First Try At A Heavy Ale -- Is It Stalled?

[wyane]

Hi there, haven't posted for a while. You folks (and the HTB book) helped me knock out a few marvellous brews a few weeks and months back. Hoping youse can help out again!

I had a go at a kit/spec-malt strong ale and it's stalled at 1.015 after an OG of 1.050 (70%) and 9 days in the FV at 20C.

My LHBS didn't have the ale yeast I was after, US05, so I rehydrated a pack of coopers standard kit yeast with a 5g satchel of Tooheys kit yeast (which I chuck in the bin 99% of the time -- colesworse had 'em for 7.99 which is great value for a tin of hoped malt I figure). Rehydrated the yeasties in 120ml at 25C for 45 min.

Here's the bits list:
23L wort with 1kg Briess golden light; 250g wheat malt; 100g LDM;
250g pale crystal, steeped at 70C for 30min;
100g dextrose; 150g maltodextrin; 100g golden syrup; 100g brown sugar.

8g PoR 60min; 8g 45min
8g EKG 30min; 8g 15min

My questions:
- have I thrown too much stuff at it? or is it likely to be the yeast types and combination that's resulted in it stopping so soon?
- what are some tips for a strong dry ale. And also for a strong malty ale?
- there hasn't been many bubbles on the surface for the past day or two. Would it help if I scoop up some sediment with a sanitised spoon to move some yeast back into the wort?
- and/or bump it up to 22C for a few days?

Thanks and cheers

 

[GuyQLD]

150g of Maltodextrin which wont ferment out and some parts of the golden syrup and brown sugar wont either. I'm pretty sure it's not stalled, it's done. I'd be surprised if you'd get that below 1.015

Edit: Noticed your steeping temp for your crystal was well into the higher body range at 70 'C. Check her in three days for consistency but you're done.

 

[JakeSm]

looking at your OG 1050...i would say that for your ingredient list your reading of 1015 sounds finished to me, i wouldnt think it would get much lower than that with your ingredient list.
it sounds like it would produce a nice beer, i have brewed with golden syrup before but 200g of good honey works well in gold lagers.

let me know how the golden syrup goes, you should be able to taste it.

cheers jake.

 

[wyane]

Thanks for the replies. I've somehow picked up the idea that a little sugar/honey/golden syrup will improve attenuation, producing a dryer beer?

I've been using maltodextrin for body. It's just an aesthetic thing, but the lacing it produces is nice too.

I also "proved" the attenuation theory to myself with a recent brew (COS Real Ale, 100g each of brown sugar, golden syrup, 1kg LME, 500g DDM, 200g dark chocolate malt steeped same method and lashings of Target, EKG and Fuggles.

This beer turned out like a hoppy robust porter, really nice. The OG was very close to this current batch, 1.048, and it brewed right down to 1.010 (although with 2x coopers kit yeasts and no maltodextrin which is only about 50% fermentable IIRC).

Anyways -- I had a taste and it isn't cloying. Will bottle in three or four days.

Any suggestions for dry-hopping?

 

[wyane]

let me know how the golden syrup goes, you should be able to taste it.

cheers jake.

Hey Jake - I've used golden syrup in pale ales as well as amber/brown/darker beers. Keeping it at 100g or less (for 23L wort) is barely noticeable to not noticeable but adds a couple of decimal points of alcohol content. Doesn't add colour in the same way as an equal amount of brown sugar. Cheers

 

[black_labb]

The kit yeasts are often less attenuative than us05 (which is quite attenuative) so you are probably finished. Mauri 514 (often used as kit yeast) is quite a nice yeast for english ales, but not particularly clean making it quite different from us05

 

[wyane]

Haven't mentioned before but about an hour after my 1st post I tried to get this brewing agian.
Didn't want to open the FV so I rotated it in a few short sharp motions, like twisting a clock face between 10 and 2 o'clock.
Then I lifted it and dropped it on the bench to try to agitate some of the trub.
That night I set the temp to rise from 20 to 22C. Today it rose to 24C before I checked and there is now lots of bubbly-foamy dots on the surface. I'll let it sit at 22C tonight and check the gravity again tomorrow. Will be great to get this down to 1.012 or 3.

 

[wyane]

Hi all - I bottled this today. FG1013 which is at the hight end of what I expected. One of the yeast packets may have been old or somehow unhealthy. Tasted ok but there were a couple of things to point out:

Along the inside surface of the FV, from the top of the trub extending upwards for a few inches there is a fine, kinda dusty deposit -- is this malt? (this is my 1st time to use more than 10% dry wheat malt).

More concerning: the trub smelled like ethyl acetate/nail polish remover.
Will this be (overly) present in the beer? I tasted the sample taken for gravity and it seemed ok.
Bummer if I've ruined this, may be looking at a beer drought around grand final time :'-(

 

[beerdrinkingbob]

often you get that if you stick you head in the fermenter and give it a good whiff, I thought it was from the CO2, my beer is bloody delicious :chug: