All my brews too sweet?
- Thread starter motney
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Charlatan
Active Member
How long and what temps are they in the FV for?
phettebs
Landlord.
What are your finish gravities?
Hirsty
Active Member
I'd invest in a hydrometer if I was you. As mentioned above, it sounds like your final gravity is high. You don't want too few free fermentables in your beer but you don't want too many either.
rpt
Brewing without a hat
Are you adding sugar to the kits? The only one can kit I've done, to which I added spraymalt and dextrose, tastes a bit sweet. I'm hoping it will go in time. The two can kits taste much more malty.
Kit manufacturers always go for the optimistic fermentation period to maximise sales, sometimes claiming ready for bottling in 4 - 6 days. This is never the case. I always give the primary fermentation 14 days and it has never let me down yet. (done over 20 kits now). Also, as the others say, use a hydrometer for best results.
Get a hydrometer and check the gravity - it's a fairly cheap piece of kit and easy to use, but make sure you sanitize anything that comes into contact with the contents of your FV.
Once you get your hydrometer, do a forced ferment test on your next brew: take a sample from the FV once you've pitched the yeast (enough that you can take a gravity reading later), cover it with loosely with foil and place it at 27°C (you will need to make sure that everything is properly sanitized as always). Once there is no more signs of activity, take a gravity reading - this is the lowest possible gravity for this particular brew, or in other words the limit of attenuation for this particular beer. This will help you determine if your beer is done or not: if the reading you get from a sample from your FV is close to your attenuation limit, then it's done. If it's quite a bit off, leave it a little longer and make sure to keep an eye on the temperature so that it stays in range for the yeast you're using. If the reading of you forced ferment is high and the sample tastes sweet, the problem is most probably either in the recipe , or the yeast you're using is a low attenuation yeast.
Dennis
Once you get your hydrometer, do a forced ferment test on your next brew: take a sample from the FV once you've pitched the yeast (enough that you can take a gravity reading later), cover it with loosely with foil and place it at 27°C (you will need to make sure that everything is properly sanitized as always). Once there is no more signs of activity, take a gravity reading - this is the lowest possible gravity for this particular brew, or in other words the limit of attenuation for this particular beer. This will help you determine if your beer is done or not: if the reading you get from a sample from your FV is close to your attenuation limit, then it's done. If it's quite a bit off, leave it a little longer and make sure to keep an eye on the temperature so that it stays in range for the yeast you're using. If the reading of you forced ferment is high and the sample tastes sweet, the problem is most probably either in the recipe , or the yeast you're using is a low attenuation yeast.
Dennis
rpt
Brewing without a hat
Two questions about this:dennisdk2000 said:
1. How do you ensure the sample contains a sensible amount of yeast? Do you always stir in the yeast? I just sprinkle dried yeast on top.
2. Are you fermenting the sample at 27C to get a rapid fermentation? Obviously, off flavours don't matter.
rpt said:
1. If you simply sprinkle the yeast on top, then yes, make sure it's mixed in well before you take your sample. In any case, mixing in the yeast well is always a good idea.
2. The higher temperature is partly for a quicker fermentation, but more so to ensure a complete conversion of all available fermentables. It is highly likely that all your brews will fall short of the limit of attenuation. Should a batch exceed it, check the flavour and smell - you might have a wild yeast contamination.
Dennis
