Honey Wheat - Secondary aroma

[sacks13]

Brewed a batch of honey wheat using 3.3 lb liquid wheat extract, 1 lb dried extract and 1.5 lbs real honey. Anyway when I racked to secondary I noticed that although it did smell like beer it was rather sweet smelling and somewhat strong.

In the secondary the odor does seem very sweet, almost a little cider-y, but still like beer and not pungent by any stretch. Is this a bad sign or typical for a batch using real honey? Is this likely to remain or wear off?

Any thoughts?

 

[DeathBrewer]

if it's still really sweet it may not be done fermenting. did you take a hydrometer reading? You should take one, then you can taste it as well.

 

[sacks13]

if it's still really sweet it may not be done fermenting. did you take a hydrometer reading? You should take one, then you can taste it as well.

The original gravity was 1.045. It went to 1.012 after three days and stayed there for 2-3 days, at which point I moved to secondary. This was 5 days ago. How long do you think I should leave it in the secondary?

 

[Got Trub?]

To be sure recheck the gravity but I suspect you are done.

 

[sacks13]

To be sure recheck the gravity but I suspect you are done.

What do you mean by "done"? My big question here is around a fairly strong, sweet smell. Even though it stell does smell like beer more than cider, it's one of the sweeter smells I've noticed in a beer. Should I be worried about this?

If I were to taste it out of the secondary right now, what should I look for to indicate that something went wrong?

 

[sacks13]

I have now noticed a ring of mold-looking spots on the top of the beer. There might be 20 little spots in total and they're in a perfect circle covering 80% of the circumference of the top layer of the beer inside the secondary. What is this likely to be and what should I do?

Thanks!

 

[DeathBrewer]

did you taste it yet? i'd take a sample. if it tastes a little sweet, i'd say you have nothing to worry about, sweetness is not a sign of infection. those spots could be any number of things. infection would make it taste sour.

if it tastes alright, you could leave it for another week and bottle. you could bottle now if you'd like.

RDWHAHB! I'm sure everything is fine

 

[Melana]

I found with my hefe that it was sweet until it conditioned in the fridge for a few days. About 2 days worked wonders for my Blackberry hefe.

 

[david_42]

25% of your sugars were honey, a sweet smell is not surprising.