Residual Sweetness...

[Sambrew]

G'day, just joined and am loving the forums!
Just brewed an all grain "Coopers Sparkling" inspired recipe of my own design that didn't quite hit the mark. It's quite drinkable but has a sweetness (not an off flavour though) to it that i can't figure out how it got there. I run a HERMS system and Mash at 67 degrees. I fly sparge. I'm thinking the calibration on my PID control for the HLT may be out of. Would a higher or lower mash temp produce un-fermentables that would leave a sweet flavour? I don't have the exact readings on me but according to my BrewTarget software the fermentation was finished, (and it wasn't moving for a couple of days) and was only a couple of points low at pitch. Just wondering if the brains trust could tell me the most likely place to start looking. I used American Ale 2 yeast and i ferment in a wine cellar which has reasonably consistent temp of 18-20 degrees. Oh and i just finished work sorry if i woke anyone. :beer:

 

[dcan6303]

Hi Sam,

A higher mash temp would result in more unfermentables. Could also be your grain bill. Did you have a high percentage of specialty grains?

If you're able to post your recipe and process with specific numbers it would help work out where the sweetness is coming from. Can you copy from you're brewing software?

Dave

 

[Sambrew]

The recipe uses
11% caramel crystal 40L,
11% Pale Wheat,
8%Marris Otter
4% Cane sugar (raw).
the rest being made up by Traditional Malt. (which was all that was available to me at the time- not ideal)
OG 1067 FG 1017.

Cheers.

 

[Forever Wort]

That is a high final gravity and is probably responsible for the sweetness.

 

[wereprawn]

That is a high final gravity and is probably responsible for the sweetness.

Yep. Thats a fair whack of crystal you have in there. Try backing off on the crystal or adding more bitterness to balance it next time.( or a different recipe).

Aging this one a bit more may help the flavours tone down a tad.

 

[Sambrew]

Yeah i might keep it out of circulation for a couple of months.. Haven't really used crystal malts before, I'll know better next time thanks.

 

[TheWiggman]

Check out the CSA recipe in the database - quite different to yours. Coopers has a very low FG (1.005-odd) so yours will end up tasting quite different. Mash at 63°C for this one.

 

[mikk]

A higher mash temp gives a higher FG (all else being equal), however the 'unfermentables' left behind aren't sweet to the taste. A change to a different, more attenuative yeast would help a lot. Also, check your bitterness levels.

 

[TheWiggman]

I think if attempting a Coopers Sparking Ale there is only one yeast to choose from - recultured Coopers yeast.

 

[indica86]

I think if attempting a Coopers Sparking Ale there is only one yeast to choose from - recultured Coopers yeast.

WLP009 also.

 

[Kingy]

I recently done a coopers pale ale clone mashed at 65 and it finished at 1008. So close to the original but a little to sweet. (Nice but not the same due to sweetness) I dumped the second cube on the yeast cake and that got down to 1006. ( I'm yet to taste this as I only kegged today)
Next time I make this ill pitch more yeast and mash at 64. That should get it close me thinks.

 

[Sambrew]

I'll most definitely have a look at the database, and have been reading up on how to re-culture Coopers yeast (and i like the fact that i'll have to drink a six-pack to do that!!) I've ordered all the bits to make a magnetic stir plate- so i'll wait till they arrive and get to it. I notice you can now buy a "kit" to build one (stir plate) from that online auction site- FYI.