seeking advice. Helles too sweet

[Nick_D]

I have a dilemma. I think anyway.

Brewed a 2.6 gal AG basic helles a few weeks ago. Grain bill : 5 lbs pilsner base, 1.1 lbs crystal Munich. Step mash of 133, 155, 168 MO.
Pitched 2 dry packets of saflager w-34/70, fermentation kicked off quickly at 50 - 51 F. Left Brew in primary for 10 days with a diacetyl rest in the last 2.
I was silly in that I didn't check OG before primary.
FG was a very high 1.020 ish, and made me suspicious/uneasy. I racked it off for lagering anyway, and then dropped the temp over a week to 34F.
Tasting the brew 2 weeks into lagering, it is sort of sickly sweet. Not infected sickly, just way off what I was expecting. Also, even at near freezing, the brew is still creating gas (I 'burp' the lagering vessel daily, and it makes a noticeable "hiss").
So I've panicked a little and pulled out of lagering, and warmed it back up to 55 or so in the hopes of attenuating whatever's left over (if it's fermentable).

So. Obviously I should have left it on the yeast in primary a couple weeks longer. I've just learned the whole thing with "rack asap to avoid off flavours" is out dated information.
Is it worth trying to save? should I just leave it at 55 or so until it stops making gas/attenuates as far as it will go? Or put it back into lagering, bottle and just see how it goes? The other option I was thinking was to make a starter and pitch some active yeast into it to try finishing the job (as lots would have fallen out of suspension with my 2 weeks of lagering already).

Any thoughts? I've learnt my lesson on racking early...

Thanks!

 

[Beernik]

You may drop a few more points but I think your main problem is using a Crystal or Cara Munich instead of regular Munich malt. They aren't the same thing. The Cara/Crystal malts are designed to leave a caramel sweetness in the beer.

 

[butterpants]

Is burping a beer while lagering in a cornie a common practice? I've never heard or done it before. Can't cornies take like 120psi?

 

[Cyclman]

I would bring it up to 60, check the gravity daily. If it goes down, let it finish. You should still have lots of yeast, I think this is all it will take.

If not, pitch a starter at high kraeusen, that should do it.

 

[Nick_D]

Thanks for the replies guys.

@butterpants, I'm not lagering in a cornie. I just use 10 litre water storage containers meant for camping. They aren't designed to hold any pressure obviously, so I just vent it by loosening the cap slightly every other day or so.

@Cyclman thanks for the advice. I'm going to pitch a starter into it I think. I got one going after reading your reply yesterday. Also took the chance to add a little extra bitterness by throwing in some Tettnang to the starter boil (60 mins).
Should I aerate the beer again before pitching this starter? or just dump it in?
Will let you all know how it goes.

Next time I'll be very sparing on the crystal stuff and let it get finished on the yeast cake.
Thanks!

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

What was your hop additions? Time and quantities? And was this a devoction?


"Sometimes Im right half of the time ...."

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

Decoction


"Sometimes Im right half of the time ...."

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

And when I first looked at the recipe it seemed, maybe Im wrong, but the grain bill seemed high. I like your yeast selection. Ive used it many times. And jus brewed a Helles myself to go with my octoberfest. Looking forward the the end of summer!!


"Sometimes Im right half of the time ...."

 

[Nick_D]

Hi Trusty,

The batch size was 2.6 gal (10 liters, I'm Aussie, so I'm converting my numbers to imperial for this forum). Hops were 0.52 ounces Hallertauer @60 mins, and 0.13 Hallertauer @30 mins.

Wasn't a decoction. Just a step mash using the rests I mentioned in the first post. I used the large amount of crystal (crystal munich) as it was just sitting around and I wanted to get rid of it before it lost its freshness........ silly move I know.

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

So I put this in Beersmith and it looks like, at about 75% efficiency, you would have about 1.058 SG. With a mash temp of 155, target FG wud be about 1.016. Your hop load gives about 17 IBU's. That puts the SG off the high end of the scale for the target for a helles style. But the hops are pretty much on target. So if your FG is still 4 points high, that would make it a lil bit sweet. And its a little out of balance for style (more malty). Again, I really like that yeast. Given some time, hopefully it'll work its way down.


"Sometimes Im right half of the time ...."

 

[Nick_D]

So I put this in Beersmith and it looks like, at about 75% efficiency, you would have about 1.058 SG. With a mash temp of 155, target FG wud be about 1.016. Your hop load gives about 17 IBU's. That puts the SG off the high end of the scale for the target for a helles style. But the hops are pretty much on target. So if your FG is still 4 points high, that would make it a lil bit sweet. And its a little out of balance for style (more malty). Again, I really like that yeast. Given some time, hopefully it'll work its way down.


"Sometimes Im right half of the time ...."

Thanks for checking that out for me! Guess I got it out of whack, balance wise. I'm pitching a nice starter of fresh yeast into it tomorrow. I threw a few extra hops into the starter when I was boiling and went for an hour. In such a small batch, that will hopefully give a little more balance.
I'll leave the fresh yeast to do its thing and hopefully knock it down to the 1.016 mark as you said.

Won't exactly be a helles anymore... (wasn't ever really one I guess!) but maybe I can salvage a drinkable beverage from it!

Thanks!

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

Im sure it'll be a great beer either way!!


"Sometimes Im right half of the time ...."