Hey, Brewed an all grain Black IPA kit I purchased from Northern brewer. I've brewed this kit before and it came out great. This time however, it is definitely on the sweet side. I did not miss any bittering hop additions and the beer fermented to completion. One thing I did use this time was hop bags in the boil. The hop bags floated on top of the brew kettle and I'm wondering if this may be the issue? Maybe the hops were not exposed enough to the boiling wort during the 60 minute boil? Any thoughts are appreciated. DR
All grain or extract? What was your OG and FG? If you mash temp was high the wort will be less fermentable, basically leaving sugar unconverted to CO2 and alcohol. It's not terribly complex but more than a quick passage. Your yeast may have stalled before fermentation was completed. If that was the case you'll know soon enough! Too much bottling sugar. Again, you'll know soon enough. Your bittering hops may have not been exposed long enough or the listed AA% is incorrect. Or a weak boil. Hops in a bag will not work as well, usually, as when they are in the entire wort. I believe an increase of 25% is suggested, don't quote me though. It is important to note that decreasing bitterness makes for a less bitter beer, but it does not necessarily make the beer sweet. Though they are certainly related and our perception of sweet and bitterness is related you can brew a very dry and low IBU beer or any combination. Cheers
Bill, he stated it was all grain in the OP: "Brewed an all grain Black IPA kit I purchased from Northern brewer." Cheers!
If you use hop bags, get yourself a 1/2" stainless steel flat washer, wash it with hot soapy water to remove any oils, etc. and chuck it in the hop bag. It'll sink like the Titanic. Personally, I gave up on hop bags and just toss the hops in the kettle, then, pour the wort through a strainer at end of boil.
Use a detergent like PBW or OxyClean Free to clean it, NOT soapy water. Even small traces of soap will effect head retention.
Thanks for the feedback. I split the 10 gallon batch into 2 corny kegs for secondary fermentation. Same yeast starter used. The beer in one keg is on the sweet side. The other keg tastes great. I think I had incomplete or stuck fermentation on the first keg.
