First sip is always sweet.

Here's the thing. I have been using the pre hopped kits as my base and LME instead of dextrose for my last 4 or 5 batches. Sometimes I dry hop and sometimes I don't depending on the style and the aroma that is already present. The brews are coming out nice and clean each one better that the last. (Thanks to the advice I'm getting here.)

My thing is the first sip of the night always is a bit sweet. I know how to correct the aroma but what could be causing that initial sweetnes? It isn't there on swig 2 or 3. There isn't a sweet after taste. Any ideas how I can correct this?

What are your hydrometer readings? How much attenuation are you getting? Perhaps your yeasts aren't attentuating enough and you're having a higher than expected sugar content. Mild sweetness in a beverage can be there even if you're not tasting it anymore. I know that when I have my morning coffee the first sip is always bitter because of the sweet cereal I eat in the morning. But ever two or three sips the bitterness fades. The flavor of the coffee hasn't changed, but my brain has adjusted to the bitterness. The sweetness in your beer is probably persisting, but your brain is adjusting to it. Not an expert opinion, but just a thought i had when i read this....

I swear that that's happened to me a few times, and my first question is always, "Is this an extract beer". I've always had an affirmative answer.

My belief is that I can actually taste the extract in that first sip. After that, the other flavors come out, like the hops.

I'd recommend using dry malt extract, using specialty steeping grains, and adding hops, instead of using the canned LME kits.

That makes sense Yooper. My extract + steep Brown Ale I have bottled now doesn't blast you with sweetness up front, but, if you smell the glass after you're done it smells like LME. I'll be BIAB all grain my next batch. Looking forward to the difference.

I would absolutely love to get away from the canned kits but i have serious time constraints with 3 kids under 12 all in competitive sports in one form or another. I coach 2 hockey teams and pretend to be really interested in ballroom dancing for one daughter. So getting the hour in that it takes to do the extract kit sometimes is a chore.

I'll try switching to DME and steep some grains next time.

SFBEER said:

I would absolutely love to get away from the canned kits but i have serious time constraints with 3 kids under 12 all in competitive sports in one form or another. I coach 2 hockey teams and pretend to be really interested in ballroom dancing for one daughter. So getting the hour in that it takes to do the extract kit sometimes is a chore.

I'll try switching to DME and steep some grains next time.

Click to expand...

I don't think a DME kit would take any longer than an LME/canned LME kit.

The ingredients would be a few steeping grains, the DME, and the hops. Otherwise, it would be the same.

I'm not a big fan of pre-hopped extract. I feel like something is 'lost' in the hops. They aren't as 'edgy'.
that difference that I think exists might be exactly what you're tasting. Only did 2 kits like that before i started using kits with hop pellets and steeping grains with the un-hopped LME and/or DME.