Sweetness Issue

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Chicago1948

Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2009
Messages
19
Reaction score
0
I have two beers under my belt this year. One, a Wit, has been in bottles for 2 1/2 weeks. The other, a cream ale, has been in bottles for about 10 days. Both are carbed just fine and pour very nicely.

Both, however, are way too sweet. The wit has only very slight taste of the .5 oz of orange peel and .25 oz of coriander that is in it.

Both were near 1.045 - 1.080 og/fg.

Given that these beers are not really old, will they get better with time or am I really looking at four cases of too sweet beer? Also I was deliberately trying to to get too hoppy but both should have had IBU's somewhere around 20.

Witbier


Type: All Grain
Date: 4/30/2009
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Brewer: XXX
Boil Size: 7.50 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 90 min Equipment: My Equipment
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00
Taste Notes:

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
1.00 lb Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 9.30 %
4.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 37.21 %
3.00 lb Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 27.91 %
2.00 lb Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 18.60 %
0.50 lb Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 4.65 %
0.25 lb Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 2.33 %
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [4.70 %] (60 min) Hops 16.8 IBU
0.50 oz Saaz [2.50 %] (20 min) Hops 2.7 IBU
0.50 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (5 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
0.33 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
0.50 oz Orange Peel, Bitter (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
0.50 oz Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs Belgian Witbier (Wyeast Labs #3944) Yeast-Wheat



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.048 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.042 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.008 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.72 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.65 %
Bitterness: 19.5 IBU Calories: 43 cal/pint
Est Color: 4.8 SRM Color: Color


Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body Total Grain Weight: 10.75 lb
Sparge Water: 3.55 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F TunTemperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE Mash PH: 5.4 PH

Single Infusion, Medium Body Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 13.44 qt of water at 165.9 F 154.0 F
10 min Mash Out Add 7.53 qt of water at 196.6 F 168.0 F



Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage

Carbonation Type: Corn Sugar Volumes of CO2: 2.4
Pressure/Weight: 4.2 oz Carbonation Used: -
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 60.0 F Age for: 28.0 days
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F

Cream Ale


Type: All Grain
Date: 4/26/2009
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Brewer: XXX
Boil Size: 7.33 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 90 min Equipment: Brew Pot (12.5 gal) and Igloo Cooler (10 Gal)
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00
Taste Notes:

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
6.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 60.00 %
2.00 lb Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) Grain 20.00 %
2.00 lb Rice, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 20.00 %
1.00 oz Crystal [3.50 %] (60 min) Hops 12.3 IBU
1.00 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (10 min) Hops 7.0 IBU
7.00 gal Chicago, IL Water
1 Pkgs SafAle English Ale (DCL Yeast #S-04) Yeast-Ale



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.045 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.052 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.006 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.36 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.65 %
Bitterness: 19.3 IBU Calories: 43 cal/pint
Est Color: 3.2 SRM Color: Color


Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge Total Grain Weight: 10.00 lb
Sparge Water: 0.65 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F TunTemperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE Mash PH: 5.4 PH

Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge Step Time Name Description Step Temp
75 min Mash In Add 12.50 qt of water at 165.3 F 150.0 F
20 min Step Add 10.00 qt of water at 162.7 F 155.0 F
20 min Step Add 10.00 qt of water at 155.0 F 155.0 F



Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage

Carbonation Type: Corn Sugar Volumes of CO2: 2.4
Pressure/Weight: 4.2 oz Carbonation Used: -
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 60.0 F Age for: 28.0 days
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F
 
Sweetness is often a case of underattenuation/underhopping. What were the FGs of the beers? I assume 1.005 is a misprint- no beer is sweet at 1.005!
 
Sweetness is often a case of underattenuation/underhopping. What were the FGs of the beers? I assume 1.005 is a misprint- no beer is sweet at 1.005!

I just updated the actual FG's in the recipes. They did not seem underattenuated and both were definately done with their fermentations.

Is there a problem with older pellet hops that may have been in the freezer too long? Some of the hops were new. Both were 90 minute boils so the bitter hops should have been fine.
 
Back
Top