Brew tastes sweet after primary fermenting?

twerg_85

Hi guys,
just tasted an all grain brew after 1 week in the fermenter. OG was 1.050 and gravity now is 1.006, so probably not much unfermented sugar left?
Problem is, the brew tasted very sweet. ... is this normal or might my hydrometer readings be off? I'm not expecting it to be ready yet at all, but the sweet taste surprised me (IBU estimate was 60 btw).

Ta,
F.

mayto

twerg_85 wrote: »

Hi guys,
just tasted an all grain brew after 1 week in the fermenter. OG was 1.050 and gravity now is 1.006, so probably not much unfermented sugar left?
Problem is, the brew tasted very sweet. ... is this normal or might my hydrometer readings be off? I'm not expecting it to be ready yet at all, but the sweet taste surprised me (IBU estimate was 60 btw).

Ta,
F.

If it is down to 1006 I really doubt it will go any further unless you use adjuncts like maize etc. I would not think you would get too much sweetness in a gravity that low. Check your hydrometer in water at 20C to see if it reads 1000, or whatever calibration temp is on hydrometer. If your mash temp was in the 64C region yu mighty get a low FG but 1006 seems very low.

sharingan

What was the hop bill?

Some hops can give a certain sweetness, but my gut feeling is the same as Mayto: your hydrometer is screwey or you are not correcting for temperature.

1.050 -> 1.006 is pretty impressive for any yeast. Especially in one week. What yeast are you using? There are plenty that will munch through that much sugar, but they wont do it in 7 days .... I am thinking Saisons, certain belgian yeasts etc.

twerg_85

Pre boil volume 10L
Post boil volume 8L

2kg Maris Otter Pale

Mash temp about 65C, based on OG of 1.050 it's 63% efficiency (so the OG seems reasonable)

10g Summit @ 60
10g Cascade @ 10
10g Chinook @ 10
5g Cascade @ 0
5g Chinook @ 0

Almost 11g (yes, I know it's a lot, but that was the packet size and I threw it nearly all in) Safale US-04 yeast.

I'll check the hydrometer later, thanks and will take another reading in a few days.

F.

sharingan

There is nothing that obviously stands out from your recipe. Your numbers all look good. 2Kg MO will get you into the 50s for 8L post boil.

I dont have a flavour profile for Chinook, but Summit & Cascade have fruity elements to their flavour, and you are also tasting early in fermentation when those hops are strong. So *maybe* they can introduce a perceptible sweetness.

I am pushing it here.

Lastly correct for temperature. High temps will make the beer less dense, giving false lower gravities when you measure.

oblivious

sharingan wrote: »

I dont have a flavour profile for Chinook, but Summit & Cascade have fruity elements to their flavour, and you are also tasting early in fermentation when those hops are strong. So *maybe* they can introduce a perceptible sweetness..

Yep there is such a thing as hop sweetness associated with american hop usage.

There could also be a bit of Diacetyl (a bye producvt of fermentation) left in the beer (butterscotch flavour) but it can be perceived as a sweet, non-specific taste. It should clean its self up in a week or so

Enjoy

twerg_85

Hi all,
I bottled tonight after a week dry hopping and sweet taste is gone. FG still at 1.006 and reading in water is 1.002 so fairly (bit not exactly) accurate. Thanks for all the responses, seems like it was a diacetyl problem which has hopefully cleared up.

F.

Tube

Store it warm for diacetyl to clear up. i.e. storing in a fridge won't cure it.