Saving a too sweet beer

I´ve done pretty much the same kind of Pale Ale since day one, except that for the last 4 batches I used S-33 yeast instead of Windsor or US-05 which I usually use. I was attempting to have a fruity, Belgian like kind of flavor to it.

I bottled one batch and after 2 weeks the flavor is definitely fruity, too fruity for my taste. It´s not overwhelming but it certainly does need a hopier balance. I can taste the bitterness but it´s not enough. I can´t even call it a Pale Ale as it is.

I can´t do anything about this bottled batch, but I still have three in primary fermentation with exactly the same recipe. Whatever I do on my next batches is not my concern, my concern right now is how can I bitter up the batches in fermentation.

I read someone once, saying he boiled hops, cooled the liquid and added the whole thing into the fermenter. What do you think about that?. Would it work?. I wouldn´t be attempting to get any hop profile or anything. I´m just looking to out-sweet the beer. Just to kill that overly sweet taste and be able to drink more than one beer without feeling I just had a 350ml liquid caramel.

Dry hopping will help some but it won't add very much in the bittering department. The hop nose will distract from the sweetness of the beer.

What you describe is called making a hop tea and yes it would help.

I am curious about the reason that the beer is too sweet. Did it not finish or did you not add enough bittering hops?

two_one_seven said:

What you describe is called making a hop tea and yes it would help.

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This! FTW

two_one_seven said:

Dry hopping will help some but it won't add very much in the bittering department. The hop nose will distract from the sweetness of the beer.

What you describe is called making a hop tea and yes it would help.

I am curious about the reason that the beer is too sweet. Did it not finish or did you not add enough bittering hops?

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I will try that, then.

I think it feels sweet due to the kind of yeast. Probably, rather than sweet, it is too fruity. I´m not sure.

The recipe is for 26 quarts in the fermenter. I used 10.55 lb of 2row and .555 lbs of caramel 40
1 oz of centennial at 60
1 oz of Cascade at 10
S-33 yeast

OG 1.056
FG 1.010

So, according to the OG and FG, the beer is not sweet because of low attenuation. I was not all that familiar with this yeast and the fruity effect I was looking for was maybe too much.

Next time I´ll go for a lower gravity, add Vienna or Munich instead of half that caramel 40 (or more than half) and add one 1.75 oz of hops more attempting a hoppier beer, closer to a typical Pale Ale but with a Belgian character. I think it should work.

Meanwhile, I´ll do one of those hop teas. Thank you!!!

Did a quick google search, cause I haven't used the S-33 and was curious about it, and I guess this yeast is known for giving fruit notes......so that's most likely the culprit.