Hi everyone, I brewed an APA a couple weeks ago. The OG was 1.053, right where I wanted it. I used US-05, rehydrated, and expected it to finish around 1.011 or so. Fermentation is done, and I just checked the gravity. It went all the way to 1.007 (87% aa). I tasted it, and it does seem a bit too dried out. Should I a) let it ride, b) add some lactose at bottling to replace a bit of the sweetness and body, c) something else? I'd love some suggestions, because I am torn about what to do. Thanks!
Personally, I'd let it ride. If you feel the need to add some body, I'd use maltodextrin over lactose in this case.
I think I would just leave it alone, rather than mess around with adding anything post fermentation. How sure are you about those gravity readings? Either this was a very fermentable wort (post grain bill and mash temps please), or there is an error in measurement, or there's something else eating what would normally be your non-fermentables. Edit: in addition to the grain bill and mash temps, at what temperature(s) did you measure the gravities?
Agreed, let it go. Next time mash a bit higher and or add some carapils to the mash or maltodex to the boil.
VikeMan: This was an extract brew with steeped grains. I used NB pilsen extract syrup and a half-pound of dextrose as fermentables, with a half-pound of CaraRed, steeped. I used a perfectly calibrated refractometer to measure the gravities at appx. room temperature (70F) and converted the output using an online calculator. I knew the corn sugar would help it dry out a bit, but I didn't expect it to go this far. Considering that I am serving this beer to a whole bunch of people (and I don't have time to brew another batch), I think that I will try to improve the mouthfeel with a bit of maltodextrin at bottling. I'll take it easy, maybe 5 oz, which should raise the gravity for 5 gallons about .002 points, I think. Does that sound about right?
My advice to leave it alone wouldn't change along with the number of people who will be drinking it. BTW, 5 oz of maltodextrin (at 40 PPG) would raise the gravity of 5 gallons by about .0025
Thanks for the help. Is there anything weird or unpleasant that could result from me blending 4-5 oz. of maltodextrin in with the priming sugar immediately prior to bottling? Basically, I'm trying to assess the risk of adding maltodextrin - if it's a risky solution to a relatively small problem, I won't do it. But everything I've read re: maltodextrin suggests that it's pretty innocuous stuff, won't add much (if any) sweetness or flavor, and will serve to help the body of the beer. What could go wrong? (I've never used it before in any recipe, so I have no background with it myself)
Cool. I was planning on boiling it with my priming sugar, so that shouldn't be a problem. I'll take another gravity sample, make sure it's done at 1.007, and then add 4-5oz of MD at bottling to bump the batch to between 1.009-1.010. Thanks for the info, I appreciate it.
Maltodextrin is almost flavorless, but does add a tiny bit of sweetness along with body. I recently used it on a keg milk stout that wasn't quite as thick as it should be (didn't have lactose on hand), and comparing the beer pre and post maltodextrin (I beer gunned some bottles in case maltodextrin addition was a total fail) the post maltodextrin beer was a touch sweeter and a fair amount thicker (I used 1 lb/5 gallons). Personally, I'd leave the beer alone. If hell bent on altering it you can go for the maltodextrin, or potentially dry hop with some Citra or Amarillo, as I had a pale come out too dry and bitter, that after a second dry hop with the aforementioned hops, turned into a show stopper (almost like a session IPA).
Interesting that you'd mention that. Those are the hops I was planning to DH with anyway. On bottling day, I'll give it a taste and decide if those additional dry hops helped.
I have had beers finish lower then planed and I have had beers finish higher then planed and they all were good to drink!
