adding malt at secondary

[GeneDaniels1963]

My question is just that, has anyone tried adding malt in the secondary. I'll explain why I am wanting to.

I just brewed my first batch of with Philly Sour yeast, and I added 3lb blackberries in a 2 gal batch. The result is a little thinner than I wanted, and I was hoping for more malt to go with the fruit taste. So, I'm thinking I can remove a little wort and replace it with some extract. Thinking it would a) bump up the abv (always a good thing), b) give it some more body, and c) add a bit more malt taste.

Any opinions?

 

[AlexKay]

Malt, or malt extract? The former seems like a very bad idea: you’d add bugs and starch, and no sugar. I don’t think extract is going to give you much in terms of body (you could add lactose or maltodextrin or something), but if your yeast is still vital it should ferment out and give you more taste and alcohol. Philly doesn’t impress me as a yeast that can handle funny business (in this case, restarting fermentation after finishing the batch); on the plus side, it’s not a big flocculator.

If you can invest a little more time, I’d make a second batch of something malty, fermented with S. Cerevisiae, and blend the two to taste when you’re done.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

Humm... a blend. I need to give that some thought.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

I've decided. I just steeped a lb of 60L crystal malt in 1/2 gal water. Then I am boiling it to concentrate to higher SG. When it cools I will add to the main wort. I'll wait 24 hours, but if it does not start up, I'll add some Nottingham. I'll try to remember to update this thread when I have some results to report.

 

[mashpaddled]

I've decided. I just steeped a lb of 60L crystal malt in 1/2 gal water. Then I am boiling it to concentrate to higher SG. When it cools I will add to the main wort. I'll wait 24 hours, but if it does not start up, I'll add some Nottingham. I'll try to remember to update this thread when I have some results to report.

There's not a lot of fermentable sugar in crystal malt so you may miss what little fermentation occurs, especially with a full batch's worth of yeast floating around. The reason why crystal malts add sweetness to beer is because most of the sugars do not ferment and remain in the beer. That may accomplish your goal--I just wouldn't be alarmed by not seeing visible signs of additional fermentation.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

Thanks. The added sweetness will help bring out the fruit flavor and balance the sour. I'll check SG once I blend so I can be sure when it is finished.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

@GeneDaniels1963 : if you still have the steeped wort, can you measure final volume and OG before blending it into the existing wort?

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

It is cooling right now. But I think it will be easier to just measure the wort after adding. Then I can watch for how much it drops, and when it is finished. That won't help me with ABV calculation, but I don't really care. It will end up around 7-8%

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

No worries. My thought was this:

• Many posters state that there's "not much" sugar in crystal.
• Measuring the steeped wort would be one measurement of how much there actually is.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

It measures 0.023. From what I've read about 40% of that will be fermentable. But it really doesn't matter because I am looking for it to add malt taste and sweetness. A quick calculation shows that 1 qt of this added to the origianal will mean aprox. 0.5-0.6% lower abv in the final product. No big deal

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

No worries. I was curious about steeping efficiency (OG of steeped wort & volume of steeped wort), not fermentabilty.

 

[bracconiere]

@GeneDaniels1963 : if you still have the steeped wort, can you measure final volume and OG before blending it into the existing wort?

be easy with a refractometer. and i'd be curious too...

No worries. My thought was this:

• Many posters state that there's "not much" sugar in crystal.
• Measuring the steeped wort would be one measurement of how much there actually is.

and they'd be wrong. a lot of it has been carmelized though. it's just been mashed in the kernel while still green wet malt to do the conversion, which is why partial mash brews work just fine.....

at least that's my limited understanding? if i'm wrong let me know! because that's how i make my crystal malt right now.....

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Good questions @bracconiere , probably better as a separate topic.