Common taste in most of my Homebrews

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swee0132

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Hey everyone,

I've visited this site and read so much and now it's time I ask a question.

I've brewed about 10 batches all-grain after moving over from extract. Currently use a diy HERMS set up and ferment in a 5 gallon bucket inside a temp controlled chest freezer. I've dialed in my Beersmith equipment and water calculations and hit my numbers (for the most part) every time I brew. I pitch yeast starters, ferment for 2-3 weeks and then Keg (set and forget method). I've mashed between 148-156 (depending on beer style) and with my herms set-up, I get a good temp lock in.

Now my problem. I get a weird sweet flavor in every beer I make. I mean every beer. It's not bad, but definitely not what I'm looking for when I brew certain beers. The only recipes this doesn't affect are my IPA recipes, which turn out great. But everything from Irish Red's, to simple pale ales, to even Porters, have all had this weird sweet flavor.

Any help or ideas would be great.
 
I pitch yeast starters, ferment for 2-3 weeks and then Keg (set and forget method).

Are you checking your FG before kegging? Is it possible that you are not getting full attenuation on those beers and you are tasting residual sweetness from unconverted sugars?
 
Are you hitting your anticipated final gravity on these brews?

Are these recipes that you have created yourself? If so do they have a large amount of Crystal or other specialty malts?

It could be that the same taste is there in the IPAs, but the bitterness is enough to counteract the sweet flavor.
 
What yeast are using? Do you measure final gravity? Sounds like the yeast are stopping early. Or you aren't using enough hops to balance.
 
I guess I haven't been big on checking attenuation since I've gone from extract to all-grain. I would check it in extract, and about week 2 I would get good attenuation. Since I've changed nothing in my fermentation process, and use the same yeast strains (us-05, Nottingham, Irish ale) I didn't really think twice about check after the 2 week mark after going all-grain. It makes sense though as sugar left over that's not fermented. It's just hard to imagine 3 weeks in a fermenting chamber at 68 degrees won't produce fully attenuated beer.
 
How accurate it the thermometer you use to measure your mash temp? If you end up mashing too high you can get a residual sweetness from the unfermentable sugars.
 
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