How is it still sweet

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reinstone

reinstone

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Hello all. I have been fermenting a double ipa for 2 weeks. The og was 1.075 and I am hovering at about 1.012 now. I used safe ale 05 and Nottingham and the Nottingham beer tastes sort of sweet and smells like peach nectar. It just isn't crisp. I fermented at 68 through thermowell. The beer kind of tastes a little like fruit scnapps. Is there any hope. I used a lot of amarillo and citra hops late in this beer. Also, the rye ipa I made next to this in the freezer tastes clean already, to me this sweetness doesn't make sense because of the gravity the beer is at. Thanks. :mug:
 
You're probably smelling and tasting acetylaldehyde and some esters. The beer is young and green and needs to condition.

As to the sweetness, post the recipe and we can look at what might be corrected in future batches. :)
 
Do you adjust the ph at all? I've had my hoppy saisons finishing close to 100% apparent attenuation but still sweet and have been told to adjust the kettle ph to 5.2.
 
13 gallon batch

30 lb 2 row
1 lb uk amber malt
1 lb carapils
4 oz caramel 120
2 lbs corn sugar.

Mash 150. Ramp to 155 after 30 mins. Not sure how its sweet with the gravity where it is.

Hop schedule is 1 oz citra fwh
1 oz citra 60 min
1 oz amarillo 30 min
2 oz citra 20 min
2 oz centenial 10 min
2 oz amarillo 5 mins
1 oz nugget 5 mins
1 oz citra 5 mins
4 oz amarillo in wirlpool
 
TNGabe said:
Do you adjust the ph at all? I've had my hoppy saisons finishing close to 100% apparent attenuation but still sweet and have been told to adjust the kettle ph to 5.2.
Click to expand...

No I have never adjusted kettle ph. Undo adjust mash ph though. I have never had an issue anywhere similar to this.
 
I'd bet dollar to donuts you're tasting the alcohol. A lot of homebrewers don't realize that alcohol tastes sweet. And Citra can give off that fruity pebbles kind of flavor too.

That beer isn't going to be sweet after it conditions. I actually give my DIPA's a full six weeks of conditioning before I start drinking them. But I do condition them cold, about 45 F, and do my dry hopping about two weeks before I'm going to carb it up.
 
Yeah, it just needs to sit a while. Fresh citra with english yeast tastes like straight up mango syrup to me. Once the hops start to fade the sweetness may still be there because it is a big beer afterall, but the fruityness will drop off. May take several weeks though.
 
chumpsteak said:
Yeah, it just needs to sit a while. Fresh citra with english yeast tastes like straight up mango syrup to me. Once the hops start to fade the sweetness may still be there because it is a big beer afterall, but the fruityness will drop off. May take several weeks though.
Click to expand...

Mango syrup is right. I'm gonna dry hop with some more amarillo, citra and either simcoe , chinook, or cascade. Can't figure out which. Any ideas? Thanks.
 
KeystoneHomebrew said:
I'd bet dollar to donuts you're tasting the alcohol. A lot of homebrewers don't realize that alcohol tastes sweet. And Citra can give off that fruity pebbles kind of flavor too.

That beer isn't going to be sweet after it conditions. I actually give my DIPA's a full six weeks of conditioning before I start drinking them. But I do condition them cold, about 45 F, and do my dry hopping about two weeks before I'm going to carb it up.
Click to expand...

By the way, loved your store. I was stationed at Willow Grove in the early 90's and I visited your shop a number of times...glad to see you are still at it!!
 
Carbonation also does a lot for reducing the sensation of sweetness, plus accentuating the hop aroma. Green beer is also probably the case here too...
 
reinstone said:
Hello all. I have been fermenting a double ipa for 2 weeks. The og was 1.075 and I am hovering at about 1.012 now. I used safe ale 05 and Nottingham and the Nottingham beer tastes sort of sweet and smells like peach nectar. It just isn't crisp. I fermented at 68 through thermowell. The beer kind of tastes a little like fruit scnapps. Is there any hope. I used a lot of amarillo and citra hops late in this beer. Also, the rye ipa I made next to this in the freezer tastes clean already, to me this sweetness doesn't make sense because of the gravity the beer is at. Thanks. :mug:
Click to expand...

68*F is on the high end for Notty (even though they publish 70 as the upper end). It's a different sort of ale yeast vs. US-05. You can run it way down at 55*F and still get an active fermentation (done that), but it has a reputation of throwing some off-flavors as you move on into the upper 60's/low 70's. That could explain the difference in the flavor you're tasting.

If you control temps (which it sounds like you can), try knocking any future Nottingham batches down to around 62*F (measured on the side of the bucket).
 

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