stronger beer?

[otuatail]

Hi hade a brewpacks beer some time ago and I felt it could have been a bit stronger. This Time I added 1K sugar even though it said it didn't need it. After adding the sugar the SG came to 1046 which using on-line calculators came to 5.5%. Very strange!
However these are the daily SG readings.
Day 1 1036
Day 2 1026
Day 3 1016
Day 4 1012
Day 5 1010

It seems to put the breaks on after a time and go on a preverbial GO SLOW. It is still fermenting but at an incredibly slow rate. Any Ideas? Too much sugar? Only 5.5% acording to on-line calculators. I am using an independant yeast which has a higher temperature range. Safale s-40

TIA

Desmond.

 

[anthonyUK]

Adding more sugar will increase the alcohol but probably not the flavour (body).
If this is what you intended then OK but to increase the body simply add less water or more DME/LME.

 

[robsan77]

1046 to 1010 is 4.8% :wha: and you probably wont get much more fermentation below that. My beers usually are done by 5 days and then I leave them for a few days just to clean up the unwanted flavours.

 

[otuatail]

Hi robsan77
Thanks for that. What you mean is that extra sugar will not make a very strong beer and there is a cut off point. You could not make 7%. This is probably what is happening and something is shutting down. The yeast is supposed to handle it.

If I have this Bruepack that claims 4.3% No sugar needed and i pitch in 1K of it. The reading only goes to 1046. Now down to 1008. (5%) Makes me wonder if idid not put any sugar in it would it be alcohal free nearly.

What do you recomend? but it in pressure barral and
Put some sugar in as well or leave it to eat whats left?
Add a little pressure? 2lb?
Add some finnings (egg white)?

TIA

Desmond.

 

[graysalchemy]

Sugar does not add any flavour or body to your beer what you get is a dillution to the taste of the beer but an increase in strength. The reason for this is when we mash our own wort we use a temp which produces fermetable sugars (for alcohol) and unfermentables (for flavour body and mouth feel).

To get a stonger beer but still with depth, body and flavour try using some Dry malt extract as robsan77 sugested, instead of the sugar. Failing that if you are not bothered about your beer tasting of beer just ferment up a bag of sugar in a gallon of water and you will end up with dishwater but it will be 11% :lol: :lol:

 

[otuatail]

I am well aware that extra sugar does not add body to beer or taste, but what he said was that after 5%, fermintation will stop regardless of how much sugar you use.
"and you probably wont get much more fermentation below that"
I also asked for recomendations as to what to do next by barreling the beer.

. What do you recomend? but it in pressure barral and
. Put some sugar in as well or leave it to eat whats left?
. Add a little pressure? 2lb?
. Add some finnings (egg white)?

 

[graysalchemy]

No what he said was that a beer of 1048 going down to 1010 will give you 4.8%. What he was saying you will not get it to ferment much below 1010, but obviously you have. Adding more sugar will increase the ABV but this will be dependent on your yeast and its health many of us on here with care have achieved beers of 7-8% with normal yeast.

As for your other questions I don't use a pressure barrel myself but with regards to fining you could leave it on a cold concrete floor for a week or so this will help the yeast drop out or you could use a little bit of gelatin dissolved in half a cup of water at about 85c, then poured into the fv. Personally I found most the beers I have done have cleared naturally.

 

[StubbsPKS]

I am well aware that extra sugar does not add body to beer or taste, but what he said was that after 5%, fermintation will stop regardless of how much sugar you use.
"and you probably wont get much more fermentation below that"
I also asked for recomendations as to what to do next by barreling the beer.

. What do you recomend? but it in pressure barral and
. Put some sugar in as well or leave it to eat whats left?
. Add a little pressure? 2lb?
. Add some finnings (egg white)?

Yeast, when healthy, have a certain level of attenuation that they can be expected to achieve. This is how people can predict the final gravity of their brews.

However, if the yeast is not healthy, or temps are off (or a host of other reasons), the yeast may not reach this level.

I think your main question should be "Why did adding a kilo of sugar only bring the OG to 1048?" as that would be my question. Did you dissolve the sugar in some water or wort first? If not, did you mix it REALLY well to make sure it was dissolved?

As for your next step, I would say if the gravity readings have been stable for 2-3 days, it's time to rack, prime and bottle/keg.

 

[anthonyUK]

..I think your main question should be "Why did adding a kilo of sugar only bring the OG to 1048?"

We are assuming a 23l batch. Please update if this is incorrect

BTW - What kit was it? It was one of their 2 can kits?

 

[TheMumbler]

(snip)After adding the sugar the SG came to 1046 which using on-line calculators came to 5.5%. Very strange!(snip)

Which online calculator are you using, and how did you arrive at your FG for estimation?

What you mean is that extra sugar will not make a very strong beer and there is a cut off point. You could not make 7%. This is probably what is happening and something is shutting down. The yeast is supposed to handle it.

No that wasn't what he meant at all, but hopefully that has been cleared up already. When you say "the yeast is supposed to handle it" what do you mean?

As anthonyuk said, everybody will be assuming that this is a 23l batch (i.e. 23l total volume of wort after you have mixed your the water and kit contents). Is that correct? If so is that the volume that the kit recommends?

Did you measure the gravity of the wort before adding the sugar?

 

[otuatail]

No I didn't messure the SG before adding the sugar. I just wanted to increase the 4.3% to 5.5%. What I need help on now is. Do I leave it for another week to go down to 1008 (presently 1008). If I put it into the barrel what should I do as it is still fermenting very slowly. As above.

. What do you recomend? but it in pressure barral and
. Put some sugar in as well or leave it to eat whats left?
. Add a little pressure? 2lb?
. Add some finnings (egg white)?

Just to get this batch working

TIA

Desmond.

 

[otuatail]

Ok I will barrel it. I used to use raw ingreadents years ago with a breing bucket and heater. This would drop down from 1040 to nearly 1000 and I would put it into the barrel then. Never had a problem getting it as low as 1005. Must be these kits don't go that low. Will leave it in a cold place with a little added pressure and if it dosn't clear will add egg white.

 

[graysalchemy]

Good luck if you want beer as thin as water then :sick: :sick:

 

[TheMumbler]

I doubt Saf04 will drop any more from my experience of it, it isn't all that attenuatuve, but you do have quite a high proportion of sugar which will mean a lower than usual FG so I suppose it might. I've never used the Brupak kits so I really can't comment on them.

If you have 3 stable gravity over 3 days then you should be fine to stick it in the barrel. Prime or not as you prefer. If you do prime remember the barrel will need to stay in the warm for another week or so. If you don't prime you'll obviously need to add some CO2. Personally, I never bother with auxillary finings. I just put the beer in the cellar and wait. I'm not all that fussy about clarity.

hope it turns out OK