why my AG beer tastes sweet?

[sass131]

This is my fourth all grain batch. Tried a low ABV IPA this time. Everything went smooth until I pitched the Safale S-04. It started to ferment quickly but fermentation was slow. Couple of bubbles after every 10 seconds and the krausen was quite thin.

Now after 5 days sitting in the fermenter the gravity is 1.010 which is pretty ok. Maybe it will go down 1 or 2 more points, but the taste and smell are so sweet. The hop taste just kicks in after the sweetness, so no compensation from the high IBU.

Here is the recipe:
20l batch. Tot Efficiency 70%, Mash eff 76%
2,5kg Pale malt
1,5kg Caraamber
BIAB.
1 temp step 66 C, went down to 62C in 60min. (a bit much)
Second step 74C, went down to 73C over 10min.

60 min 20g Columbus
15 min half an irish moss tablet
10 min 30g simcoe
10 min 10g centennial
10 min 10g cascade
0min 20g simcoe
0min 10g cascade
0min 9g centennial

Cooling with wort chiller over 30min. Final temp 22C. gravity 1038.
Aerating the wort with siphoning through a sieve to get out most of sediment and aerating also 3-4 min with spachula.

Pitched Safale S-04 from envelope on top of the foam and after 12 hours carefully stirred the yeast into the beer. Fermentation was at 21-22 degrees.
FG 1010

Note, that I added 5l of water after mash and 5l again after cooling, as I do not have a big enough pot.

Maybe I am beeing impatient, but my first batch had similar sweet taste and smell, that is why I am concerned (First batch was with US-05). I know what I did wrong in the first batch, so I improved. Last two batched turned out great, but what's wrong now?

Is the recipe off, do I have a principle fault in the process, sanitation, or what? I can't figure out what is wrong in this picture...

 

[RM-MN]

Your recipe shows you have used about 4 Kg of grains of which 1.5 Kg is a caramel malt (caraamber). The caraamber is a sweet malt with unfermentable sugars and is over 1/3 of the grain bill. Most of my beers have 10% or less caramel malts for sweetness.

 

[MChopz]

Sweetness is usually due to simple sugars left behind after fermentation, so I would maybe suspect incomplete fermentation. Did you rehydrate your yeast before pitching?

 

[unionrdr]

I was thinking the same thing about the caramber. Cut that down to make it less sweet. When it comes to crystal malts,I use only about 1/2lb out of 5-6lbs of grains in my PM BIAB beers.

 

[sass131]

Usually I have kept the caramel malts down to 3-5% also, but I got some hints that for low ABV beers I should add more caramel malts to compensate for lower alcohol content and avoid watery taste. I don't know, I took the advice, maybe it was a mistake...

I did not rehydrate, just pitched the dry yeast, have done it with previous batches with which had OG of 1071 and 1063 and they fermented ok. But then the yeast was US-05. And both times only one sachet.

Edit: I was aiming for 4,0% ABV

 

[cluckk]

Your recipe shows you have used about 4 Kg of grains of which 1.5 Kg is a caramel malt (caraamber). The caraamber is a sweet malt with unfermentable sugars and is over 1/3 of the grain bill. Most of my beers have 10% or less caramel malts for sweetness.

This. Brewsmith shows Caraamber should be limited to no more than 20% and around 10% is preferable. I believe you are around 37%.

 

[unionrdr]

Instead of so much caramber,how bout adding some carapils for body & mouthfeel? You won't get all that sweetness that way.

 

[MChopz]

I'm not too familiar with caraamber, but it could be that. I always thought that unfermentable sugars added body and malt character rather than actual sweetness like you would get from table sugar. I know that simple sugars are sweeter than long chain unfermentable sugars due to their small size. They activate more taste buds on the tongue since they are so small. I could be wrong tho...

 

[sass131]

Thanks for the quick tips guys! Adding Carapils sounds good, I'll try it next time.

But for this batch there is probably nothing to do to get the sweetness out?

 

[bleme]

There is no way to get sweetness out. You could make a hop tea to add balancing bitterness though.

 

[slarkin712]

Blend it with a beer that is drier. This would require you to make another batch, which means more beer

 

[cheezydemon3]

How are there so many posts?

40% of the grains are cara amber lol. Don't need Scooby Doo to solve that one!

DOH. Sorry! I added a post.

 

[unionrdr]

like I said,too much caramber. cut it & add some carapils for head,body,& mouthfeel.

 

[Yooper]

like I said,too much caramber. cut it & add some carapils for head,body,& mouthfeel.

Carapils isn't needed at all. A little crystal malt goes a long long way.

Adding, say, .25 KG of any crystal malt (caraMunich, crystal 20L, etc) will take the place of both all that caraamber and carapils. Any "cara" malts are crystal malts, and should be judiciously used. I'd go with no more than 10% total of all "cara" malts, and maybe less depending on beer style.

 

[budbo]

Thanks for the quick tips guys! Adding Carapils sounds good, I'll try it next time.

But for this batch there is probably nothing to do to get the sweetness out?

Crushed Beano will break down the complex sugars, it will lower your gravity, gotta be careful with it or you end up with jet fuel

 

[bleme]

Crushed Beano will break down the complex sugars, it will lower your gravity, gotta be careful with it or you end up with jet fuel

I didn't recommend Beano because once the enzyme starts, it is hard to stop. Most people who have used it have ended up with gravities below 1.000.

 

[unionrdr]

Carapils isn't needed at all. A little crystal malt goes a long long way.

Adding, say, .25 KG of any crystal malt (caraMunich, crystal 20L, etc) will take the place of both all that caraamber and carapils. Any "cara" malts are crystal malts, and should be judiciously used. I'd go with no more than 10% total of all "cara" malts, and maybe less depending on beer style.

Yeah,crystal malts do have the same effect.But all that caramber was making it too sweet imo. So I thought cut one down & add the other. I use a lil of both,figuring that when the super moss does it's job,I'll still have some body & head retention.

 

[Darwin18]

For future recipes, I'd recommend cutting the crystal malt down from 37.5% of the total grain bill (!) to around 10%. I'd add 10% Munich Malt to provide some depth and breadiness. Perhaps a touch of victory malt (~5%) as well. A little crystal malt goes a looooong way.

 

[sass131]

Thanks for Your answers!