I was brewing a 5 gallon batch of a “Heady Topper” clone recipe. For anyone not familiar with Heady Topper, it’s a dry-hopped double IPA which is brewed in very limited batches in Vermont. Great Bear.
In any case, the recipe calls for 13 lbs of Maris Otter Malt, 4 oz Caravienne malt and 1 lb of dextrose in the boil. It’s a 75 minute boil with two whirlpool / spin-down hops additions
Everything was going fine until I pitched the yeast and looked on the counter and there was the 1 lb. bag of dextrose which I had neglected to add to the boil.
So (here’s the stupid part) I mixed the dextrose with lukewarm water and added it to the 70 degree beer / wort. I know that once the wort cools below 80 or so, it’s very susceptible to contamination which could prevent fermentation… just spaced it out.
It’s meed about 24 hours and there is very little sign of fermentation activity. If I shake the carboy, I will get a few bubble in the air lock but otherwise, nothing. Normally, the air trap is bubbling like crazy after only 6-12 hours.
So, I assume I’ve wrecked the batch. A couple of questions:
Do I just throw it out or can it be salvaged?
2. Is it possible to re-boil for a few minutes, re-cool, and then pitch more yeast?
You are likely okay. I highly doubt the dextrose addition was the problem. I’ve had a 48 hour lag time with S-04 and just had a 94 hour lag time with Lallemand BRY-97. With the latter I finally pitched more yeast. BRY-97 had a reputation as a slow starter so I was really patient with that before adding more yeast. As long as your sanitation practice is sound you have little to worry about but it never hurts to have more yeast as backup.
Good to hear. I should have mentioned that although it could have been contaminated with other organisms, I don’t think any possible contamination would halt fermentation. Bleach is about the only thing that would do that. That’s why I was never worried.
I have added sugar after fermentation started and made great beer, but I never would have mixed it with water. Tap water probably wasn’t the best idea, but it will most likely be just fine.
I’ve added about 24 oz of sugar to an IPA about a day after pitching with no adverse effect that I could notice, at least. My gravity had come out way lower than expected and frankly I was just bothered about it. So the next day I decided to do something to remedy the situation.
I took about 10 oz. of water mixed in the sugar and then brought that to a boil to sanitze everything. I then cooled and pitched. That beer came out surprisingly good. I don’t plan on trying that again though. Too many unknowns.