Salvageable beer?

[jl85]

Completely new to the forums, and very very new to brewing, so go easy.

So I just brewed my second beer ever. A chocolate stout from malt extract. The recipe was a five gallon recipe. I bought another fermenting bucket, and decided to attempt 10 gallons. Two things I think I did wrong: 1) I strained the wort prior to pitching the yeast to avoid having a lot of "muck" and 2) I doubled the original recipe and then attempted to evenly distribute the wort before adding water in the two buckets. Measured both buckets for O.G. (7 days ago) and yesterday I took readings for both and one bucket is right where it should be and the other one needs to ferment longer. Here's my issue: I tasted both samples, and they are completely watered down!! I'm pretty upset but I think I can save it by freezing both buckets and creating an "ice" beer by removing a lot of the excess water.

P.s. I followed the recipe exactly, but if it is important to know what it called for I can post that.

Thanks in advance for any help/advice!

-Joseph

 

[timrox1212]

Did you double everything from the recipe? Yeast included. Yeast does allot of the work and could be the reason for tasting watery even if you hit your FG in one bucket. Maybe share your recipe exactly how you made it for a better understanding.

 

[chickypad]

First remember you're tasting 7 day old beer that isn't carbonated yet. Post the recipe and measurements so you can get some better input.

 

[jro238]

+1 to the last two posts.

Also, not quite sure I understand the idea of freezing the beer to get rid of water. How would this work?

 

[freisste]

Water freezes, alcohol doesn't. Strain your slush to let most of it through, but filter out some of the ice. It is a way to concentrate the beer. I think it is considered distillation, which is why you DO NOT hear about it here.

 

[RedOktoberfest]

+2 to above

Jro look up eis beer

Nothing wrong with a strainer after boil.

 

[jro238]

Water freezes, alcohol doesn't. Strain your slush to let most of it through, but filter out some of the ice. It is a way to concentrate the beer. I think it is considered distillation, which is why you DO NOT hear about it here.

Thanks for the info. Looked it up and it makes quite a bit more sense now.

 

[jl85]

Here is the 5 gallon recipe (multiply everything by 2)

2 can Munton's Dark Malt Extract (3.3 lbs)
1 lb Caramel Malt 80L, milled (steep)
1/2 lb Roasted Barley, milled (steep)
1/4 lb Black Patent Malt, milled (steep)
1/4 lb Chocolate Malt, milled (steep)
1/2 lb unsweetened baking chocolate (bars)
2 oz Fuggle hop pellets
UK Ale Yeast - do not remember which one I purchased because the home brew store guy knew which one I needed

This is the exact replica recipe they had printed out at the store. As you can see, it doesn't specify how many packages of yeast to use. Since I bought double of everything on this list, the guy gave me two packages of yeast, in hindsight though, should it have been four? (I think yeast is standard in the small packages for brewing, yes?)

 

[Philistine]

Here's my issue: I tasted both samples, and they are completely watered down!!

This is exactly what my first impression was with my first brew too when I sampled it. Don't worry about it. Your beer hasn't finished yet (it certainly needs more than a week to do its thing). Also like said before its not carbonated. That drastically changes things.

Let it ferment for at least two weeks (it would help it even more to let it go a week or two beyond that). Bottle or keg and let it carb up. You'll be pleasantly surprised at the difference from your first tasting.

 

[jl85]

@Philistine Okay, well, I just sighed a big sigh of relief after reading your comments. I will most certainly wait a minimum of another week (but probably another two after that for good measure). I almost poured out all ten gallons yesterday, good thing I didn't!

 

[Philistine]

I almost poured out all ten gallons yesterday, good thing I didn't!

And you've hit another axiom of brewing. Never dump a batch of beer. If you've kept to good sanitation, followed the recipe and avoided oxidation after fermentation is complete, time can fix many things. What may taste bad or off now will likely get better with time. It may take 6 months to a year but just store those "bad beers" in the darkest part of a closet and forget about them while you are working on other batches. You may be surprised with what you end up with.

 

[MindenMan]

Water freezes, alcohol doesn't. Strain your slush to let most of it through, but filter out some of the ice. It is a way to concentrate the beer. I think it is considered distillation, which is why you DO NOT hear about it here.

