Dunkelweizen too sweet

[HeidiD]

Hello. I have been reading all the great knowledge on these boards for a while now but this is my first post. I started brewing with a Mr. Beer a few months ago and very quickly decide to upgrade to 5 gallons. My first 5 gallon brew was a Brewer's Best Dunkelweizen. Brew day was about 2 1/2 weeks ago. OG was 1.050 (the kit said it should have been 1.046-1.048) I used the dry yeast that came with the kit (no starter) pitched at about 70 degrees and got good activity in about 48 hours. It fermented in my basement with a temp between 62-66. There are no more visible signs of fermentation so I took a reading yesterday and it is at 1.018 (kit instructions say FG should be 1.012-1.015) I tasted the sample and it still tastes pretty sweet. I planned on checking the gravity again on Friday and if it the same bottle it this weekend. It appears as though it is pretty close to the target FG, so I'm thinking it will stay on the sweet side. Will leaving it longer help it or is there any other way to get rid of some of the sweetness? Will dry hopping help?

 

[JimRausch]

If it is sweeter than you were hoping for, then dryhopping will help your perception. Maybe 1/2-1 oz. of your favorite hop for 5-7 days.

 

[Saiko]

When you add your corn sugar for bottling and raise the temp to 70* for conditioning/carbing you will get a little lower on FG. It will taste better after carbing and chilling, but you will probably still think it is a little sweet. Not much to do about it now, drink it and enjoy and think how you might change your next recipe.

 

[fearwig]

Dunkelweizen is not a style that lends itself to late hops, though I don't find some hop aroma to be totally out of place. I haven't found dry hopping to affect sweetness much. 1.018 is a high finish, but yeast health can be an issue with kits. You may see a drop of a few points over the next few days. I'd still bottle it once you've had two identical SG readings three days apart. It will seem less sweet when it is carbonated, all beer is too sweet when it is flat. You can carbonate a little on the high side, around 3.5, if you want--that can offset sweetness a little.

 

[HeidiD]

Thanks. I'll test again on Friday. I hope the SG changes a little. I may put into a secondary with some hops for another week if its still really sweet (just to free up the bigger fermentor for another batch.) I'm just getting started in this so I'm not sure of the different characteristics of different hops yet. Does anyone have an idea of what may add something to this type of beer. The kit came with hallerteu and hersbrucker. Should I go with one of those?

 

[fearwig]

Yes, if you are going to dry hop I'd use one of those. It's really a "yeast and malt" beer, but I can't say it'd be bad with some more hop aroma.

 

[SudsyPaul]

I've had some hopped dunkelweizen, before... it wasn't good.

I would just bottle condition to 3.0 and leave it warm... the introduction of sugar and condiition at a warm temp could get the yeast going strong and could up your co2 volume above 3.0, with a FG of 1.013-5ish. It's a bit of a crapshoot to bank on bottle-conditioning, but from my personal experience, a late hopped dunkelweizen does not taste like a dunkelweizen. (and IMHO, does not taste good)

 

[HeidiD]

To follow up, I checked the SG on Friday and it was exactly the same, but oddly didn't taste as sweet. I went ahead and bottled it, so I guess now I just wait and see. Thanks for the help.