Sweet tasting German Pils

[johnsoncurt1980]

How is it possible for my German Pils to taste sweet? Grain bill 100% Weyer Pils. Bunch of German hops,. OG 1.050ish FG 1.009. Bogemian lager yeast. Fermented at 52F.

Kegging the beer,. Not carb'd yet. None if my other beers tasted this sweet before hand.

 

[waldoar15]

Carbonation can make a big difference in how it tastes. How was you mash temp and PH?

I wouldn't sweat it if you finished at 1.009.

 

[johnsoncurt1980]

Mash temp 150

 

[johnsoncurt1980]

Didn't check pH but using the 100% RO water and brunwater my PH has been pretty predictable.

 

[MrPowers]

What was the hop schedule? What hops did you use? What was the AA? Were they old? Stored properly?

 

[brewgar]

Give it a few days. Bet it will taste great. German Pilsner is a great lager. Brew on.

 

[johnsoncurt1980]

1 oz Mittelfrueh 60 mins 14 ibu
1 oz tettnang 30 mins. 11 ibu
1 oz Mittelfrueh 20 mins 8.8 in
1 oz Mittelfrueh 5 min. 2.9 ibu
1 oz saaz 5 mins 2.2 in

All hops been stored in deep freeze vac sealed and under 2 years old

 

[johnsoncurt1980]

I don't understand how hops can give the sweetness but whatever

 

[johnsoncurt1980]

Maybe needed more bitterness

 

[beersk]

I used to have consistently sweet tasting light lagers even with using RO water and Bru'n water to adjust pH to 5.3 or whatever. Then I started putting in 1-2mL lactic or phosphoric acid near the end of the boil and I stopped having sweet tasting light lagers. I think the finishing pH is probably a little higher than it should be and that's why.

 

[johnsoncurt1980]

Interesting

 

[RPh_Guy]

All beer is potentially sweet because of the residual sugar. We balance it with bitterness, acid, sulfate, and/or other flavors.
Like others suggested I'd RDWHAHB until it's finished.

 

[johnsoncurt1980]

Where is the residual sugar hiding? 1.009 by 2 hydrometers

 

[RPh_Guy]

A fully dry fermentation would finish around 0.997 or so.

 

[Lefou]

There is a definite term for balancing the sweetness in a beer. It's called BU/GU ratio, or bittering units (hops) to gravity units (sugar). The scale runs from .0 - 1, with .5 as the balance.
A properly finished and fermented beer can be sweet, balanced, or bitter depending on the style. Dry beers like a Pils should be balanced with a mildly bitter finish of noble hops, whereas an IPA can be noticeably more hoppy with a ratio near .7 ...

With this particular Pils, I see you are using noble hops. I would reduce the amount of hops, using a slightly higher alpha hop for bittering and the noble hops for a smoother finish to balance the perceived sweetness. Pils are supposed to be dry beers so it would be a good idea to get a nicely fermentable wort and use a yeast with a fairly high attenuation level.

 

[Lefou]

One of my favorite styles is the blonde. I make them dry and aim for a BU/GU ratio of about .4, and they are typically a mix of wheat and more highly diastatic base malts like Pilsner or Vienna.
Mashed low for a slightly longer period these malts are capable of returning a wort that dries out nicely. This style is great fresh, but given an extra month or so you will notice a difference as it tends to mellow slightly.
If you don't drink that Pilsner too fast, you'll probably see your beer change slightly with a bit of age.