ghank15
Well-Known Member
So I have been brewing for almost a year and a half. My results have been pretty good, and some batches have been better than others. I hoped that once I made the jump to all grain, my results would improve by a pretty good margin.
However, they haven't. Don't get me wrong, my beers are quite drinkable. But they are much sweeter than what I was hoping.
Over the winter, I brewed 4 lagers and 2 ales. I used a sizable yeast starter for 2 of the lagers and 1 of the ales. For the remaining batches, I used multiple vials of yeast, so I know my cell count was pretty good. My OG for all of them were around 1.050 (except for a maibock, which ended up being a dopplebock because I got ridiculous efficiency, that was 1.080), and they all finished between 1.010 and 1.013 (the maibock/dopplebock finished at 1.020, so I get why that is sweet).
So any tips as to why my beers are tasting sweet? For ales, I ferment 2-3 weeks at proper temp, and allow for at least 3 weeks of bottle conditioning. For lagers, I ferment for 4-6 weeks, transfer to secondary after doing a diacetyl rest, and lager for another 4-6 weeks.
I also use beersmith to make sure my numbers are right, but I have also used the IBU formula that is in Designing Great Beers after I realized I might be going low on the IBU's, but all my numbers are resulting in balanced beers for the styles I have been brewing, which have all been German styles (vienna lager, maibock, altbier) and ESB.
Anyone else have this problem? Any hints? Do you need any more info, like recipes or my mash procedure or anything? Thanks for any help.
However, they haven't. Don't get me wrong, my beers are quite drinkable. But they are much sweeter than what I was hoping.
Over the winter, I brewed 4 lagers and 2 ales. I used a sizable yeast starter for 2 of the lagers and 1 of the ales. For the remaining batches, I used multiple vials of yeast, so I know my cell count was pretty good. My OG for all of them were around 1.050 (except for a maibock, which ended up being a dopplebock because I got ridiculous efficiency, that was 1.080), and they all finished between 1.010 and 1.013 (the maibock/dopplebock finished at 1.020, so I get why that is sweet).
So any tips as to why my beers are tasting sweet? For ales, I ferment 2-3 weeks at proper temp, and allow for at least 3 weeks of bottle conditioning. For lagers, I ferment for 4-6 weeks, transfer to secondary after doing a diacetyl rest, and lager for another 4-6 weeks.
I also use beersmith to make sure my numbers are right, but I have also used the IBU formula that is in Designing Great Beers after I realized I might be going low on the IBU's, but all my numbers are resulting in balanced beers for the styles I have been brewing, which have all been German styles (vienna lager, maibock, altbier) and ESB.
Anyone else have this problem? Any hints? Do you need any more info, like recipes or my mash procedure or anything? Thanks for any help.