First Brew is Too Sweet. Insight?

[GateTwelve]

I'm hoping someone can maybe put a finger on what might be the cause. I made BierMuncher's Cream of Three Crops. I kegged and starting carbing last night. I stole a sample to check clarity and color. The beer starts slightly bitter, but ends sweet. Not cloyingly so...but sweet. I did a starch conversion test on it, and there wasn't a hint of starch to be found.

Here are some of the issues I had that may have lead to an off-flavor that I'm interpreting as sweetness.

• I had a stuck sparge after doing a 90 minute mash rest at ~150*F. I had to run to a buddy's place to get his MLT. This took another 40 minutes. Temperature held very well, though, and had only dropped to 146*F by the time the sparge got moving.
  
• I undershot OG, but forgot to adjust the hops. Thus I had 5 gallons worth of hops in 3 gallons of wort. Beersmith put IBUs at 28-30. In an effort to balance the bitterness, I made another mash with my leftover ingredients, sparged again, mixed that wort into my previous wort.
  
• The OG was a little high - should have been 1.040. Mine was 1.045. I think my second batch concentrated a little more than I had counted on.
  
• Dumped the wort into the carboy while it was still ~90*-95*F (the thermometer used for that was miscalibrated).

It fermented for 11 days at an ambient room temperature of 60-63*F, before coming to a stop at a gravity of 1.008-1.009. This gravity was higher than the recipe said (1.005), but with the higher OG, I assumed this was where it was going to be. I cold crashed it at 34*F for 6 days.

So I guess my questions are: is this an off-flavor that I'm interpreting as sweet (such as astringency from letting the grain hulls mash so long)? Or is 1.008-1.009 an unacceptable FG for the recipe, and there are, in fact, too many unfermented sugars.

Thanks in advance

 

[ArcaneXor]

A 1.009 beer should taste quite dry. Maybe you are interpreting the corn flavor as sweetness.

 

[motobrewer]

nevermind....

 

[GateTwelve]

motobrewer - Yeah, my first brew day was a bit of a mess...confusion is understandable. Undershot OG at first, causing me to concentrate through boiling, and make another batch...but in the end, OG ended a little high.

If corn contributes a light, sweet taste, then perhaps it is...I'm not experienced enough to say for sure. The sample reminds me a bit of the way Blue Moon finishes...just slightly sweeter.

 

[motobrewer]

yeah, i actually read everything, and realized. which is why I edited.

anyway, i have no insight to your problem, lol

good luck.

 

[kanielb1]

what hops and how much did you use?

 

[GateTwelve]

Sorry, didn't realize your edit...ready the email update instead. Thanks, anyhow.

As for hops:
0.5oz of Crystal
0.5oz of Williamette

And the brew is still a little low on volume (about 4 gallons)

 

[kanielb1]

It could be under hopped. 1 oz is a little less for my liking and would make me think it is too sweet...

 

[mb2696]

hah...when i read the title before clicking it, i was planning to suggest that your next brew be the cream of 3 crops since it so dry and crisp.

mine finished at 1.007 and i wouldn't have called it sweet

 

[GateTwelve]

hah...when i read the title before clicking it, i was planning to suggest that your next brew be the cream of 3 crops since it so dry and crisp.

mine finished at 1.007 and i wouldn't have called it sweet

lol, that's precisely the reason I chose that one...and because it's for a mostly BMC group.

kanielb1 - I suppose it could be. But that recipe calls for a 60 minute boil on the hops - mine actually got closer to 90 minutes. Beersmith, due to the reduced volume I ended with, was putting the IBUs at ~21-23 (even after I added the extra, non-hopped wort from the second batch in). Recipe is supposed to be closer to 14 IBU. The beer does start bitter, but smooth. The finish is really where the sweet taste takes over.

 

[kanielb1]

My minimum for hops is atleast 2 oz. I made a Brown Porter with 2oz of Fuggles and I thought it was to sweet...maybe 16 IBU's???