Imperial Cashew Brown (F)Ale!

[MetaBrett]

This is my first post on HBT and it's a doozy. I've visited the site plenty but I figure it's time to delve right into the melee.

My buddy and I went a little overboard on our 4th brew day. What started as a big brown ale plan, turned into an imperial brown with cashews, bourbon soaked oak cubes and maple syrup to boot. Definitely our first time experimenting with oak, bourbon, and nuts, but possibly the last.

It wasn't a total failure, as we made beer. Beer so sweet and under carbonated that he gave me his share because our efforts created, in his words, "garbage." We primed with maple syrup, so I'm sure that had something to do with the residual sweetness. I forgot to mention, we took our 5 gallons and split them into 5 one-gallon secondaries to age on varying levels of oak and cashews for a month or two. I still have 3 one-gallon-jugs-worth left to bottle and I figure they're worth experimenting on some more.

Is they're any way to salvage my super sweet brown ale?

1. Should I add some dry yeast to jump start the next primary?
2. Should I nix the maple syrup and just use dextrose?
3. Did the 2+ months secondary and the high abv (~10%) damage the yeast? Is that why it didn't carb?
4. Could I possibly add some sour bugs? I've never made a sour, so I don't know if this is an absurd notion, but I think it could be interesting.

Any and all suggestions are very appreciated. I'm open to anything as this beer is already a long shot. If you've made it this far, thanks.

 

[AlmostWitty]

Could use some more info (recipe, yeast used, gravity readings, etc) but to me, it sounds like your yeast may have given up on you, or may have been bad if it's still really sweet (wort sweet, or commercial cider sweet?). Try pitching something with higher tolerance to ferment it drier, then rebottle. Not the best way to treat beer, but a chance to salvage it.

 

[Callacave]

When I did an RIS that aged in secondary for 6 months I added Champagne yeast before bottling. Sounds like the yeast were done if it's at 10%. More stats would definitely help. Sometimes these big beers can take longer to carb in the bottle.

I'm not trying to sound like an ass, but being only your 4th brew I think it's best to keep things simple. We tend to get excited with experimenting and all of the possibilities of creating something unique. I know I've fallen into that trap earlier on, and had some big duds come out of primary. Why not just work on brewing the best damn Brown Ale you can, and tweak it till you know what you're doing with a simple recipe? Then when you're confident with what you've got you can throw in a little something and see if it works.

I'm finding that I make the best beers when I keep it simple. Just got back from Hill Farmstead this past weekend, and Shaun makes the most amazing beer. Probably the best I've ever had. His Porter, Everett is unreal, and he told me you'd be surprised how simple the recipe actually is.

 

[MetaBrett]

Recipe:
19.0 lb. Pale Maris Otter
1.0 lb. Special B
1.0 lb. Crystal 60L
0.75 lb. Pale chocolate
0.5 lb. Caramunich
1.0 lb. Brown Sugar

2 oz Magnum, 1 oz Fuggles,

2 packs Wyeast 1028 London Ale yeast

OG 1.092
FG 1.012

It fermented for approx. 1 month, then we split into secondaries and bottled 2 gallons after a few weeks. I did try one today, and it was slightly more carbonated than before, but still very sweet. At this point, the remaining 3 gallons have been in secondary for 2-3 months.

AlmostWitty, It is wort sweet and I'll keep that in mind on my next big beer.

Callacave, This was definitely overambitious, but I'm still glad we did it. It was fun, and hopefully a learning experience. Now that I have about 10 brews under my belt, I tend to agree with sticking to simple recipes. I still haven't tried any Hill Farmstead but my best brew so far was a robust porter. Will any champagne yeast do? Also, how do I approximate how much to add to the remaining 3 gallons?

 

[Callacave]

I think it's a combination of the recipe, along with the addition of maple syrup to prime that is giving you that sweetness. I just don't think the yeast have finished fermenting that maple syrup yet. They may be too stressed and pooped out in that environment to carb it up.

I used a whole packet of Champagne yeast for 5 gallons in the bottling bucket of my RIS for insurance because I had it aging in secondary for 6 months. I think I used Red Star Pasteur Yeast? I'm sure a packet is over kill for 5 gallons, so I guess I would just split half of a package among the remaining 3 gallons. I'm sure using the whole thing wouldn't hurt either.

I agree there's nothing wrong with having fun and getting a little crazy once in a while. I guess for me, I just take it one step at a time. When you have too many variables in your recipe it's hard to figure out what went wrong where, but that is what makes homebrewing so damn fun and addicting!!

 

[MetaBrett]

Hah! It is definitely addicting. BTW, that was a typo on the Final Gravity. It was actually 1.021. I'll definitely try the champagne yeast. Any thoughts on trying to sour it? I think it would be an interesting challenge.

 

[Callacave]

That FG makes more sense. Especially with the yeast. You're on the top end of attenuation for that yeast.

I've never made a sour, but I don't see why you couldn't do something like that. Especially if you think this batch is a wash. Maybe you could sour one or two of the gallons and leave one to carb up using champagne yeast.

 

[MetaBrett]

I think I'll try that exact plan. Thank you for all your help Callacave! I really appreciate it!

 

[AlmostWitty]

I like the solutions. Sounds like the bugs might eat some of the residuals, plus, I love a good sour.

I'm kind of in a similar situation with a beer that projected to about 12% that I threw the wrong yeast in... Long story, I ended up splitting the batcha nd experimenting, but I think I'm gonna try bottling with an extra pack of nottingham for one, and maybe go get some champagne yeast for the other, just to be sure I'm in good shape without any bombs... Ideally. Good luck, let us know how they go!

 

[AlmostWitty]

I like the solutions. Sounds like the bugs might eat some of the residuals, plus, I love a good sour.

I'm kind of in a similar situation with a beer that projected to about 12% that I threw the wrong yeast in... Long story, I ended up splitting the batcha nd experimenting, but I think I'm gonna try bottling with an extra pack of nottingham for one, and maybe go get some champagne yeast for the other, just to be sure I'm in good shape without any bombs... Ideally. Good luck, let us know how they go!

 

[Smellyglove]

I'd use it to blend with a drier beer. Adds (even more) "complexity"

 

[MetaBrett]

Update:

I pitched some sour dregs into each gallon jug and threw them into a closet and forgot about them. For 2 years!

I dusted them off, popped off the airlocks, and they smelled good! At least, I'm pretty sure they smell good. They're definitely sour, and I'm thinking of bottling them. My only real question is this:
Is it safe to drink something that has been sitting on cashews for 2 years? If they went rancid, would it just taste bad?