High ABV Saison - Candi Syrup

[#brewlife]

So i tried to brew a big dark saison as i had a 3711 yeast cake from a 7% beer that i just bottled:

Bill:

4.5kg pils
0.8kg munich
0.8kg wheat malt
0.45kg armomatic
0.2kg carafa ii special

20 min @ 50 deg
60 min @ 65 deg
10 min @ 70 deg
5 min @ 78 deg - mash out

Fly sparge for 45 min - pre boil SG 1.061 - spot on 82% efficiency as predicted

90 min boil:
0.25kg dextrose @ 20 min
1.00kg amber candi syrup @ 5 min as read it could burn if added too early

Hit my pre and post boil volumes spot on

Original gravity 1.076

This seems way too low, i was aiming for 1.094. I dont know if it didnt dissolve or what it didnt look like a whole block of syrup in the bottom of the BK after running off to FV?

Has anyone used this and had a similar result or any ideas as to how to counter this in future if i ever use it again?

 

[#brewlife]

2 hours after transferring onto the yeast cake fermentation has started - it’s swirling and off gassing, now I’m worried I would of essentially over pitched with it being 1.076 wort.
We’ll see what it turns out like, hopefully it at least gets some of the Candi flavours

 

[ABG]

I brewed a saison earlier in the year using 3724 that I added half a kilo of dextrose to in a 23 litre batch. It finished up 7.9% ABV and was delicious.

 

[#bewlife]

That’s about the ABV I would of expected just from the dex. The Candi sugar appeared to not have contributed anything

 

[mje1980]

So i tried to brew a big dark saison as i had a 3711 yeast cake from a 7% beer that i just bottled:

Bill:

4.5kg pils
0.8kg munich
0.8kg wheat malt
0.45kg armomatic
0.2kg carafa ii special

20 min @ 50 deg
60 min @ 65 deg
10 min @ 70 deg
5 min @ 78 deg - mash out

Fly sparge for 45 min - pre boil SG 1.061 - spot on 82% efficiency as predicted

90 min boil:
0.25kg dextrose @ 20 min
1.00kg amber candi syrup @ 5 min as read it could burn if added too early

Hit my pre and post boil volumes spot on

Original gravity 1.076

This seems way too low, i was aiming for 1.094. I dont know if it didnt dissolve or what it didnt look like a whole block of syrup in the bottom of the BK after running off to FV?

Has anyone used this and had a similar result or any ideas as to how to counter this in future if i ever use it again?

If it chews down to what 3711 usually chews down to it’ll probably be 9%+ from 1.076

 

[MHB]

I just wish people would remember that no one can give you anything like an answer unless you include the VOLUME as well as the gravity!
1Kg of extract in 1L would be a lot, in a swimming pool its nothing.
Mark

 

[#brewlife]

I just wish people would remember that no one can give you anything like an answer unless you include the VOLUME as well as the gravity!
1Kg of extract in 1L would be a lot, in a swimming pool its nothing.
Mark

Good point. 1l of syrup in 26l of wort

 

[#brewlife]

If it chews down to what 3711 usually chews down to it’ll probably be 9%+ from 1.076

1.076 to 1.010 in 3 days

 

[MHB]

You might need to be a little more forthcoming if you want a truly accurate answer.
Dextrose is 91% solids Amber Candi is around 80% so the total mass you added is (0.25*0.91 + 1*0.8)=1.0275Kg
If that dissolved that in 26L of water it would add 0.0156 to your gravity, from 1.061 that brings the gravity to 1.0766.
Pretty much what you got, don't understand why you thought you would get more.

Your grain bill is a total of 6.75kg, say the average extract potential was 77% there would be 5.1975kg
If you had at the end of the sparge 26L of 1.061 wort, you would have 4.207kg in solution, comes to 80.9% efficiency (call it 81%)
You quite simply haven't added enough ingredients. Next time do more planning, you could probably add another kg of sugar (just dissolve it up in some boiling water and allow to cool) about half way through the ferment. That is if you just want more alcohol, but it will probably taste fine as is.
Mark