Bulking Milestones Raspberry Wheat Beer

[Mell_man79]

Hello everyone. I'm new to the forum and to home brewing as well. Just brewed my first brews yesterday. Which brings me to this question.

I have brewed Milestones Raspberry Wheat Beer according to the instructions on the box. However, as you guys may know, Milestones Raspberry requires you to fill the fermentor to 19 litlres, instead of the usual 23 litres. I wanted to bulk this kit up to get the extra 4 litres so I added the extra water, plus 500g of brewing sugar to make up for the extra water content. I checked the gravity before pitching the yeast and the starting gravity was 1050. Its now fermenting fine.

Here's the thing. I'm concerned if I added enough sugar for the extra water. I'm also concern if by adding the extra water, I may have thinned the beer out too much and it will come out watery with less mouth feel. So I was considering added another 500g of brew enhancer tomorrow and give it a proper mix and let it do its thing. I'm sure this will result in a high ABV in the end, but I'm not worried about that. That would be a bonus. What I would be worried about is making the beer and over powerful sugar bomb, but more importantly, not watery. So. What do you guys suggest I do? Thanks for any help in advance.

 

[wfr42]

I'm not familiar with that kit, what do the instructions ask for in terms of additional fermentables (bke and sugar)?

Also did it give any indication of starting/finishing gravity or kit strength?

The sugar will thin the brew more than spray malt or bke (a 50/50 mix) but will ferment out completely and up the strength. 500g should be more than enough (most kits call for 1kg of fermentables).

Good luck with it.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Welcome to the forum and as wfr42 said above good luck.

 

[Mell_man79]

No fermentables needed. Just heat the cans, add water, pitch yeast and your done. There's a packet of concentrated raspberry you had to the brew 10 days after fermentation begins.

I added the sugar for two reasons. One, to make up for the extra 4 litres I added above the recommended 19 the kit calls for, and two, to attempt to raise the ABV of the finished beer above the 5.6 ABV the kit says the finish product would be if following the instructions. I was hoping for 6 to 6.5, but as this was my first brew, I would have been happy with the results and remember for next time. But I really want that wheaty feel of a raspberry wheat. I'm hoping the water I added didn't mess that up.

 

[wfr42]

I think you've brought it back up to the original strength.

19/23 x 5.6% = 4.626%
and apparently 500g of sugar adds just over 1% (http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?p=578824)
so final abv should be about 5.6%

 

[Mell_man79]

Well, I'm OK with 5.6. How about making the beer watery? Would adding 4 litres over change the um, texture of the beer? If you know what I mean. And thanks for welcoming men to the forum. Looking to brew a lot more. Actually. I'm looking for a Duvel and Delirium Tremens clone, if anyone is familiar with those beers.

 

[Alside101]

Best way to bring up the abv without thinning the beer is to add malt extract or in this case wheat extract

 

[dad_of_jon]

Hello everyone. I'm new to the forum and to home brewing as well. Just brewed my first brews yesterday. Which brings me to this question.

I have brewed Milestones Raspberry Wheat Beer according to the instructions on the box. However, as you guys may know, Milestones Raspberry requires you to fill the fermentor to 19 litlres, instead of the usual 23 litres. I wanted to bulk this kit up to get the extra 4 litres so I added the extra water, plus 500g of brewing sugar to make up for the extra water content. I checked the gravity before pitching the yeast and the starting gravity was 1050. Its now fermenting fine.

Here's the thing. I'm concerned if I added enough sugar for the extra water. I'm also concern if by adding the extra water, I may have thinned the beer out too much and it will come out watery with less mouth feel. So I was considering added another 500g of brew enhancer tomorrow and give it a proper mix and let it do its thing. I'm sure this will result in a high ABV in the end, but I'm not worried about that. That would be a bonus. What I would be worried about is making the beer and over powerful sugar bomb, but more importantly, not watery. So. What do you guys suggest I do? Thanks for any help in advance.

if you want mouthfeel then DME will help

 

[JapanBrew]

Sugar won't add anything to flavor. It's just food for the yeast. It will dilute the flavor a bit but you probably won't notice. Whenever you want to boost quantity, use DME or even LME. It will keep the flavor and give enough fermentables to keep the ABV normal.
Adding things now after ferment has started is just asking for trouble. You have to sterilize everything very well. Sounds easy but it's not. Just ride it out. I'm sure you got a good beer.

 

[Mell_man79]

Ah thanks bud. That sounds logical. Probably is best to leave it at this point. Better to have something drinkable than have to dump it down the drain. Its going pretty well so far, so I'll soon find out how it went.