need some help with fixing a sweet beer

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

ericmichaels

Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2010
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
Location
California
Ok first major mistake on my part, I was drinking home brew when I was brewing my 3rd batch and I think that may have had something to do with this mistake lol.
So the recipe I was making called for 2.5lbs of honey so I figured 16oz to a pound and but I didnt take into account that 16 fluid oz of honey actually equals 1.5lbs of honey. so now I have a beer that is finally done fermenting after 2 weeks but it is still to sweet to drink. How can I fix this?

I have read that maybe a hop tea would help fix this but I want to make sure before I do that. also people said to blend it with another batch of a hoppy beer, how would I do that? would I just wait until the other beer is done fermenting and then mix the two?

Thanks,
Eric
 
How about your recipe that includes the yeast. Even without it may be as simple as adding a more aggressive yeast to dry it out.
 
Have you tried raising the temp? It would help if it was still on the yeast but regardless it's the path of least Resistance and one I'd prefer before pitching another yeast.
 
Agree with Yuri... re-pitching some yeast to increase the yeasty action may help; but perhaps with the full recipe the collective minds can figure something out to help out... it might even be one of those things where waiting might cure all.
 
6.6lbs wheat lme
1lb light dme
3.94lbs orange blossom honey (should have been 2.5lbs)
1.25lbs Dingeman's Cara-pils
1oz Hallertaur
1oz Perle
OG= 1.069
and gravity right now = 1.016

I have had the temp raised to 72 degrees for the past two days.

Thanks for the help guys
 
no its still in the primary after 2.5 weeks. I know waiting a while should help mellow it out a little but it is really sweet right now.
 
Bottle it. It's done. A bit of carbonation may help even the flavor out a bit.

EDIT: To be more specific, you're a bit over 75% apparent attenuation, which is at the upper end of the 72-76% advertised for Wyeast 3944.
 
if its to sweet to drink right now you think it will get to the point where I can drink it after bottling and conditioning? should I add more sugar when bottling to build carbonation?
 
if its to sweet to drink right now you think it will get to the point where I can drink it after bottling and conditioning? should I add more sugar when bottling to build carbonation?

Yes. Otherwise, it'll be flat.

The beer is done. That's a heckuva lot of honey for a relatively "small" beer. That's also a TON of carapils. It won't go any lower.

It'll probably taste much better once carbed up.
 
Honey is VERY fermentable, and if used in the correct proportions it will actually dry out a beer. But you did overshoot your gravity with the extra honey, so it is possible that this has thrown your beer out of balance. There aren't a lot of bittering hops in your recipe either, unless everything went in at the beginning of the boil. So if your hops were lower acid than expected, or they had staled, that might account for the beer lacking bittering to balance the sweetness.

Unfortunately, its pretty hard for a homebrewer to make a fermented beer more bitter. A hop tea will increase the perception of bitterness (without actually contributing any additional IBUs), but the hop flavour and aroma it would bring will not go well with the style. Your best bet might be to brew another batch, and make it overly bitter, and blend the two until you find something you like.

Oh, one more thought -- this beer should be pretty highly carbonated. If it isn't yet, it is going to taste very sweet (think stale pepsi).

:mug:
 
Thanks every one for the advice. I think I am going to bottle some of it now to see how that turns out and then leave the rest for a day or two and make another overly bitter batch and blend the two. When blending should I let the new batch fully ferment before I blend it with the old batch?
 
Back
Top