Belgian Wit a little sweet...

[WhatsOnTap]

My Belgian Wit has been in the secondary for a week, and it fermented for a week in the primary. The taste seems a little sweet, though it could be perceived sweetness from lack of hops. The FG is 1.016, which seems a little high. I plan to leave it in the secondary another week and then bottle, but I don't want any bombs, either. I don't mind if the beer tastes sweet from unfermented sugars, as this is a beer for my wife. Can anyone give me some advice? Here is a post of my recipe FYI:

Brewer: Indian Lake Brewery
Beer: - Style: Belgian White (Wit)
Type: Extract Size: 5.0 gallons
Color: 6 HCU (~5 SRM)
Bitterness: 12 IBU
OG: 1.061 FG: 1.016
Alcohol: 6.1% v/v (4.8% w/w)
Boil: minutes SG 1.061 5.0 gallons
3.5 lb. Light malt extract
3.5 lb. Wheat extract
1.0 lb. Belgian candi sugar
Hops: 1.0 oz. Saaz (3.75% AA, 60 min.)
0.5 oz. Bitter Orange Peel (15 min.)
0.7 oz. Coriander (15 min.)

Thanks,

WOT

 

[homebrewer_99]

IMO, you underhopped by at least an ounce.

For 8 lbs of fermentables you used only 1 oz Saaz @ 3.75% AA. That's too low.

I use 2.2 oz of 3.5% Hallertau in less than 6 lbs of malt and it's still just a tad on the sweet side (where I like it) with a dry finish.

 

[RichBrewer]

IMO, you underhopped by at least an ounce.

For 8 lbs of fermentables you used only 1 oz Saaz @ 3.75% AA. That's too low.

I use 2.2 oz of 3.5% Hallertau in less than 6 lbs of malt and it's still just a tad on the sweet side (where I like it) with a dry finish.

I would agree. 12 IBUs is very low for that high gravity beer. You should probably be at least in the 30 IBU range and I'm not a hop head. You might want to boil some more hops in water (Hop tea) and add it to this beer. Sounds like a good beer. Just under hopped.

 

[WhatsOnTap]

I've got an ounce of Hallertau I can boil and put in at bottling time to bitter it up. As far as the FG, is 1.016 too high or is the beer just perceived too sweet due to lack of hops?

 

[cweston]

I've got an ounce of Hallertau I can boil and put in at bottling time to bitter it up. As far as the FG, is 1.016 too high or is the beer just perceived too sweet due to lack of hops?

I think 1.016 is too high...you may have had a high level of unfermentable sugars in your extract or something.

I aslo disagree a bit with some of the other comments about hops levels. True, your Wit is very lightly hopped at 12 IBUs, but I think the style guideline says 15-25, so you're not way off, although with IBUs a little below the bottom of the scale, you'd certainly want a lower FG to balance that off.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I'd also let it sit for another week to let the gravity drop some more. 1016 is too high. I usually don't bottle anything above 1010.

 

[WhatsOnTap]

Good deal guys. I just found 3/4 oz of Saaz in my freezer from last week that I can use to bitter it up a tad, and offset the sweetness a little if needed. I'll make that determination at bottling time. I just racked a Dunkelweizen from primary to secondary with a SG of 1.019 and it doesn't taste nearly as sweet as the Wit. I think now that the hop bitterness offsets perceived sweetness. I know that the Wit may be a little light on hop bitterness, but really if the wife is happy with it at bottling time I may just leave it. I would hate to "ruin" it for her (then I would have to drink it all!). It will be a good lawnmower beer at worst... I'll let you guys know what happens in a week; thanks for all the input!

WOT

 

[homebrewer_99]

Worse case scenario...you could pour a little bit of bitter beer in a glass to level it off a bit.