My IPA is sweet

[blong]

So I just kegged my Iperial IPA. The recipe called for 11# liquid extract. Brew store had 14# sitting around, so I grabbed it and boiled it all just for some body. Well, tasts like the yeast didn't fully ferment it...had lots of body, but it is pretty sweet. Why would this be?

It reminds me of a samual adams bock a buddy of mine spent $15 for.

I don't really like that sweet flavor in beer.

[wortchillergoal]

What yeast did you use? Some strains tolerate alcohol better than others. The amount of malt you used would certainly produce a big beer so perhaps your yeast couldn't handle it.

[YamahaXS]

yeah you might of had an incomplete fermentation. althouth at 14# LME you're going to have some residual sweetness.

post the recipe for us....


you might not have used enough hops to balance the maltiness

did you do a starter batch for your yeast?


did you aerate prior to pitching?


is this bottled or kegged?

[blong]

I used:

14# light malt extract syrup
steeped 1/2# 20L crystal malst
2oz galena
6oz crystal
white labs california ale yeast

how do you aerate? is pouring through a funnel into my carboy enough?

my first time kegging!

-Brian

[YamahaXS]

Do you take a final gravity reading? If your FG is somewhere under 1.020 then I would guess you got pretty good attenuation.


My guess is that you didn't use enough hops to get a well balanced beer, so it seems sweet because the sweetness is unchecked.

Bittering potential of hops drops way down as the gravity of the boil goes up. Since you had 14# of LME in your boil, then you're looking at aleast a 33% reduction in the bittering potential of your hops, perhaps even something like 45%....

see here for a nice resource on calculatign IBUs:

How to Brew: 5.5 Hop Bittering Calculations - John Palmer (http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter5-5.html)

You could brew up an extra hoppy/bitter brew, and blend the two.

[blong]

Explain attenuation.

It actually balances alright. Just a little sweet like candy.

[YamahaXS]

Originally posted by blong
Explain attenuation.

It actually balances alright. Just a little sweet like candy.

attentuation refers to the amount, as a percentage, of the malt sugars that were fermented. IF your OG was 1.080 and your FG was 1.020, then your apparent attenuation was 75% of fermentables that actually get fermented.


http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter6-1.html

I mentioned because IF you suspect that you had an incomplete fermentation, then you might consider repitching some new yeast, something a little more alchol tolerant. I think 1056 is rated for up to 1.060 or something, though I think I have used it for higher gravity beers. Since you kegged this beer, you have easy access to pitching new yeast. Though if your FG is below 1.020 there would be little point in doing so.


By definition, a beer that is overly sweet (or overly bitter) is not balanced.

[Joe D]

Methinks you got the wrong yeast for the wrong beer. Although WL says it can be used in an American style IPA it's not my first choice. For IPA's I like WLP013 London Ale. It lets the hoppiness come out and really dosn't have an aftertaste. Only problem with this one is it has a low attunation rate so it dosn't stand up well to big beers. The other two choices would be WLP002 English Ale & WPL005 British Ale. These last two have a better attunation rate and will stand up better in a big beer.
Also get inot the practice of making a starter to double or triple your yeast colony. You don't need any frills or fancies or any special flasks to do starters. I use an old 1/2 gal wine bottle, an S type air lock and a home made stir plate from cheap Radio Shack parts. Before the stir plate I just used an aqueriam pump and a stone for about 45 min. to aeriate and then every hour or so I would just swirl it around in the bottle.