(NOOB POSTING) My Beer is way to sweet...

So I just finished bottling my beer today and thought I would try the 2-3 fl. oz. of beer remaining in the bottom of my bottling buket. I tried it and it was extremely sweet. I'm not to sure what I did wrong? This was my first real five gallon batch aside from the (Mr. Beer days.)

I'm a noob and forgot to take a OG and a FG of my beer so please don't ask...

I fllowed a simple Northwest recipe...
The recipe was:

malts- 7 lbs. of Amber Malt Extract (wet)

Hops- 1 oz. of Mt. Hood (bittering)
1 oz. Cascade (finishing)

Yeast and Adjuncts- Wyeast Northwest ale
1/4 tsp. Irish Moss



I added my bittering hops once the wort was at a boil. Then I let the wort boil for 55 mins. and added my finishing hops and Irish moss. I let the finishing hops boil for 5 mins. then I removed the wort from the stove. I chilled the wort for a good hour brought it to 65-75 degrees and pitched my wyeast.

My Primary fermentation was for 7 days and my secondary was for 14 days at 65-75 degrees for both stages.

I made damn sure that everything and I mean EVERYTHING that came in contact with my beer had been Sanitized with one-step. So I don't think it was lack of cleanliness.

Any suggestions or advice you could give to a noob I would greatly appreciate it!



Thanks

It's sweeter than normal due to 2 factors.

1> you added priming sugar, that's what you are tasting.
2> The beer is not carbonated. It will taste sweeter with no bubbles(open a Coke, pour into a glass and stir until flat, then taste. Alot sweeter than the normal carb'd version, no?

Did you see signs of fermentation? Not airlock bubbling, but krausen?

annasdadhockey said:

It's sweeter than normal due to 2 factors.

1> you added priming sugar, that's what you are tasting.
2> The beer is not carbonated. It will taste sweeter with no bubbles(open a Coke, pour into a glass and stir until flat, then taste. Alot sweeter than the normal carb'd version, no?

Click to expand...

Good call.

annasdadhockey said:

It's sweeter than normal due to 2 factors.

1> you added priming sugar, that's what you are tasting.
2> The beer is not carbonated. It will taste sweeter with no bubbles(open a Coke, pour into a glass and stir until flat, then taste. Alot sweeter than the normal carb'd version, no?

Click to expand...

So you think in seven days once the beer is fully carbonated the yeast will broke down all the remaining fermentable materials?

And it won't be as sweet then?

Should I be worried at all for my beer then!??!

Quarters said:

So you think in seven days once the beer is fully carbonated the yeast will broke down all the remaining fermentable materials?

And it won't be as sweet then?

Should I be worried at all for my beer then!??!

Click to expand...

RDWHAHB,

I think it may take more than 7 days(maybe not). Best to wait 21 days to be sure. You should be fine then. The biggest thing new brewers need to learn is patience. For yourself, try to wait the full 3 weeks, then put a couple in the fridge, let sit 24 hours in the fridge, then enjoy. Believe me you won't regret the wait. Cheers!!!!!

annasdadhockey said:

I think it may take more than 7 days(maybe not). Best to wait 21 days to be sure. You should be fine then. The biggest thing new brewers need to learn is patience. For yourself, try to wait the full 3 weeks, then put a couple in the fridge, let sit 24 hours in the fridge, then enjoy. Believe me you won't regret the wait. Cheers!!!!!

Click to expand...

So conditioning really makes that big of a difference?

Damn a whole 3 weeks tell I can have my beer...

I guess I do need to learn some patience then.

i think you need to just brew like crazy in the beginning to really get the pipeline going...at least thats what I'm doing...i never wanna have to go through this waiting game again

^^^Tell me about it...

Just to verify, did you check the specific gravity of the beer before bottling? If that number was reasonable, then you shouldn't have anything to worry about. If the fermentation didn't finish, you could end up with bottle bombs. I doubt that's the case here, but it's worth checking just to be safe.

Other than that, I can second what everyone else has already said. You'd be amazed how much the taste of a beer can change during the 3 weeks of bottle conditioning. To be honest, I've occasionally opened a bottle at just under 2 weeks, and the taste is significantly different (and far better!) just a week later. Use the 3 weeks you're waiting on the beer to condition to go ahead and get your next batch started!

Does the type of priming sugar really make that big of a differnce? I was told to use corn sugar but I just used table sugar instead. Could that maybe why it is kind of sweet too?

the reason to use corn sugar is it has only one bond that the yeast need to break to make it digestible for them so it breaks down more easily but there should not be enough of a diffrence between table sugar and dextrose (corn sugar) to be detectable it might cause conditioning and carbonation to take a little longer to be achived.

Quarters said:

Does the type of priming sugar really make that big of a differnce? I was told to use corn sugar but I just used table sugar instead. Could that maybe why it is kind of sweet too?

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That too. Corn sugar(dextrose) is only about 75% as sweet as cane(table) sugar. I would definitely wait the 3 weeks now. try to keep them at 70-75*F in order to get them carbed. They will carb at lower temps, but it will take longer. Open one up @ 10 days to check.

Quarters said:

^^^Tell me about it...

Click to expand...

Yeah, three weeks is a long time to wait when you have nothing else ready. I've been brewing for 2 and a half months and I've done nine 5 gallon recipes. I'm just now able to forget about whats not ready and enjoy the process. Its hard at first.

You can crack a bottle open at 2 weeks and that may be close enough to where you want it. A belgian wheat I just did was ready after only 10 days in the bottle.

annasdadhockey said:

That too. Corn sugar(dextrose) is only about 75% as sweet as cane(table) sugar. I would definitely wait the 3 weeks now. try to keep them at 70-75*F in order to get them carbed. They will carb at lower temps, but it will take longer. Open one up @ 10 days to check.

Click to expand...

Will do! Thanks for the advice everyone!

Now I think it's time to get another batch of beer ready to brew.

One other concern, since you said you tasted the "dregs" at the bottom of the bottling bucket, is that you were tasting a high concentration of the sugar you added. Did you add the dry sugar to the bucket or did you make a simple syrup first? Did you stir it in?