Sweet Beer

[Evreikipresvia]

Hi guys. I have been following this site silently for some time now. I have recently begun home brewing and only have two brews under my belt. My first beer was a kit and turned out great. My second was a recipe I made up after having watched hours of home brewers on Youtube. Everything went fine and per the plan, but a taste test 1 week after bottling indicates the beer to be very sweet. Its not carbed up yet, but thats expected. Can I expect the sweetness to subside after 30 days of conditioning or so? The recipe is below. Also, I use a refractometer for the Brix readings.

10 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 83.3 %
2 lbs Munich Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 2 16.7 %
60 min mash at 148.5
Fly sparge 3.44 gal at 168 for 45 min

1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 3 18.3 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 4 14.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 5 11.1 IBUs
1.00 oz Aurora [8.25 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 6 9.9 IBUs
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] Yeast 7 -
4.0 oz table sugar for priming

OG - 15 Brix (1.062)
FG - 7.5 Brix (1.010)

About 5.5 gallons went into the fermenter at 66 for 10 days until FG was reached. Cold crashed at 40 for another 12 days.

I don't think the yeast was under attenuated since my ABV was over 1% higher.

Any comments or direction are appreciated.

Thanks,
Nick

 

[jwalk4]

Seems to me like your equipment needs calibrating. Two row and Munich, mashed at 148, finishing at 1.010 should produce a pretty standard (dry) beer. Not overly sweet like you describe. However, I have heard tell that refractometers are not as reliable as hydrometers post fermentation. So your FG might not be 1.010. But I have never used a refractometer, so I'm no expert.

Munich malt % might be a bit high for such a light color beer. BYO advocates for "3–7% for pale beers and Canadian lagers." (http://byo.com/hops/item/1556-using-munich-vienna-malts-tips-from-the-pros)

EDIT: Another possibility is that, because you cold crashed, there might not be as many yeast in suspension to carbonate your beer as there would otherwise be. Hence, you still have table sugar in your beer that hasn't been consumed yet. Give it time.

 

[carvetop]

Hi guys. I have been following this site silently for some time now. I have recently begun home brewing and only have two brews under my belt. My first beer was a kit and turned out great. My second was a recipe I made up after having watched hours of home brewers on Youtube. Everything went fine and per the plan, but a taste test 1 week after bottling indicates the beer to be very sweet. Its not carbed up yet, but thats expected. Can I expect the sweetness to subside after 30 days of conditioning or so? The recipe is below. Also, I use a refractometer for the Brix readings.

10 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 83.3 %
2 lbs Munich Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 2 16.7 %
60 min mash at 148.5
Fly sparge 3.44 gal at 168 for 45 min

1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 3 18.3 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 4 14.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 5 11.1 IBUs
1.00 oz Aurora [8.25 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 6 9.9 IBUs
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] Yeast 7 -
4.0 oz table sugar for priming

OG - 15 Brix (1.062)
FG - 7.5 Brix (1.010)

About 5.5 gallons went into the fermenter at 66 for 10 days until FG was reached. Cold crashed at 40 for another 12 days.

I don't think the yeast was under attenuated since my ABV was over 1% higher.

Any comments or direction are appreciated.

Thanks,
Nick

7.5 Brix is not 1.010. Was that a typo? If not, would certainly explain the sweetness.

 

[yeastylad]

You're probably tasting your priming sugar. Give it a few weeks and the residual yeast will turn that into fizzy bubbles for ya and the sweetness should be gone.

 

[pablosbrewing]

7.5 Brix is not 1.010. Was that a typo? If not, would certainly explain the sweetness.

When you know your OG in Brix, and your FG in Brix you need to use a calculator like this one to get your FG in SG:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/learn/resources/refractometer-calculator/

OG 15, FG 7.5 = FG 1.010

If you have a good single scale refractometer (so you can read the scale accurately), the accuracy is comparable to a hydrometer.

Presence of alcohol affect both instruments after fermentation begins, we are just used to talking about gravity in terms of SG.

 

[Evreikipresvia]

Sorry, I didn't clarify, or perhaps I am doing it wrong:
My post boil gravity reading going into the fermenter was 15 brix.
My gravity after fermentation stopped was 7.5 brix.

I used the conversion tool on the Northern Brewer site to determine OG of 1.06 and FG of 1.01

 

[jwalk4]

Sorry, I didn't clarify, or perhaps I am doing it wrong:
My post boil gravity reading going into the fermenter was 15 brix.
My gravity after fermentation stopped was 7.5 brix.

I used the conversion tool on the Northern Brewer site to determine OG of 1.06 and FG of 1.01

Don't worry, we know what you meant.

My money is on the priming sugar + cold crash + 1 week in the bottle only = under carbed + sweet beer equation.

Give it time.

If it doesn't improve by week 3, then consider checking the calibration of your instruments. If they are spot on, lower the % of munich next time.