Distillation requires heat, a lot of equipment, and permits and licenses.
It is illegal to produce alcohol that is not used a fuel source by distillation, but it not illegal to freeze concentrate any alcoholic beverage you make yourself.
Since alcohol has a lower freezing temperature than water, when an alcoholic beverage is put into the freezer, the water in the solution starts to freeze, leaving the now thick and free pouring alcohol to be drawn off or collected leaving the ice behind, and producing a very flavorful alcoholic liquid like schnapps. To do it on the cheap to see how it works, get a can of apple frozen concentrate add the appropriate water, add yeast, and put somewhere cool and out of the light. THE most important thing is to make sure the lids are slightly loose so you don't get bottle bombs.
let it ferment for 7 or so days, put in the freezer for a day or so, maybe two, and put the bottle upside in to a glass and let drip until ice is clear, producing a strong proof beverage.The ice left behind still has some alcohol left in it, so thaw out completely and return to the freezer, let freeze, turn upside into glass...... Same process until you decide you have all the alcohol that can be collected has been collected. This process can be done with almost any fresh or frozen juice that doesn't have preservatives in it.
Vitamin C is fine, but any sodium or potassium as a preservative will not ferment very easily. Sorry for the long post.

 

[RM-MN]

Let this batch ferment out (3 weeks is what I prefer, longer may be even better) and bottle it. Put at least a 6 pack away and don't touch it for 6 months, then come back and tell us about the beer. I'll bet it won't taste watered down then.

Stouts take much more time than people expect to mature and are usually drunk before they get really good. I have one that has been in the bottle for over a year and WOW! is it good now. I wish I hadn't sampled even at 6 months because those bottles are gone forever.

 

[RedOktoberfest]

Here is the 5 gallon recipe (multiply everything by 2)

2 can Munton's Dark Malt Extract (3.3 lbs)
1 lb Caramel Malt 80L, milled (steep)
1/2 lb Roasted Barley, milled (steep)
1/4 lb Black Patent Malt, milled (steep)
1/4 lb Chocolate Malt, milled (steep)
1/2 lb unsweetened baking chocolate (bars)
2 oz Fuggle hop pellets
UK Ale Yeast - do not remember which one I purchased because the home brew store guy knew which one I needed

This is the exact replica recipe they had printed out at the store. As you can see, it doesn't specify how many packages of yeast to use. Since I bought double of everything on this list, the guy gave me two packages of yeast, in hindsight though, should it have been four? (I think yeast is standard in the small packages for brewing, yes?)

LME has 1.034-38 PPG. If you only used 3.3lb per 5gal batch that leaves you with an OG of 1.023. If that ferments out you will have beer but you would almost have to slap a NA sticker on it, should be about 2.5% abv

 

[chickypad]

LME has 1.034-38 PPG. If you only used 3.3lb per 5gal batch that leaves you with an OG of 1.023. If that ferments out you will have beer but you would almost have to slap a NA sticker on it, should be about 2.5% abv

OP states that's the 5 gallon recipe. So with the small contribution from specialty malts should be around 1.050. I don't think you need to wait 6 months for a lower gravity stout, but definitely let it fully carb up and age a little before giving your next judgement, OP.

 

[RM-MN]

LME has 1.034-38 PPG. If you only used 3.3lb per 5gal batch that leaves you with an OG of 1.023. If that ferments out you will have beer but you would almost have to slap a NA sticker on it, should be about 2.5% abv

Reread the recipe he posted. It calls for 2-3.3 pound cans of LME and he said he doubled everything for the 10 gallon batch. It should come out about right. I haven't done the math though so it might be a little low on fermentables yet.

 

[RedOktoberfest]

Reread the recipe he posted. It calls for 2-3.3 pound cans of LME and he said he doubled everything for the 10 gallon batch. It should come out about right. I haven't done the math though so it might be a little low on fermentables yet.

Ah, I see that now. I would have written it different but 6.6 is much better

 

[jro238]

There are very few circumstances under which you should ever pour beer out after only 7 days of fermentation. Even if you make mistakes they can turn out well in time. Glad you didn't lose this batch.

 

[MikeJordan]

And you've hit another axiom of brewing. Never dump a batch of beer. If you've kept to good sanitation, followed the recipe and avoided oxidation after fermentation is complete, time can fix many things. What may taste bad or off now will likely get better with time. It may take 6 months to a year but just store those "bad beers" in the darkest part of a closet and forget about them while you are working on other batches. You may be surprised with what you end up with.

So true. The first batch I ever brewed was a bavarian hefewiesen kit which in hindsight I think had some stale ingrediants. The finished product had an off flavor. I have been going to dump it for a month now so I can use the bottles. I found 2 of them that somehow got lost in the back of the fridge. I figured what the hell, maybe I just missed something so I poured one. To my amazement the "off" flavor was gone! Now I'm drinking it as fast as I can....I need the bottles lol. The point is, be patient and have another home brew, dont dump.

 

[jl85]

Thanks for all the info guys! I've seen some stout "kits" online and some of them call for a 6 month fermentation period, so 7 days, man, I shouldn't have been so quick to call it bad. Well, I will definitely give it a few more weeks, or more, and let you guys know how it tastes!