it before bottling.

 

[Thumper]

I have just done a small extract brew based on 3 jars H&B LME to try something out. I bottled it today and the taster was fine. I have used it before and that was OK too. However in the past I have used LME specifically sold for home brewing and that did have the dreaded twang. So where's the logic in that??!!

Mine was good on bottling, too. Tasted like black treacle and coffee! The twang seemed to increase then decrease again through the conditioning phase.