how do i control sweetness?

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snoochhandytardman

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I think we all have run into what seems to be a brewing enigma. I just racked my belgian ale clone to 2ndary and it was great, except it was 35 percent to sweet. The FG was 1.013 though, so attenuation didn't seem a problem. My initial reaction was there may be just a unusual perception of sweetness due to the esters present. Then, i thought there may be other chemicals than sugars that lend sweetness that are not fermentable. If it was just non-fermentable sugars the FG would be higher,....right? Help. Here's the recipe:

6.6 lbs. Muntons Light malt extract syrup
.5 lb Muntons light malt extract powder
2 lb Light Candi Sugar
1.5 oz 4.6 AA Styrian Golding hops (bittering hop)
.75 oz 3.5 AA Saaz hops (bittering hop)
1 tsp Irish moss for 60 min
1 ounce Dried Ginger Root (boil 15 min)
1 ounce Bitter Orange peel (boil 15min)
Wyeast 1214 Belgian Ale
fermented around 68 degrees
 
sure... there seems to be enough bitterness given the bittering flavor of the orange peel and the hops.This recipe for belgian ale, and many like it, don't generally produce a beer this sweet.
 
Are you certain of the FG? If you are talking about a 5 gallon batch I would be amazed if your FG wasn't higher, especially with the sweetness you are describing. Also that seems like a lot of sugar to me, but I am not really familiar with Belgian Ale recipes. It just seems that sugar is usually the main culprit in a sweet brew. You could add a stronger yeast for a drastic fix.
You can also add a hops tea or more wort if you are really unhappy with it.
 
cheezydemon said:
It just seems that sugar is usually the main culprit in a sweet brew. .

Like Bobby sez

And it may seem counterintuitive but adding sugar makes a dryer not a sweeter beer.
 
If you are tasting it during racking, before it is carbonated, it will taste sweet. Once you add carbonation, the carbonic acid will reduce the perceived sweetness and give it a little bite.
 
jdoiv said:
If you are tasting it during racking, before it is carbonated, it will taste sweet. Once you add carbonation, the carbonic acid will reduce the perceived sweetness and give it a little bite.

hmmmm. yeah i know that the flavor will certainly "evolve," especially with a brew like this. i guess ive never had a beer that became less sweet-tasting though.
 
Full boil or partial? And did you do a late extract addition?

If you did a 2.5 gal boil with those hops for 60 minutes, and added all the extract at the beginning, you got about 12 IBUs. This would be about half of what you need, and wold give you a pretty sweet beer.

If you did a full boil or added the extract late, then this probably isn't the issue.
 
i didn't do delayed extract addition this time. It was a three gallon boil.
yeah, i saw that there seemed to be alot of malt for the hops in the begining. i asked about and was told the bitter orange peel adds bitterness, and of course this recipe is typical of belgian beers which are not often this sweet. To much malt is seems the most likely culprit though. i suppose i asked because perhaps there was something i just didn't know about brewing this sort of beer. Maybe i should dryhop.
Why such a low FG though?
 
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