First brew is to sweet?

[Jtd6628]

So why is the reason my beer is too sweet and how can I keep from making this mistake again?

True brew nut brow ale

Style: American Brown Ale OG: 1.051
Type: Extract FG: 1.012
Rating: 0.0 ABV: 5.11 %
Calories: 166 IBU's: 1.99
Efficiency: 70 % Boil Size: 2.00 Gal
Color: 58.5 SRM Batch Size: 5.00 Gal
Boil Time: 45 minutes

Fermentation Steps
Name Days / Temp
Primary 14 days @ 70.0°F
Bottle/Keg 14 days @ 78.0°F

Grains & Adjuncts
Amount Percentage Name Time Gravity
1.00 lbs 9.71 % Chocolate Malt 30 mins 1.028
2.00 lbs 19.42 % Roasted Barley 30 mins 1.025
1.00 lbs 9.71 % Barley, Raw 30 mins 1.028
3.30 lbs 32.04 % Munton's Light LME 45 mins 1.037
1.00 lbs 9.71 % Amber Dry Extract 45 mins 1.044
1.00 lbs 9.71 % Munton's Light DME 45 mins 1.046
1.00 lbs 9.71 % Brown Sugar, Dark 45 mins 1.046

Hops
Amount IBU's Name Time AA %
1.00 ozs 1.99 Fuggles 10 mins 4.50

Yeasts
Amount Name Laboratory / ID
1.0 pkg American Ale Wyeast Labs 1056

Carbonation
Amount Type Beer Temp CO2 Vols
3.35 oz Corn Sugar - Bottle Carbonation 78.0°F 2.00

 

[JonM]

what was your measured final gravity?

 

[Jtd6628]

Fg 1.012

 

[JonM]

Huh. That's pretty dry. Maybe it'll just need some more time in the bottles to condition.

 

[Yooper]

With only an ounce of fuggles at 10 minutes? Did you use ANY bittering hops at all? If you didn't use any bittering hops, the beer will be very, very sweet.

Bittering hops counter the sweetness of the malt. With an IBU of 1.99(?), that is about 25 IBUs too little.

It wasn't your question, by the way, but your recipe is really bad. Two POUNDS of Roasted barley? and raw barley? In a nut brown? Brown sugar? etc. But that's not way it's too sweet.

 

[trevorc13]

Is it already bottled and carbonated, or are you tasting the wort? Even if its already been fermented, the taste drastically changes with carbonation and chilling. The bitterness of hops are the counter to the sweetness of the malt, so adding more bitterness would help, although you'd be messing with the style at that point.

Edit: I just noticed you did not add any bittering hops. You need to boil hops for a good hour to get the bitterness needed to counter the sweetness of the malt.

 

[Jtd6628]

[QUOTE="Yooper"Did you use ANY bittering hops at all? If you didn't use any bittering hops, the beer will be very, very sweet.

Bittering hops counter the sweetness of the malt. With an IBU of 1.99(?), that is about 25 IBUs too little.

It wasn't your question, by the way, but your recipe is really bad. Two POUNDS of Roasted barley? and raw barley? In a nut brown? Brown sugar? etc. But that's not way it's too sweet.[/QUOTE]

The LME was pre hopped so that was suppose to do the bittering. It was a the true brew nut brown ale recipe kit and yes I think it is a poor excuse for a nut brown ale too now that I have brewed it.

 

[Jtd6628]

Yes it has been bottled for two weeks

 

[Yooper]

The LME was pre hopped so that was suppose to do the bittering. It was a the true brew nut brown ale recipe kit and yes I think it is a poor excuse for a nut brown ale too now that I have brewed it.

Are you sure the Munton's LME was prehopped? I don't remember any Munton's light extract products being prehopped that is why I'm questioning it.

We'll help you find a much better recipe for next time!

 

[Jtd6628]

Are you sure the Munton's LME was prehopped? I don't remember any Munton's light extract products being prehopped that is why I'm questioning it.

We'll help you find a much better recipe for next time!

Your right it was not the light extract it was the amber and it was hopped but we will just shuck this brew up to the days before I found the HB Talk forum, and I look forward to some help with recipes in the future.

 

[Yooper]

Your right it was not the light extract it was the amber and it was hopped but we will just shuck this brew up to the days before I found the HB Talk forum, and I look forward to some help with recipes in the future.

Well, hopefully you can still drink the beer, even if too sweet- so it's not a total loss.

 

[temptnmonkey]

Bummer that it is too sweet. On a lighter note, just throw in a hop or two everytime you open it

 

[Golddiggie]

You could also brew something with more IBU's and mix them in glass... If the brew is really too sweet to drink as it is now, that would be an option (IMO)...

I would advise not using pre-hopped extract in the future. IMO, it's far better to add the hops for bittering, flavor, and aroma to fit your pallet. Maybe it's because I started off with adding all the hops in the batches, skipping right over any pre-hopped extracts. I just prefer to have more control over what the final product will be, which you don't really get with those extracts. As you're finding out... I also think (if I'm not mistaken) that the hop strength in them will fade, so unless it's pretty fresh you don't really know what you'll be getting...

 

[Jtd6628]

Good advise I have not done any kits since this one. I have switch to DME and using hop pellets. I can't wait to see how my single hop galena turns out only been in fermenter for 12 days planing for 21 before I secondary for ten days so I will let everyone how it turned out september 30th!