What can i do with too sweet beer?

My very first batch was a partial mash. It was a Rogue Dead Guy ale kit i purchased at the Rogue brewery. I didn't have any mesh bags to steep the grains as called for in the directions that came with it, so i made one out of cheesecloth. Well i think the bag i made was too small, which held the grains too tightly. I don't think this allowed the grains in the middle to steep much at all. Everything else went perfect, its the right color, and in the range of SG that it calls for. But its just so darn sweet to me, like a saison or wit beer and I hate those kinds of beers.

I brewed this on 5/9, it sat in the fermenter until 6/5, and has been in bottles since. I've tried 3 of them, the first was horrible I couldn't drink it. The second was slightly better and I could actually drink it although it wasn't great. The third tasted like the first. Now I did not leave these in the fridge for a week like i've read people suggesting. They were typically in the fridge for 3 or 4 days before i popped the tops.

So a few questions:

1. Would leaving in the fridge longer help at all? I guess i'm wondering if suspended yeast has anything to do with sweet flavor i'm experiencing.
2. Can i pour the bottles back into the fermenter with some boiled DME or something to help lessen the sweetness?
3. Should i just stop tasting them and stick them in the closet for 6 months or something?


On the plus side, my second batch was AG and I hit all my marks, coming out at 71% efficiency. So I'm very excited for that one. The process just seemed much more thorough and I felt I had more control over what was going on. That could also be a result of going through 1 brew session already too

 

since they're already bottled, just set them somewhere warm/room temp and every couple weeks, toss one in the fridge over night and keep trying until they're drinkable. 1 of 2 things will happen. They'll become good or you'll eventually drink them all by tasting 1 at a time

 

Saisons and Wits usually aren't sweet at all.

If its too sweet, you've got two options: cut it with something dry, or infect it. Overly sweet beers are good candidates for sour.

 

Maybe sweet is the wrong word, its just what it tastes like to me. Flowery, sweet. It tastes like a wit or saison I'm sure of that.

 

I'd love for them to get better, i just don't want to keep pouring them down the drain. I guess i could find a buddy who likes the taste and give em away but i wanna enjoy em dammit!!!

 

What was the FG?

 

That's the first thing i thought of. Get some Brett going in there and you can knock out the rest of those sugars. It doesn't mean it'll be sour with just brett though, just funky. And yes, saisons are the driest beer I know of. Typical examples finish at about the 1.002 mark.

 

1.019

Thanks for the suggestion. I don't know what Brett is so i'll do some research.

 

It looks like most Dead Guy Ale clones start at around 1.065, so 1.019 is definitely high, but not too crazy. Any chance the hops were old? Did you boil them well/long enough? Lack of a good hop balance can make something taste sweet.

The fact that you picked two very different beers to describe what this tastes like still makes me think you're describing it a bit...er...wrong, no offense intended. Saisons are super dry and wits, while they tend to be significantly less attenuated, only end up sweet when chamomile is used, I find. They both can be very estery and/or phenolic, and maybe that's what you're getting at. Higher fermentation temps will get you these flavors, but they also usually get you better attenuation, too. Did you pitch your yeast at a high temp? If you pitch at a really high temp (say 80+), and then the wort cools over a day or two to your desired fermentation temp at 60-65 or so, that could get you off flavors and some slight underattenuation. Really, it could be any number of things.

Let them sit around a month and see what happens. Maybe they will improve, maybe they won't. I wouldn't open them up to add brett; you'll just oxidize the beer. If nothing else, surely some of your friends will like it, no? If it's sweet and perfumey, why not invite some attractive ladies over? <wink, wink, say no more> I'm glad the 2nd brew went well, at any rate.

 

Since I had a Saison over the weekend, its closest to that flavor i'm trying to describe here. And no worries, no offense taken, i'm here to learn so i take it all in stride. I still have a tough time describing these specific tastes. Once I find a local club here I'm sure that will come with time and tastings of different types. I tend to stick to what I like, but am definitely interested in branching out.

I pitched around 77, and fermented in my bath tub. I monitored the temp in the room and it never rose above 70, but the thermometer stuck on my fermenter read about 73 for the first few days.

The directions said it should finish out around 1.016-1.019, so mine was right there. It could be that they were old yes, didn't think about that. They were in a sealed bag, but I have no way to know how old they were. In fact its very possible all the ingredients were old. I purchased the kit at one of their warehouse sales, so who knows. Also, I did not use the proprietary PacMan Yeast. I used what my LHB guy suggested which was a English ale yeast i think - i didn't write this down as he didn't have the PacMan.

Aside from that there is a faint taste of how it should be, just the flower/sweet or whatever i'm trying to describe over powers it.

I'll give it more time for sure. Thanks for all the help and suggestions. Chalk it up to a learning experience

 

Seeing as you pitched at 77, it's possible your yeast threw some mad esters (some English yeasts are estery in the upper 60s, some are much cleaner - do you remember what it was, exactly?). Maybe that's what you're getting. Esters do fade over time, though slowly. Set it all in a corner of your basement and forget about it for a while. Try it again in a few months, slightly warm. If you approach it like a strong bitter, it may not be so bad.

 

Yeah I agree with Pappers.

 

Since you mentioned the saison having characters that reminded you of this, which wasn't actually sweetness, I think you are picking up on a lot of esters, which saisons have. Saisons ferment in the upper 70's or higher, producing strong phenols and esters. English ale yeasts can throw lots of esters in the normal upper 60's range. In the upper 70's it's probably overpowering with strong fruitiness, or "flowery/sweet" characters as you mentioned. I think much of what you don't like about the beer can be attributed to the high fermentation temp. Try to pitch in the mid 60's to get a more clean profile from the yeast.

 

Yep, english ale yeast at higher temperatures = fruity tasting esters. The bad news is that this batch probably won't taste much better even after a long conditioning. The good news is that you now know to how to aviod those estery flavors in for your future batches. Controlling fermentation temps is one of the best things you can do to improve your beer.

 

Great info thanks everyone. I'll adjust things for future batches. At least i know whats going on with this batch now.

Much appreciated!

 

You might be able to sell the recipe to Leinenkugel. It might go well with their Fruity Pebbles beer.

 

Just to be 100% sure, did you let them sit at room temp for about a month (a few weeks at least) before putting them in the fridge? Just checking, don't know how much experience you have.

 

Yes they are still sitting at room temp and have been since 6/5, i have only taken 3 bottles (1 at a time) and put them in the fridge.