First Brew Far To Sweet After Secondary Fermentation

[Braeden]

A bit more than 3 weeks ago I put on my first brew, a coopers larger kit + kilo of brewing sugar (underlid yeast). It spent a week in the fermenter between 23 deg. C and 27 deg. C, specific gravity dropped from 1042 to 1010. SG was steady over 2 days at 1010 so I bottled it in 740ml PET bottles, At this stage it smelt and tasted like I would expect, warm, flat beer.

In each bottle I put the prescribed 2 carbonation drops. The yeast appears to have mainly settled as a solid at the bottem. After 2 weeks to the day in the bottles I cracked one open and found it to smell and taste sickly sweet. The bottles are very firm to the touch and there was a release of pressure when I opened the bottle, so some secondary fermentation at least has occurred.

Should I simply leave them longer in the bottles, or invert them some to mix the yeast up again? I know that ideally I should leave it longer than two weeks in the bottles, but as per the kit instructions I thought I would have something at least drinkable by now.

Cheers for any advice you can offer.

 

[zebba]

I reckon the fruity flavours from a high temp ferment are giving a perception of sweetness.

The one brew I did that got out of control on the brew temp was the lowest attentuating (i.e. driest), but still the "sweetest" tasting beer.

My suggestion - ferment at a lower temp next time. And give it time. My "bad" one got better with time...

 

[Pennywise]

3 things that will greatly improve your beer

1. Ignore the kit instructions totally
2. Brew your ales at 18-20 and lagers at 10-12
3. Leave the brew in the fermenter for 2 weeks9for ales0, regardless of when you have actually reached terminal gravity. You'll find most ales ferment out within the week, but leaving it there for a bit longer will help to clean up some of the off flavours produced.

Edit: F**k my spelling today is shocking

 

[Bribie G]

Despite what Coopers might say in their instructions, the temperature you fermented at is waaay to high, even for an ale yeast (which is what the yeast under the 'lager' tin lid is). It's not a bad yeast in itself, I have even used it in all grain Aussie style ales and it's done a good job. However you really need to keep it under 20 degrees.
Probably what you can taste and smell is a combination of fusel oils and esters caused by hot fermentation. Once the beer is carbed up, which for a kit can take up to 3 weeks then the beer could taste quite presentable if you chill it well. For a next brew go cooler and you should be ok.

Also with the Coopers kits, instead of the sugar you can try a kilo of Brew Enhancer 2 that adds extra body and foam to the beer, and get a separate yeast such as US-05 that ferments out more cleanly to make a lager style brew.

Here in South East Queensland I started brewing June last year and had early successes, but by September / October I was starting to get some pretty feral beers because I didn't have temperature control, then I got a dead fridge for free and I ferment it in that, swapping in a 2L frozen PET bottle once a day, it's sitting nicely on 17 at the moment.

Keep on brewing mate and stick around the forum, you'll do o.k.

:icon_cheers:

 

[Mattese]

3 things that will greatly improve your beer

1. Ignore the kit instructions totally
2. Brew your ales at 18-20 and lagers at 10-12
3. Leave the brew in the fermenter for 2 weeks9for ales0, regardless of when you have actually reached terminal gravity. You'll find most ales ferment out within the week, but leaving it there for a bit longer will help to clean up some of the off flavours produced.

Edit: F**k my spelling today is shocking

Does that hold true for AG? I put down my first AG two weeks ago, it is still in the fermenter, but has a sweetish taste to it. Brewing was at about 20 degrees, give or take 1 or 2.

 

[Braeden]

I reckon the fruity flavours from a high temp ferment are giving a perception of sweetness.

The one brew I did that got out of control on the brew temp was the lowest attentuating (i.e. driest), but still the "sweetest" tasting beer.

My suggestion - ferment at a lower temp next time. And give it time. My "bad" one got better with time...

Cheers for the reply,

I'm not sure if that could be the whole issue. When bottling it had no sweet or fruity flavor, but now it is so sweet. I mean almost molasses level of sweetness. The wide range of temps I gave were absolute max. and min. as well, likely 90% of the time it was 24 / 25 deg. C.

I do appreciate your input... I'm just hoping it isn't the case because as it is it is undrinkable. :unsure:

 

[Wonderwoman]

Hi Braedon

congrats on the first brew! don't worry about drinking it "too soon" - I'm sure most people start drinking it after a couple of weeks (sometimes less) with their first brew cos they can't wait to taste it -I certainly did!

I know that in Melbourne it's been too cold over winter for my beer to carbonate properly in two weeks, so this may be your problem. Was the beer fully carbonated? ie, did it have a good head on it when you poured it, did it taste carbonated enough? If not, there could still be some of the priming sugar (the carbonation drops) left unfermented in the bottles causing the sweetness. Leaving the bottles somewhere warmish (18-22oC) for another week or two may be all it needs.

also, as Zebba said, next time you want to ferment at a lower temperature. you may have already picked this up from other threads and I'm sure that you're going to get heaps of replies berating you for fermenting at those temps - but don't worry. anyone who starts out with a coopers kit will use those temps the first time they brew because that's what their instructions say to do. If you have a look through the 'articles' section here you will find some simple instructions on how to improve your brewing.

good luck!

