I brewed an imperial IPA 2 weeks ago, using 2 lbs of honey (for 5 gallon batch) to boost the ABV without adding body. My intent was to keep the beer dry and drinkable and to let the hops really "pop". The OG was 1.077, and I was targeting 1.012 as the FG, but I ended up with an actual FG of 1.010, which puts the actual ABV at 9.3%. I fermented on the cold-end of the suggested range for WLP002 (started at around 65 - 66 and let free-rise to 70 degrees about 7 - 10 days into fermentation), hoping to prevent any fusel or higher alcohols from being created because I really don't want this beer to have any sort of "burn" when you drink it, but rather the pleasant warming sensation in your stomach that you get when drinking a good barley wine or imperial IPA. Anyways, I tried a sample of my beer when I took a gravity sample yesterday, and while the hop flavor and aroma is huge, the beer comes off as pretty boozy. I'm not sure whether that is due to the presence of fusels or higher alcohols or whether it is just due to the fact that the beer is 9.3% ABV with very little malt backbone or residual sweetness to hide behind. My question is whether the alcohol burn and flavor can be reduced by aging/conditioning the beer. If so, am I better off giving the beer another week or so of aging at 70 degrees before kegging and cold conditioning, or would I be better off essentially lagering the beer by kegging and cold-conditioning/lagering at 32 degrees for the extra time? This beer is for a competition, and I need to submit the bottles for judging by no later than 8/22.
It seems like there was a recent thread that discussed this question, but when I did a search of this forum using 'boozy' as my key word, I got too many threads and was unable to find it on a quick browse. You might want to do the same thing and take a more detailed look for the thread that I couldn't find.
You might find that carbonation provides some necessary balance to your beer. I think Imperial IPA is often carbonated to something like 2.2 vols CO2... maybe you even bump it a bit higher to something like 2.5.
If the issue is fusel oils (higher alcohols) the potential solution is more conditioning time to permit the fusels oils to esterify. I am not aware of any chemistry for mitigating the effects of ethyl alcohol. A solution of blending has been mentioned and perhaps that is the best course of action for this case. Cheers!
Sounds like you did everything as well as could be expected. Honestly, a difference of .002 isn't going to be noticeable in your beer. I would think there's 2 things. First, let it sit for another couple weeks minimum. I find that big beers really need more time for things to mellow and the flavors really to come together. Also, just the fact of carbonation will change things around for the better. I would bet that a couple months from now you'll be wondering why the heck you worried at all about it.
