Imperial Stout Under Gravity

[and463]

Hello, I brewed my first Imperial Stout back in October 2019, planning on serving it at my 60th, i achieved an OG of 1.105, with a target FG of 1.016 giving 10.61% ABV - i only managed to get the FG down to 1.040 so it was well under ABV and still a bit sweet, used 05 ale yeast (in hindsight this was not the best choice) - I have now barrel aged it for the past 7 months, i was hoping that it would lose some of the sweetness and some reading i had done indicated that the FG may improve while in the barrel - i have tried it today - very smooth but still too sweet and the FG has stayed the same - so, my question is - could i put it back in the fermentor? say using some high gravity yeast to kick off anther fermentation ? any thoughts would be great - I've got a month till i want to drink it at my 60th!

 

[madscientist451]

With only a month to go, you have limited options.
Re-starting fermentaion with another yeast is possible, but I don't think its a good idea. The alcohol in your stout will inhibit yeast growth and adding oxygen at this point could lead to flavor problems.
The best solution is to brew a dry stout and then blend to taste.
If you brew a Guinness clone (which is a 4.2% abv beer), you could have it ready in a month, but it would be better to age it.
I've brewed 3% dry stouts and been drinking them in less than a month, so it is possible to do it.
If you can't brew another stout, just buy some Guinness or other commercial dry stout and "blend in the glass" at your birthday celebration.
You'll probably have to go with at least 50% dry stout in a blend to reduce that sweetness to an acceptable level, but you may have to go higher.

 

[and463]

hi there Madscientist - thanks very much for this information -