OK, I have brewed 5 batches now, well brewed more, but 5 have been bottled 3 plus weeks and I have tried them. So far they all have been pretty sweet and very little hop presence. I have not brewed any kits, only recipes I have come up with on my own and I seem o be getting terrible hops utilization. Every recipe has been between 30 and 55 IBU according to Rager's formula but all have been very sweet, no bitterness at all.
All my beer comes out sweet!!
- Thread starter STRIKER76
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
my first few batches I was was getting a hard rolling boil, then I read that may have been part of the issue so the last few I have got them up to a good boil then lowered heat to a slight boil. here is a sample recipe:
% lbs oz
82% 6 0 Northern Brewer Gold Malt Syrup 34 5 ~
7% 0 8 Corn Sugar (Dextrose) 46 0 ~
7% 0 8 Briess Special Roast 34 50 ~
3% 0 4 Briess Caramel 80L 34 80 ~
1% 0 1 Black (Patent) Malt 25 500 ~
use time oz variety form aa
boil 60 mins 1.0 Horizon pellet 9.1
boil 5 mins 1.0 Cascade pellet 5.5
% lbs oz
82% 6 0 Northern Brewer Gold Malt Syrup 34 5 ~
7% 0 8 Corn Sugar (Dextrose) 46 0 ~
7% 0 8 Briess Special Roast 34 50 ~
3% 0 4 Briess Caramel 80L 34 80 ~
1% 0 1 Black (Patent) Malt 25 500 ~
use time oz variety form aa
boil 60 mins 1.0 Horizon pellet 9.1
boil 5 mins 1.0 Cascade pellet 5.5
1. i need to know how much water you have at the 60 minute and 0 minute marks.
2. i have never heard anyone say that lowering the temperature will make your beer more bitter. in fact, the opposite should be true unless you are boiling off water so fast that you are increasing the sugar concentration so much that it is affecting your hops absorbtion rates.
2. i have never heard anyone say that lowering the temperature will make your beer more bitter. in fact, the opposite should be true unless you are boiling off water so fast that you are increasing the sugar concentration so much that it is affecting your hops absorbtion rates.
Dillinja666
Active Member
also what temps are your primarys at: warm primarys make a sweet fruity flavor
SankePankey
Well-Known Member
I was thinking that too about mine, but I think I have used a slue of under-attenuating yeasts. British Ale, Denny's Favorite, in several batches in a row.
cervezarara
Well-Known Member
1. Do you partial boil? (High gravity wort may lower hop utilization.) If so, try late extract addition.
2. Are you getting good yeast attenuation? If your finished gravity is high, like 1.020 or higher, this may lead to perceived sweetness.
3. Do you use a hop bag? If the bag is too constricting and the hops don't have room to move freely, this can lower utilization. If so, you can try tying the bag at its very top with a twist tie and using the twistee to hold it to the kettle handle. This will help the boiling wort flow freely through the hop bag.
2. Are you getting good yeast attenuation? If your finished gravity is high, like 1.020 or higher, this may lead to perceived sweetness.
3. Do you use a hop bag? If the bag is too constricting and the hops don't have room to move freely, this can lower utilization. If so, you can try tying the bag at its very top with a twist tie and using the twistee to hold it to the kettle handle. This will help the boiling wort flow freely through the hop bag.
Firebat138
Well-Known Member
most likely ur ferm temps... Where are you fermenting and what is the temp?
I will try to answer all the questions asked:
I believe I am getting good attenuation. The FG on all them have been close to target 1.012 - 1.015
I do use a bag for the hops. I use pellet hops and some of the bags have definitely been a little tight. This may be at least part of the problem.
Boil volume 3.5 pre - 3 post
I ferment in my basement and the temp stays pretty consistently between 66-68.
I believe I am getting good attenuation. The FG on all them have been close to target 1.012 - 1.015
I do use a bag for the hops. I use pellet hops and some of the bags have definitely been a little tight. This may be at least part of the problem.
Boil volume 3.5 pre - 3 post
I ferment in my basement and the temp stays pretty consistently between 66-68.
When i first started brewing i used a bag for my hops and it seemed like i was getting terrible hop utilization causing my beers to be sweeter. I then started tossing them directly in the boil and that problem was gone for me. I just use a strainer when i pour the wort into the fermenter and it seems to be working great.
