Second batch came out sweet

[jonny24]

Hey everyone, hoping I can get some idea why this happened. I just opened a bottle of my Irish Red after two weeks carbonating (I know, it's early but I wanted to check on it) and it was... suprisingly sweet Drinkable, and better than my first batch. Here's what I did:

5.5 lb Light DME
.5 lb Crystal 60L
.35 Roasted Barley

1 oz East Kent Goldings 60 min
.5 oz Fuggles 15 min

1 pack Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale

Steeped grains around around 160 for 30 minutes.
Added DME, started boil (2.5 gal)
After hot break, start hour and add first hops
at 15 min left, add second hops and 1 tsp irish moss.

Added 2.5 gal cold water, shook bucket for 5 minutes, pitched yeast. OG 1.048 at 75 F which is about 1.049 at 60 F.

Fermented for three weeks at a pretty steady 60 F in my basement. Tested once before I bottled, SG was 1.012. Bottled two weeks ago, has been carbonating in my furnace room (not the best spot, around 65 F but I didn't want to to keep it in the warmer nice part of the house in case something exploded). Cracked one tonight, and it was too sweet! Drinkable, but noticeably sweet. The rest of the flavour is good, if a little thin? or something? I opened a second to take a hydrometer, and it wasn't quite as bad but still definitely sweet. SG was about 1.010 or slightly higher, it was hard to get it to settle before the bubbles started floating it.

I have a couple theories. One was that it didn't fully ferment, due to being on the low end of the temp range. Or maybe, I didn't stir my priming sugar enough, so more was in that first bottle? I did stir it though, not sold on that one. And the beer is carbonated, so that sugar should have been eaten up. Maybe there was too much unfermentable sugar from the crystal?

Any ideas?

 

[Thedillestpickle]

What was your target FG?

1.010 doesn't seem that high to me.

If your hydrometer is working properly(calibrated) then I would say the yeast did their job just fine. Perhaps you just like your beer to be a little on the drier side, in which case you can use more highly fermentable and/or use a higher attenuating yeast strain.

 

[jonny24]

Brewersfriend calculator said 1.014 after a OG of 1.054. So about the same difference, just a couple points lower.

I never did actually test my hydrometer, just started using it. I'll definitely do that.

 

[lumpher]

Were those readings taken with a hydrometer or refractometer?

 

[jonny24]

Hydrometer. A $7 one with wine and beer ranges marked on the side.

 

[theseeker4]

Hydrometer. A $7 one with wine and beer ranges marked on the side.

Does it read 1.000 in plain water at 60 (or whatever the calibration temp is)?

 

[jonny24]

Does it read 1.000 in plain water at 60 (or whatever the calibration temp is)?

I will test that out tonight.

 

[brewcat]

Try again in a week.

 

[Yooper]

What were the IBUs? Oftentimes a beer that is too sweet isn't really too sweet- it's under-bittered.

 

[slym2none]

Also, give it time. A couple weeks and it might taste sweet & be thin-bodied. At 8 weeks, it might be big, robust, and just like you want.

 

[JoeHoffman]

The gravity readings you gave us look good it shouldn't be overly sweet. I think you have a hop bitterness issue most likely. The Ibu rating of the hops you used might be to low. If you didn't do a full volume boil then your utilization goes down, or even using a small bag that doesn't allow all the hops to get surface area contact can all play a factor in getting the bitterness balance you want.


Pleas excuse my dyslexia

 

[jonny24]

Thanks for the responses guys

Does it read 1.000 in plain water at 60 (or whatever the calibration temp is)?

Checked last night, it's pretty much right on 1.000 at 60.

What were the IBUs? Oftentimes a beer that is too sweet isn't really too sweet- it's under-bittered.

The gravity readings you gave us look good it shouldn't be overly sweet. I think you have a hop bitterness issue most likely. The Ibu rating of the hops you used might be to low. If you didn't do a full volume boil then your utilization goes down, or even using a small bag that doesn't allow all the hops to get surface area contact can all play a factor in getting the bitterness balance you want.

Using an online calculator, 1oz of EKG at 5.7% for 60 and .5oz Fuggles at 4.4% for 15, in a 2.5 gal boil and a 4.5 gal batch size should give me about 20 IBUs. Towards the low end of the style. I don't know what constitutes a small bag, the one I used was 9"x12". I pushed it around a bit with my spoon, but mostly let it just float around in the boil. There may be something to this. If that is the problem then I'm a little worried for my next batch, which used the same hop bag. Although that one was a full size boil.

Try again in a week.

Also, give it time. A couple weeks and it might taste sweet & be thin-bodied. At 8 weeks, it might be big, robust, and just like you want.

I think this is what I'll do. I try another one in a week and see if it's better. If I keep doing that, eventually I'll drink them all, or they'll get good and THEN I'll drink them all