Imperial Stout with adjuncts question

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Windfisher, May 3, 2015.

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  1. Windfisher

    Windfisher Initiate (0) Dec 1, 2014 California

    I have an imperial stout in secondary that when we put it in secondary added 3lbs of sweet cherry purée, vanilla beans, chocolate nibs, and whiskey soaked oak. The original gravity was 1.113 and taking it out of primary with a 1.053.
    Going into secondary we pitched a second yeast white labs WLP099. My question is how will the sugars and additional yeast affect my final gravity and ultimately the ABV of the finished beer?
     
    #1 Windfisher, May 3, 2015
  2. gcg49

    gcg49 Initiate (0) Dec 29, 2014 Texas

    Well, it sounds like you moved it to secondary before it was finished fermenting, or the fermentation was stuck. Assuming the yeast gets going, the FG should go down and the ABV should go up... Did you make a starter?
     
    #2 gcg49, May 3, 2015
  3. inchrisin

    inchrisin Pooh-Bah (2,013) Sep 25, 2008 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah

    It's hard to say with the information provided. This could go one of two ways: You either still have something fermentable from primary, and the second yeast will drop your FG down into a more dirnkable level, or you hit FG, which is really high for some reason. More info on the recipe and pitch rate would help here.

    You added cherries. The water content nearly negates the amount of alcohol you will get from fermenting cherries. Vanilla, oak and chocolate won't ferment. Most likely the second yeast will take you down into the 20s or 30s for a FG and you'll lose a little more of your cherry flavor to fermentation.
     
    #3 inchrisin, May 4, 2015
  4. Windfisher

    Windfisher Initiate (0) Dec 1, 2014 California

    The recipe had close to 25 lbs of grain. Mashed in at 154 deg. sparged at 172. There should be a fair amount of un-fermentable sugars as well.
    The final gravity held the same reading for 2 days before moving to secondary. I did use a starter, for both yeasts. The primary fermentation was robust! The kind that produces so much foam I needed to go to a blow off tube instead of an airlock. There is also some fermentation going on in secondary.
     
    #4 Windfisher, May 4, 2015
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