 

[Braeden]

Huh, thick and fast with the replies, thanks all..

I've read enough to know that a) the kit instructions leave a lot to be desired and B) that they list temps way to high. I was hoping I could make something semi decent before I refined my setup a bit with a fermenting fridge though. I guess I'll have to find the balance between impatience and alright tasting beer when it comes to leaving it in the fermenter longer.



For each of the brews I have put on since the first one I've used the brew enhancer 2... Hoping they turn out better.

I'd beest post this, way you've all been replying there will probably be another few replies

Cheers all

 

[Braeden]

Was the beer fully carbonated? ie, did it have a good head on it when you poured it, did it taste carbonated enough? If not, there could still be some of the priming sugar (the carbonation drops) left unfermented in the bottles causing the sweetness. Leaving the bottles somewhere warmish (18-22oC) for another week or two may be all it needs.

Definitely not as much head as I would have expected, I think I will just wait another week or so then crack another, then depending on taste either drink them all or wait and repeat.

Lesson learnt though, keep it cool...

 

[zebba]

Cheers for the reply,

I'm not sure if that could be the whole issue. When bottling it had no sweet or fruity flavor, but now it is so sweet. I mean almost molasses level of sweetness. The wide range of temps I gave were absolute max. and min. as well, likely 90% of the time it was 24 / 25 deg. C.

I do appreciate your input... I'm just hoping it isn't the case because as it is it is undrinkable. :unsure:

Interesting. I did another beer where I've had 2 of them come out SUPER sweet - like drinking viscous golden syrup. The rest of the batch have been A1 though. Good luck

 

[Macca17]

My first ever brew was the Coopers lager and did the same, Kilo of Dex and the supplied yeast, due to the temp at the time
it was fermented at 22-24 degrees. 2 weeks after bottling and it was sweet, 3 Months after bottling and it was very drinkable,
so there is hope for it yet.

 

[AzDog]

Braeden how does the beer taste now?

I have just cracked open my first bottle of Coopers Lager after 2 weeks in the bottle and have the same problem, very sweet and fruity flavours. I struggled to finish the bottle (I did finish it though :icon_cheers: ) I am hoping it will get better with age.

 

[The Big Burper]

Patience, patience.

It will taste crap until at least 6 weeks in the bottle.

trust me

Also the bottles need to be in a warm place for the yeasties to eat up the priming sugar,
so it is sweet because the yeast hasn't gobbled up all the sugar yet. Give it time.

BB

Braeden how does the beer taste now?

I have just cracked open my first bottle of Coopers Lager after 2 weeks in the bottle and have the same problem, very sweet and fruity flavours. I struggled to finish the bottle (I did finish it though :icon_cheers: ) I am hoping it will get better with age.

 

[jdsaint]

Patience, patience.



Also the bottles need to be in a warm place for the yeasties to eat up the priming sugar,
so it is sweet because the yeast hasn't gobbled up all the sugar yet. Give it time.

BB

WTF I was lead to believe they should be stored cold

 

[manticle]

They need to be around 18ish for at least a couple of weeks until they carb up. The carbonation occurs because the yeast in suspension eats the extra priming sugar and produces carbon dioxide (same as during primary ferment).

Give the bottles a gentle shake and put them somewhere that's around 18-20. Your yeast has probably gone to sleep and the sweetness is the priming sugar.

 

[bum]

Even when correctly primed this kit does have something of an acrid sweetness until it is quite old.

 

[AzDog]

I thought it was pretty well carbed up...when I opened the bottle there was a release of gas, and then when i poured the beer there was heaps of bubbles and a bit of a head.

So I am thinking the yeast needs to do more work still?

This must be a form of torture, 30 bottles of beer sitting in my study justing waiting to be drunk.

 

[DJR]

I thought it was pretty well carbed up...when I opened the bottle there was a release of gas, and then when i poured the beer there was heaps of bubbles and a bit of a head.

So I am thinking the yeast needs to do more work still?

This must be a form of torture, 30 bottles of beer sitting in my study justing waiting to be drunk.

Quick start another batch and buy some more bottles so that when that beer is ready to drink and you finish it you won't find yourself in the same situation :icon_chickcheers:

 

[bum]

^ +1

And grab a different tin or you'll have the same problem again.

 

[barneyb]

It looks like a bunch of us are in the same boat. I just bottled my first batch of the Coopers "lager" on Saturday and thought the next 1 1/2 weeks wait was going to be tough!

^ +1

And grab a different tin or you'll have the same problem again.

I was thinking about doing a Coopers Pale Ale next batch with BE2. This time I was planning on re-hydrating the yeast properly and keeping the fermenting temp down around 18C-20C rather than up at 22C-24C. Also planning to keep it in the fermenter a bit longer, say 2 weeks instead of 10 days (I know its not that much difference!)

Any other tips to think of? At first I was planning to get my yeast from real Coopers Pale Ale but I think I want to keep it simple for my second batch. Is using the carb drops still ok or should I look into getting a secondary and priming in that?

Now to find some bottles... <_<