I just now realized that I forgot to add the Dark candi syrup.
So, can it be saved? when I get home from work, can I add the Dark candi syrup after first boiling with some water? Or would that risk oxidation? I’m sure by now there will be a vigorous fermentation going on.
I would not worry too much about it. Boil, cool to fermenting temp and add. If it is just starting to ferment, any Oxygen that sneaks in there will not hurt you. RDWHAHB…
If its syrup, and it’s in a sealed bottle or pouch, don’t even boil it. Pour it straight into the fermenter. Don’t need to stir either. The yeast will find the sugar and work its way through it, whether it’s evenly dissolved or a puddle at the bottom. When going for high gravity Belgians, it’s actually good practice to hold back on the syrups until this point, to get the yeast going and achieve high krausen.
One question though. The recipe calls for 75% efficiency and 1.069. By my calcs, adding the syrup you will bring it up to 1.054. Did you hit your numbers?
Thanks, Ron! I had a fantastic brew day, but I have been puzzling ever since wondering how I could have had missed the OG by so much. I’m relieved to learn that it wasn’t my brewing process I screwed up, just my forgetting to add an ingredient.
No, I’m sure I didn’t do a perfect job. My crush was suspect. I batch sparged. My sparge temp was a little too low… A number of things could have lowered my efficiency. I’m not really concerned with that at this point. But 1049 was sooooo low and it had me very confused. Glad I figured that out!
I don’t think you even need to spray the star san, but do it if it makes you feel comfortable.
I ran our of sugar on Saturday for my quad (poor planning) so on Sunday I just poured some right into the fermenter as I have done in the past. No worries.
+1. If you have a ‘warm syrup’ setting on your microwave, I would do that before pouring in. Otherwise 10-20 seconds should warm it up enough to get a good pour. If you have a StarSan spray handy, sanitize a spoon and scoop the rest out. You should get most all of it that way and not water down the beer by boiling. Good luck!
The containers often pick up dust while sitting around. I often relieve my mind by just rinsing off the container and then dunk the sealed container into a bucket of starsan and let it air dry for a few minutes before use. If it has been opened before and you want to sanitize the opening, then try a few alcohol wipes to get the edge of the opening clean and sanitized again.
I also use an alcohol wipe (bottle of isopropyl alcohol and a paper towel works OK, too) to wipe down the outside of yeast smack packs, scissors blades, and even the outside of spigots and various attachments.
Sorry to dig up an old thread, but I just realized something else that was giving me a lower than expected gravity reading.
The wort coming out of my counterflow chiller was only down to 75°F, so the 1.049 reading I took when adjusted for temperature is really 1.0507. That plus the extra pound of dark Belgian candi syrup I added directly to the primary should have given me a decent original gravity.
I racked the wort into a secondary about a week ago and it tasted like a relatively high gravity beer. So, I think I’m good to go!