Sweet tasting/ fruity esters

[tfrost12]

Im trying to figure out why all my beers are tending to have a sweetness or fruity ester taste. Even my IPA's which I am using 2.5 ounces of bittering hops during the full 60+ minute boil. My two guesses as to why it is happening are: My fermentation temperature has been inconsistent as it is spring, anywhere from 65-75F perhaps once or twice higher.
Or I was just boiling 2.5-3 gallons per 5 gallon batch and the hops would not be fully utilized.
These were Extract recipes. I want to Isolate the problem before I start my all grains this weekend. I can now fix the boil size if that was the problem.

Any guess or other variables I should think about?

 

[Gremlyn]

Could be a mutlitude of issues:

• Fruity and sweet are not the same issue, you have at least two problems...
• Poor attenuation - can drown out hop bitterness/flavour. What have your beers been finishing at?
• Scorching of your wort - would produce caramel-like sweetness (or toffee if scorched a lot). This is easy to do with extract, especially if not doing a full boil. Late extract addition is your friend in this matter. Switching to AG and doing full boils will definitely help if this is the case.
• Hop utilisation - definitely would explain lack of bitterness if it isn't correct for your method.
• Fruity esters = high temp fermentation. Get a tub of water and frozen bottles of ice and cool your fermenters. Ambient temp is anywhere from 5-10F LOWER than internal fermentation temp during the peak of activity.

 

[BuzzCraft]

what yeast are you using?

 

[tfrost12]

what yeast are you using?

Wyeast liquid activators. Some had a starter but that doesnt seem to change this smooth sweetness.

 

[ALBrewer]

A lot of people mention an extract 'twang' which, to me, tastes almost like a molasses-y sweetness. I'm not sure how to fix that, aside from going all-grain, but the esters may be addressed by holding proper fermentation temperatures and making starters. My beer got a LOT better when I started doing those two things.

 

[Gremlyn]

Twang, to me, tastes nothing like sweetness. It's more tinny, metallic and off-putting.

 

[Gregscsu]

Could be a mutlitude of issues:
Fruity and sweet are not the same issue, you have at least two problems...
Poor attenuation - can drown out hop bitterness/flavour. What have your beers been finishing at?
Scorching of your wort - would produce caramel-like sweetness (or toffee if scorched a lot). This is easy to do with extract, especially if not doing a full boil. Late extract addition is your friend in this matter. Switching to AG and doing full boils will definitely help if this is the case.
Hop utilisation - definitely would explain lack of bitterness if it isn't correct for your method.
Fruity esters = high temp fermentation. Get a tub of water and frozen bottles of ice and cool your fermenters. Ambient temp is anywhere from 5-10F LOWER than internal fermentation temp during the peak of activity.

+1

Also what were the specific yeast strains, some are expected to produce fruity esters, where as others have low attenuation causing a high FG and consequently sweetness.

Another item is to consider you water if you are brewing with tap water. The chloride/sufite ratio could be way off in your water causing the maltiness to be far more prominent then you desired.

 

[tfrost12]

I honestly think its a combination of the fact my hops have not been fully utilized(by brewing 2.5-3gallons of wort then adding water to get to 5 gallons), and my temperatures have at one point been at or around 75 and have a 15 degree variability over the 5-10 weeks of fermentation. From what I understand that can be very detrimental to the yeasts process, and esters are likely to form. The temperatures were not kept there for long, maybe 15 hours at the most. I just wouldn't have the AC run in my apartment just for my beer.(maybe I should )

 

[tfrost12]

also as for yeast strains, wyeast 1028(London ale), British ale 1098, American Ale 1056, and pilsen lager 2007. I also got a little hint of the same type of sweetness in the bock I made which may rule out the temperatures, but thats temperature was off by maybe 4F for a few days as well. As for this flavor, I don't know how to explain it exactly, its not from incomplete fermentation, but more a smooth sweetness, not necessarily unpleasant (but not expected for the beer).

 

[Gremlyn]

English strains are notoriously estery, so fermenting them warm will for sure give you what you've tasted. As for fermentation temps, it's most critical to keep the temps in cheque during the bulk of main fermenation (while there is krausen and the gravity is dropping consistently). This is usually the first 3-4 days after pitching.