sweet beer

[Chia]

So i brew with a friend a lot of times, we split our ten gallon batches. When we are at his house we have a lot of issues with sweet beer. I had thought that his crusher was set too tight, due to a lot of flower and low efficiency (we use a really cool RIMS system with a pump and heater that constantly moves the wort, so that should not be it, and we sparge out at 180.) The other day I asked him about his Chillzilla. he said he flushes it after every brew day with boiling water. Since it is city water, it should be fine, but I ask him to sanitize it prior to the chilling. we have not tried that batch yet. This time I asked him to open the crusher, and we did, but our efficiency was even worse. I guess I am asking, other than brewing here all the time with my White Trash Set up Vs, brewing there with his Hi-Tech indoor set up, what else could cause the low efficiency and sweet flavor? BTW we brew IPA and APA. both should be much more bitter. any help would be great! thanks!

 

[Cbaddad]

I would suggest to check his thermometer to see if it is accurate. Sweet beer usually indicates a high finishing gravity and that can happen when you mash higher. So, that is where I would start.

 

[opiate82]

Do you ferment the beer at different locations as well? Any chance the "sweet" flavors you are tasting are fruity esters?

Otherwise I would think it was unfermented sugars, maybe do a test where you brew the same beer at both locations and see if you get the same OG and more importantly, FG between the two batches. Should be able to further troubleshoot from there.