Malt Extract Help

[Bodizephr]

Although i am not a virgin to forums, i am a virgin to this forum. So since this is my first post, hi to all, i am looking forward to getting to know you all.

I have been home brewing on and off for around 10 years now. brewed from Kits, modified kits and in the last year, coninciding with my new job (and some disposable cash) i started building some brewing equipment, including a stainless boiler etc.

I now brew using malt extract (dried) which i buy from grain and grape in 20ish kg bags (cant remember cause i havnt brewed for a couple of months) Neways.......

I have a sweet after taste which is residual in ALL of my beers that i make using malt extract, both dried and liquid. Can anyone help me?? It was suggested that when i first encountered in, that my hop balance was out, but i have made some awfully bitter beers, with a number of different hops, but ALAS i still have this sweet flavour remaining. Its almost sickly.

Does anyone have this problem? Solutions? Suggestions? Any help would be great. Looking forward to hearing from you.

 

[DJR]

What yeast are you using and at what temperature?

 

[Fents]

Is it fruity sweet? could be your fermenting temp.

 

[AUHEAMIC]

Also what is your final gravity reading?

 

[Bodizephr]

hi,
thanks for your replys. I have used both safale and saflager yeasts, so hence have fermented at temperatures around 10-15 and around 20-25.

SG's have been as low as 1010 as well.

Is there something that needs to happen with the preparing of the malt extract?

 

[Bodizephr]

SOrry i forgot to mention, the sweetness is a sugary sweet. I thoughtit was because of fermenting temps so thats why i tried both yeats

 

[Mr Bond]

As some one who has gone from K'nK to extract plus specialty, to a couple of partial, and inevitably AG I think i've got a little to offer.

I made some nice extract brews ie.... 3kg of extract(DME and LME) with steeped crystal and choc type malts, with both liquid and dry yeasts.all malt brews had the Flava and hop balance but there was always an underlying sweetness or cloying character that was in the end palate or finish,not quite the crisp/clean profile I was after.
Some research has led me to believe that the manufacturing process of malt extract sees them mashed at much higher temps which makes them more dextrinous/less fermentable.
to counter this i began substituting 500 gms of extract with 500 gms of dextrose to thin/dry out the profile a little.this was successful and produced cleaner beers ,but the mouthfeel was still a little fuller than desired.

Now I'm ag i don't have this problem as I control the body and fermentability of the beer via mash temp.Most of my beers are mashed @ 65c to give me a beer that suits my palate.

Maybe you could try the dex and use a US56 yeast and see what prevails.

hpe this helps

Dave

 

[Busboy]

Are you doing a full wort boil? If you are boiling wort that's at high SG you may be changing the sugars in the wort that may make them less fermentable.

If you feel inclined, you might like to listen to the podcast from The Brewing Network (February 25) where they talk about brewing with extracts. It's very informative and a lot of fun.

 

[Mr Bond]

Are you doing a full wort boil? If you are boiling wort that's at high SG you may be changing the sugars in the wort that may make them less fermentable.

If you feel inclined, you might like to listen to the podcast from The Brewing Network (February 25) where they talk about brewing with extracts. It's very informative and a lot of fun.

That's an excellent point BB.

I would only boil my strained steeped grain wort with another 500 gm of extract in 5/7 litres .
all hop additions calculated on final volume.After 60 min boil turn heat off and add remaining extract/dex.
This was primarily to prevent caramelisation which will add to percived sweetness.

 

[deebee]

I had the very same issue with ALL of my extract beers over a long period of time. Your problem is very simple. Your beers are under-attenuated: they have not completely fermented out.

Leave your beer on the yeast cake for AT LEAST 10 days. Two to three weeks is better. Keep the beer at recommended fermenting temps and let it ferment.

Even when the final gravity reading is within the range expected from the yeast, that last half a point or so makes a big difference in taste. Don't be in a hurry to bottle/keg. And don't rack it off the yeast. Leave it there and let the yeast do its job. When I discovered this, it made a huge difference to my beers.

Having said all this, make sure you are doing the other yeast/fermentation things right - pitch plenty of yeast, get temps right etc. but from your description, I bet anything that the problem will be fixed in one, by leaving your beer longer on the yeast.

Good luck

DB

 

[BruceL]

I agree with deebee

I think that under attenuated extract is the cause of many of the problems Ive had using extract. I have found it is essential to make certain that the beer is fully fermented. I brew a mixture of fresh wort kits and extract brews. I use the same yeast US 56 and brew at temps around 18-20C for both. I have noticed that even well hopped extract brews do seem to have an initial sweetness that are absent from the fresh worts.

Ive found that it is hard to ferment those last few extract gravity points, often extract fermentations appear to have finished (stable for three days and around 75% attenuation.) but they are simply fermenting very slowly. Ive had all malt extract brews eventually reach 85% attenuation. When bottled early you get a brew that is initially malt sweet that eventually becomes drier however it will be over carbonated with a lot of fermentation products giving it a perceived sweetness even at low gravities.

The fresh worts I have done have always fermented to completion without any problems.

 

[Bodizephr]

Hey this is some great advice. I knew by comming to the source of brewing surely someone had seen the problem before. I think the sweetness is a little more complicated than not being left long enough on the yeast unfortunatly.

I say this because i am ....umm "slack". Basically the earliest that a batch ever leaves my fermenter would be about 3 weeks, but quiet often it could be around 6 weeks.

But i will try the dextrose idea too. i am planning on making a couple of 4 liter batches to experiement a few different things, simply because i am tired of having 30liters of average beer.