Bottle conditioning + Sweetness

[jono1492]

Hey guys,

Just curious about bottle conditioning and what it does to sweet flavors in beer. Are sweet flavors more likely to intensify or mellow out with age?

Or is it more complicated then that, is it dependent on the type of sugar or where its sourced i.e dextrose, honey, fruit etc.

Also, on the same subject, can certain sweetness be considered an 'off flavor' in particular beer styles?

Cheers

 

[diS]

It is sugar dependent.
Since sucrose is 100% fermentable it will not add residual sweetness.

 

[Captain Damage]

To my palette carbonation masks a little sweetness.

 

[unionrdr]

Well,the malts used in a recipe can govern what kind & how much residual sweetness a beer will have. Added sugars can tone that a little to the drier side if you wish. Priming sugar will have little or no effect on this.

 

[WoodlandBrew]

Residual sweetness is left by only a few types of sugars. They have to be long enough chains to have not feremented, but short enough that enzymes in your mouth can break them into smaller sugars that can be tasted.

Generally over time beer will taste less sweet, and carbonation tends to make things taste less sweet as well. Think about drinking a flat coke vs on that is carbonated.

For more information on residual sweetness see here:
http://woodlandbrew.blogspot.com/2012/12/final-gravity-as-indication-of-sweetness.html