Barley Wine FG 1.004.. What to do with it?

[Baxter]

So I brewed Jamil's American Barley Wine from the book a while back. OG was supposed to be 1.115, I missed this by a long shot and got about 1.070 from the mash tun. ( I blame the inefficiency of an over filled 10 gallon mash tun) I topped it up with some DME and table sugar in the boil kettle, did a 2 hour boil, and ended up with a OG of 1.105. Close enough for me. I fermented with WLP001 (1600ml starter with 2 vials on a stir plate for 24 hours) in a temp controlled environment at 67 degrees F. I gave it lots of O2 during the first 12 hours prior to ferment. FG after about 6 weeks it was at 1.034 and wasn't going anywhere.... even aver raising the temp for a few days Diacetyl rest.

Unsure of what to do, I pitched a vial of WLP099 super high gravity strain in hopes of bringing the FG down to something more manageable. Hoping for 1.015-1.020, I let it sit for another month. I checked the thing this weekend and it has a FG of 1.004. It tastes really solventy and thin, no real off flavors I would say, but its kinda hard to tell over the harsh alcohol. So I have two questions:

1) What do I do with it now? Its not very drinkable but I don't want to toss it, maybe I can blend it with a younger batch?

2) what should I have done in this situation rather than using the WLP099? Repitched with some healthy WLP001?

[keelanfish]

1.004? Sounds like you've got something other than yeast doing your fermentation. Even from 1.070, 1.004 would be extremely high attenuation. From 1.105, even less likely. You sure your hydrometer is correct?

As for what to do with it, drink it if you like it. If not, i'd probably dump it.

[ACESFULL]

1.004? Sounds like you've got something other than yeast doing your fermentation. Even from 1.070, 1.004 would be extremely high attenuation. From 1.105, even less likely. You sure your hydrometer is correct?

As for what to do with it, drink it if you like it. If not, i'd probably dump it.

He posted that he used WLP 001 & 099 - The only thing that I can come up with is hold on to it and blend it with another beer. What you are describing it cant taste good.

[Hessian Lake]

1.004? Sounds like you've got something other than yeast doing your fermentation. Even from 1.070, 1.004 would be extremely high attenuation. From 1.105, even less likely. You sure your hydrometer is correct?

As for what to do with it, drink it if you like it. If not, i'd probably dump it.

He posted that he used WLP 001 & 099 - The only thing that I can come up with is hold on to it and blend it with another beer. What you are describing it cant taste good.

I'd suggest the same. Blend it with something else.

[Bugeater]

Before doing anything to it, put it away for at least 6 months, preferably a year. While extremely dry, the flavors should mellow out quite a bit. Remember, never pitch a bad (not infected) beer until it is old and bad.

Wayne

[spiderwrangler]

What was your mash temp? It seems hard to get that low even with the bad ass yeast just based how big the beer started out. But if you aren't picking up infected type flavors, it may not be buggy... strange happenings man...

[Baxter]

Yeah spider it's weird for sure, it doesn't taste infected at all. I guess a wild yeast could have made it in at some point, but I'm pretty meticulous about sanitation and this would be the first beer in a few years to go south. When I put in the 099 it took off like a mild second Krausen for a few weeks then settled down. My fear would be if I blended it, the residual 099 might eat away at the other beer. Guess I gotta did a way to kill the yeasts. Maybe campden tablets?

[biertourist]

Yeah spider it's weird for sure, it doesn't taste infected at all. I guess a wild yeast could have made it in at some point, but I'm pretty meticulous about sanitation and this would be the first beer in a few years to go south. When I put in the 099 it took off like a mild second Krausen for a few weeks then settled down. My fear would be if I blended it, the residual 099 might eat away at the other beer. Guess I gotta did a way to kill the yeasts. Maybe campden tablets?

Campden doesn't KILL yeasts; just stuns them.

I say "don't throw good homebrew after bad".
Set it aside in a container you don't need and let it age for a while like bugeater recommended and get on with making your next home brew. (Or dedicate two days and batches to making crap home brew slightly less crappy.)


1.004 IS pretty odd, even with 099.


Adam