The sample recipe would give you an OG of about 1.050. Finishing at 1.012/1.015 would give you 70 to 75% attenuation. That's probably on the low end, especially with 0.5 lbs of dextrose in there.
Sweetness might be from the Special Roast and C80. Might want to cut the Special Roast, and go with just 1/2 lb of Crystal C60 or C40.
Sweetness might be from the Special Roast and C80. Might want to cut the Special Roast, and go with just 1/2 lb of Crystal C60 or C40.
Are you referring to the temp of the basement or the beer?
I'm pretty friggin sure it's this. Hard, rolling boils get the best hops utilization. It's all about temperature... the alpha-acids isomerize quicker at boiling temperature (i.e. 212*F, 100*C.)
Also, whats your elevation? That can have an effect on isomerization. I live at ~5200 feet and so water (and wort) boils for me at 202*F. Due to this, I usually add more hops at the beginning of the boil to compensate or I just do a 90 minute boil and expect 60-minute-boil IBUs.
If you are indeed at elevation your wort may not be reaching optimal isomerization temperature. A general rule of thumb is for every 500 feet above sea-level, you can subtract 1*F from sea-level boil temperature of 212*F.
I'm up the hill in Truckee (6500ft or so) and your saying I should be boiling a bit longer?
BDKeg
Member
not to hijack or anything, but i live at 9300ft...i guess i need to boil for longer? that would put my boiling temp at 194 degrees F. What is the consequence for not adjusting for this?
Hang Glider
Beer Drinker
This still needs an answer, too.
68 in your basement could easily be 75 - even 78 in your fermenter during active fermentation...
Absolutely. Or just add more bittering hops. There is a much more accurate equation in the most recent Brew Your Own magazine. I'll post it when I find it. But this is only necessary if you're trying to hit exact numbers. Either way you'll make beer... just not quite as bitter a beer as you were expecting.
EDIT: Also, holy crap... I didn't realize I'm that close in elevation to you in Truckee... but then again I suppose you are kinda sitting in a valley.
Found it! And I worked out my elevation; the "1° F for every 500 feet above sea level" estimation is pretty accurate. At 5200' I calculated a BP of 202.602° F (my estimation was 202... that's a percent error of only 0.18%)
shafferpilot
Well-Known Member
Where are your hops coming from? Are they old? have they been kept frozen? Hops definitely lose their oompf after 6 months or so, but much much quicker if they get abused at any point. Solution: add more!
dukeredhair
Well-Known Member
have you tried late malt additions. I find I get much better hop utilization simply by adding most of my malt later in the boil.
I was referring to the temp according to the stick on thermometer on the side of my fermenting bucket.
A couple more weeks in the bottle did wonders to balance them out!
I still did not get quite the IBU's I was looking for, but I am pretty sure I know why. I was using muslin bags cut in half for the hops, they were about the size of a tennis ball and pretty firm at the end of the boil so I am pretty sure water was not able to circulate around the pellets properly. The last two batches I did I went without the bags. I will let you you know in a few weeks if that takes care of it.
Also do you recommend using Rager's or Tinseth's formula for figuring IBU's?
I was using Ragers, but used Tinseth for my last batch. This could also be part of the problem for me. The IBU's I am getting seem much more like Tinseth would be correct. e.g. One of recipes comes out to 50 using Rager but only 34 using Tinseth
A couple more weeks in the bottle did wonders to balance them out!
I still did not get quite the IBU's I was looking for, but I am pretty sure I know why. I was using muslin bags cut in half for the hops, they were about the size of a tennis ball and pretty firm at the end of the boil so I am pretty sure water was not able to circulate around the pellets properly. The last two batches I did I went without the bags. I will let you you know in a few weeks if that takes care of it.
Also do you recommend using Rager's or Tinseth's formula for figuring IBU's?
I was using Ragers, but used Tinseth for my last batch. This could also be part of the problem for me. The IBU's I am getting seem much more like Tinseth would be correct. e.g. One of recipes comes out to 50 using Rager but only 34 using Tinseth
Whichever scale you use is ok- as long as you recognize what "34 IBUs" taste like on either one! I hope that makes sense. I use Tinseth, so I know what "50 IBUs" taste like when I formulate recipes, and how to balance it with the malt. The actual number doesn't really matter in the end, as long as it's enough to balance the malt, and you know what it means.
I agree that the packed hops bags are probably a big cause of the issue!
Similar threads
