Beer is sweet

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bacchusmj

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I made a dead guy clone a couple weeks ago and its been in the keg for about 12 days. I love the beer but it has a very sweet finish. Im wondering if that is an undesirable flavor, possibly due to the beer needing to ferment a little longer, or is it more in line with what the beer is supposed to be? also, I wasnt using Pacman yeast, but rather cali ale yeast.

I went and grabbed a bottle of dead guy to compare it to, the dead guy wasnt quite as sweet. I like the beer, just wondering what the deal is.
 
I dont have many brews under my belt but I read on here all the time. I know different yeasts produce different flavors but both are pretty versatile and I cant see them tasting dramatically different. Also, if you are worried about fementation time, did you take OG and FG readings? And if everything that was supposed to be done was done, maybe just wait it out a couple more weeks. I know each week I have a homebrew, and each week it tastes slightly better.
 
All grain or extract?

Mash temperature if all grain?

Fermentation temperature/temp control?
 
alright, it was an extract kit, steeped grains.

fermented at about 70 deg. Cali Ale yeast called for 68 to 74. No controls but we had a really steady temp in my daughters nursery ( 2 months so she isnt using it, she is in the bed with us). I have a high-low thermo which said it got as high as 71 and as low as 68.

Now, two days after my original post I poured a 32 ozer for the skins game and it is as smooth as it can be. All the sweetness seems to be gone. It might have been an off flavor that mellowed away as the keg sat in the fridge.

3 days ago, it had the residual sweetness of a milk stout. It wasnt bad, just wasnt right.
 
Time will often mellow out off flavors.

With an extract kit you often will not finish as low as all grain. You can research the curse of 1.020 for more info.

Glad it worked out well!
 
Sounds like too high of a fermentation temp. If your ambient temp was around 70 degrees, your beer temp was likely closer to ~75 degrees. Primary fermentation can raise beer temps anywhere from 3-8 degrees, from what I've experienced. Until recently building a ferm chamber, our ambient air ferment temps were always in the upper 60s to lower 70s. Every single beer we made was sweet. Since building the ferm chamber, we've been able to ferment in the mid 60s (beer temp) and the sweetness is gone.

Give that a shot. Perhaps wrapping your fermenter in cold wet towel or keeping your fermenter in a water bath will help help you shed some degrees. From what I know about the Cali yeast, it should finish on the clean and neutral side.
 
mgohring said:
Sounds like too high of a fermentation temp. If your ambient temp was around 70 degrees, your beer temp was likely closer to ~75 degrees. Primary fermentation can raise beer temps anywhere from 3-8 degrees, from what I've experienced. Until recently building a ferm chamber, our ambient air ferment temps were always in the upper 60s to lower 70s. Every single beer we made was sweet. Since building the ferm chamber, we've been able to ferment in the mid 60s (beer temp) and the sweetness is gone.

Give that a shot. Perhaps wrapping your fermenter in cold wet towel or keeping your fermenter in a water bath will help help you shed some degrees. From what I know about the Cali yeast, it should finish on the clean and neutral side.

Second this statement.

But it sounds like what you may have tasted was just green beer. I had the same issue and think it had a little to do with high fermentation temps, but more than that, I think I hadn't let the beer mellow out. Mine usually take 2 weeks in the keg then all flavors are in line.

Good luck
 
I under pitched a lager and it came out a bit sweet. i'm giving it more time in the bottle and have moved the bottles from 66F to 71F. I'm hoping the bottle fermentation will eat up more sugar.
 
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