Overly Sweet Brew Help

[Andrew Clark]

I have brewed a couple of beers recently that have fermented well and ended up at 1.010-1.012, however these beers have been fairly sweet with full mouth feel. they are hopped to 27 IBU but there is a pronounced sweetness to them, my wife tells me they 'taste thick".
these where all grain lager beers . Can anyone tell me why they taste so sweet.
Regards
Andrew

 

[Murray]

What were your OGs?

 

[RegBadgery]

I think that a high mash temp gives a thicker mouthfeel - if too sweet - maybe the balance between sweet malt and bitter hops was out?

cheers
reg

 

[Andrew Clark]

O.G was around the 1.044 final around 1.012, Mash temp was 65-66C. I know that hi mash temps can lead to high final gravity and a sweet beer but my gravity was good and I used 30 g of hallertau at 6.4 aau which should have led to 23 IBU. I know that is not an overly bitter beer bit this sweetness and high mouthfeel should not be apparent, surely???
Andrew

 

[Murray]

That's normal attenuation. The relatively high FG of 1.012 does indicate you had a high amount of unfermentable sugars in your brew. Did you use a lot of crystal grains?

 

[joecast]

i brewed a pilsner that has a really sweet taste to it. the problem with it, i think, was from too high a ferment temp which resulted in lots of diacetyl. my problem now is that its been bottled for about 10 weeks and im not sure if there is anything i can do about it. could that have been your problem? i fermented at about 20-22C which i have since learned is pretty high for lagers.
joe

 

[GSRman]

My last couple of brews have finished up around the 1010-1012 mark, but haven't been sweet tasting.. but they both had OG's in the 1056ish range.. and were designed to be 'big' beers..

 

[Andrew Clark]

I used some munich malt in the mash about 450g for 21lt. Is 1.012 a high gravity to finish at? I'm not sure. I thought that the lower the gravity then the thinner the beer or is there more to it than that.
regards
Andrew

 

[Trough Lolly]

i brewed a pilsner that has a really sweet taste to it. the problem with it, i think, was from too high a ferment temp which resulted in lots of diacetyl. my problem now is that its been bottled for about 10 weeks and im not sure if there is anything i can do about it. could that have been your problem? i fermented at about 20-22C which i have since learned is pretty high for lagers.
joe

Yep, a bit of cold conditioning in a secondary fermenter for a few weeks at about 6C would have been good to reduce the diacetyl levels and sharpen up the lager. You probably noticed a distinct buttery flavour out of the bottle - that's the diacetyl levels that in some cases is desirable in the background of the palate, but many brewers consider diacetyl presence to be a boo boo rather than a triumph.

Don't sweat it though, keep your bottles in a cool dark place and leave alone for a few months and you will get the lager characteristics through bottle conditioning- it will just take longer to sort out in the bottle.

Did you use a kit yeast for the fermentation? - a dedicated lager yeast (eg Wyeast Bohemian Lager Yeast 2124) at 20-22C will be doing it tough and more than likely resulting in under-fermentation of the sugars in the wort since the yeast is too hot in the wort and being somewhat attenuated. 2124 Yeast likes to operate in the range 9 to 15C.

Keep an eye on this batch of bottles - if they were under fermented in primary and you primed before bottling, you may have high sugar levels in the bottles and in time the residual yeast elements in the bottled beer may result in some pretty lively bottles! Take a sample bottle and open to observe the carbonisation levels every week or two - oh and don't forget to drink it too!

Mark it down to experience...brew again and enjoy the learning/drinking experience!! :chug:

Cheers,

TL

 

[Murray]

I used some munich malt in the mash about 450g for 21lt. Is 1.012 a high gravity to finish at? I'm not sure. I thought that the lower the gravity then the thinner the beer or is there more to it than that.
regards
Andrew

You are right about the effect of FG on the body of the beer, as specific gravity is a measure of density.

Your FG isn't too high, just at the higher end of the scale for an OG of 1.044. A higher gravity does add mroe body and mouthfeel, but this is mostly due to an increase in unfermentable sugars. Beers with a higher OG that finish at 1.012 would be more likely to taste less sweet I've found.

From what you have said however, with your mash temp and OG I would have expected a FG a couple of points lower.