Needing help with back sweetening a brown ale

The sweetness won't come back, but it's a bit early to add more spices, IMHO. The beer may just need some time to settle, and develop. Though it would do so slower at cold temperatures.

If I were back sweetening with molasses, I would dissolve in just enough boiling water to thin it out enough so that it wouldn't just fall to the bottom of your keg. How thin you need to make isn't something I can really say.

You won't "kill" the yeast, but they will go into hibernation...and you can probably add the molasses at any time...just make sure to keep it in the fridge after you do.

 

Hmmm. I recall suggesting to use more molasses in the boil. George Washington style.

 

Which yeast did you use?

 

If you want medium gravity beers to finish sweet, try mashing at 160F and using a low attenuation yeast. Nottingham finishes pretty dry most of the time.

 

Yup, that's what I was suggesting. Of course, let it cool first. (Though I'm not sure what the detriments are to adding boiling water to cold beer are...but it doesn't seem like a good idea).

 

how much spice did you use?
How much do sweetness do you want? Maybe some maltodextrin with molasses could be a good mix to build the body.
I made a snicker doodle beer finish as 1.016 and had complaints from the 'crowd' that it was too dry/not sweet enough. Thought if I ever tried that one again, I'd use some maltodextrin in the mix. I used 4 sticks of cinnamon in 5 gal (3 at FO and 1 in the keg) and thought that was good level.

 

If it is going to stay in the keg, that is what I would do.

 

It would depend on how thinned out it is. For instance, when I back sweeten ciders I use dethawed apple concentrate, added straight from container to keg. I have had no issues doing so.

 

I'm half tempted to ask what everyone would think about pouring some into a paint straining bag and using it as a dry addition. Anything that works its way through the bag is likely to dissolve and not clog the dip tube at the bottom.

 

It'd certainly shock the yeast who are already sluggish. Might actually not be a bad idea to add it to the keg while it's still fairly warm.

 

I would have concerns that the temperature of the wort wouldn't allow much of it to dissolve in a sufficient amount time to take advantage of it. However, I have not experimented with it...so I certainly couldn't say for sure.

 

Experiment. I've put a small amount of molasses in a glass of cold water. Don't mind the ice used to bring the temperature down. It's in the fridge, and I will report back. I will say that molasses really thickened up when it hit that cold water, and dropped like a stone.

It's about 1/2tsp in about a cup of cold water...this is a very tightly controlled experiment, obviously.