Sweet outcome

[deason]

Hi,

I did this brew http://www.coopers.com.au/the-brewers-guild/how-to-brew/stout/best-extra-stout

It's come out very nice but just a tad too sweet, i really feel it on the teeth!

Will the sweetness go if I leave it a bit?

 

[unionrdr]

Maybe you didn't get it down within listed FG range? Being too sweet usually means this. With 500g of added sugar,it should be a bit drier too.

 

[zzARzz]

Hi,

I did this brew http://www.coopers.com.au/the-brewers-guild/how-to-brew/stout/best-extra-stout

It's come out very nice but just a tad too sweet, i really feel it on the teeth!

Will the sweetness go if I leave it a bit?

It sounds like the attenuation of the yeast was too low (i.e. they didn't consume enough of the fermentable sugars). What were your OG/FG numbers and how long did you have it in the primary before bottling?

 

[deason]

I left it for 2-3 weeks to ferment in primary, the OG had levelled so I assumed it was ok.

Can't find my OG/FG but i have a feeling it was the 500g of sugar added...

 

[zzARzz]

If you decide to do another kit you could use some of the extract in it to make a simple starter a day or so before you brew. It may have been the yeast packet was on the old side and there weren't enough viable cells to do a full conversion. Also (and I may have missed it in the instructions), I thought it a bit on the strange side you didn't need to do a boil, just add the extracts and sugar to some hot water. I wonder if some of the proteins that would have been broken down in the boil may have had something to do with the sweeter flavor as well.

 

[unionrdr]

That's the kind of instructions that come with kit-n-kilo beers. I think I did that on my first one only. Then got the nested ss stock pots. Did all my boiling & mixing on the stove & they got better from there.
That,& getting down to a better pitch temp by starting the ice bath thing. The instructions cold water addition only went so far. Then re-hydrating the yeast helped even more to get better attenuation.

 

[zzARzz]

That's the kind of instructions that come with kit-n-kilo beers. I think I did that on my first one only. Then got the nested ss stock pots. Did all my boiling & mixing on the stove & they got better from there.
That,& getting down to a better pitch temp by starting the ice bath thing. The instructions cold water addition only went so far. Then re-hydrating the yeast helped even more to get better attenuation.

Yeah, I've never done a kit and only 1 BIAB before doing all-grain from there. From everything I've read around HBT (like you), the general consensus is to throw kit instructions out of the window and brew them as you have. Adding a decent amount of salt to my ice baths in combination with an IC has helped speed up my cooling times by quite a bit (usually 20 minutes on 5 gallon batches). But the best improvement I've made is the homemade stir plate for starters from the clever people around HBTand just making starters in general. Funny how brewing forces you to keep making all those technological advances, isn't it?

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah,true. The more you know,the more you need to learn. But the pitch temp & amount of healthy yeast pitched seems to be the real question here.