Beer is really sweet when transferring to secondary
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Recipe please. It will help hint at a diagnosis.
What was your hydrometer reading before you transferred the beer to secondary?
I've never used a hydrometer. I've just always fallowed the instructions and hoped for the best. So far I haven't had any issues except this beer being sweet.
No, no, your recipe, you process. Give us a step by step of your boil, fermentation protocol, and spend the $10 and get a hydrometer. Its a simple tool that can help diagnose these issues.
What yeast did you pitch?
What was the volume in your (primary) fermenter?
How much wort, if any, did you leave behind in the kettle?
davidabcd
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Since it sounds like you've made a number of kits, I'll just go with you made the kit per instructions without the usual beginner errors.
The OG for that kit is around1.080 so that's a decently high gravity but I've gotten away with one pack of US-05--probably what your kit came with--in such cases. The amount of yeast you pitch matters in that it will have an easier time doing its job and not fizzle out altogether which may be what has happened for it to be really sweet.
What to do now? I wouldn't want to be stuck with a super-sweet beer that's not going to carbonate well--still assuming the yeast conked out. Based on the assumption, I would pitch one or even two Safale S-04s. You could hydrate per Safale's instructions and gently swirl it in (do not splash). These dry ones don't require aeration so maybe this would finish it off properly.
Good luck.
Edit: I would skip the secondary next time. For a big one like you have, I do 3 weeks in the primary, 2-5 weeks at bottle carbing temp (70°F-72°F) and then, if you can, condition in the high 50s to low 60s.
1. Brought 5 gallons to 160 degrees.
2. Steeped grains for 30 min.
3. Added 6lbs of powered malt
4. Brought to boil
5. Added hops
6. Boiled for 45
7. Added 6lbs of liquid malt
8. Boiled for 15 more
9. Chilled wort to under 75
10. Poured back and fourth in pail to aeriate
11. Added one pack of Safale S-04 in dry.
12. Waited 2 weeks
13. Transfer to secondary.
2. Steeped grains for 30 min.
3. Added 6lbs of powered malt
4. Brought to boil
5. Added hops
6. Boiled for 45
7. Added 6lbs of liquid malt
8. Boiled for 15 more
9. Chilled wort to under 75
10. Poured back and fourth in pail to aeriate
11. Added one pack of Safale S-04 in dry.
12. Waited 2 weeks
13. Transfer to secondary.
Any issue with adding yeast in glass Carboy?
BrewnWKopperKat
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OG 83 (all extract) with S-04 (estimated 77% attenuation) ==> estimated FG of 20.
Have you brewed other high gravity all extract kits? For you, did those come out sweet as well?
I've done large high gravity before. I use to keep it at my friend's house and he would transfer to the secondary don't not sure if they were sweet. I've made a lot extract kits over the years, but I've never had anything taste that sweet. It did bubble hard and leaked out of the air lock for a couple of days.
davidabcd
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No issue with that.
That gives nearly an 8% ABV. Do you think the S-04 will work or is there a better yeast or better solution? I chose the S-04 because it'll be fine without aerating.
Edit: I forgot to say, I've gotten down easily to 1.014 or 5 a couple of times with similar OGs. Anyway, looking forward to your response.
I have the S-04 at home. I'll drop that in tonight and see how it goes.
I'd consider a hydrometer to be an essential tool for a brewer. Without the hydrometer reading all you have to go on is the time it spent in the fermenter and the taste. Most of the time that may be sufficient but every so often one gets a batch where the yeast stall and without any tools but your taste you cannot know if the beer is done and is supposed to be sweet or if the yeast stopped for some reason and may restart later when you bottle. You do not want that to happen, it will be like a case full of hand grenades that have had the pins pulled and you don't know just when they will explode.
BrewnWKopperKat
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Some people find that higher OG/FG extract+steep beers are too "sweet" for their tastes in beer.
Beyond that observation, I don't have an opinion on the recipe - I haven't brewed a Wee Heavy and haven't read much about the style.
Just dumping a fresh pack of yeast into a hostile environment won't do anything. A beer that's stalled (if it indeed is) already contains a significant % of alcohol and chances are the simple, easy sugars (glucose, most of the maltose) have been digested already, leaving the more difficult sugars (the remaining maltose and maltotriose) behind. That new yeast has not much left to eat on, getting herself established for the endgame.
A good sized, properly made yeast starter pitched at high krausen may have a shot at it. But often a stalled batch remains stalled.
In my earlier days I had a 1.090 Old Ale with S-04 (2 re-hydrated packs pitched in well-aerated wort) stall at 1.030. Nothing I did could budge it. I did not repitch for the reasoning above. I ended up mixing it with another Old Ale that was turning sour, in the glass. I used 30/70 - 70/30, depending on my mood at the time. Best of both worlds, 3 kegs got consumed that way.
Without a hydrometer, you're flying in the dark.
Got a homebrew store nearby? Get a hydrometer plus a hydrometer jar (plastic with a wide footing preferred!).
All Scotch Ales wort is intentionally caramelized during brewing, to create a complex sweet flavor profile in the resulting beer. Wee Heavies are the pinnacle of those, they're truly sumptuous. I did not see that intentional caramelization process being mentioned in the instructions...
Don't forget, uncarbonated, unchilled beer also tastes sweeter.
Make sure to hydrate it before dropping it in so you don't kill off a bunch of yeast on contact with the beer.
Are you sure you fermented at the correct temperature? Where was your pail when it was fermenting?
Obviously you don't have gravity readings or you would have posted those. I doubt pitching more yeast will do anything for you if the first batch didn't ferment out, but I could imagine a scenario where your fermentation isn't complete even after 2 weeks if the location where your fermenter was, was too cold.
Obviously you don't have gravity readings or you would have posted those. I doubt pitching more yeast will do anything for you if the first batch didn't ferment out, but I could imagine a scenario where your fermentation isn't complete even after 2 weeks if the location where your fermenter was, was too cold.
Warm it up, like to 80f if necessary, the yeast will kick back up and finish the job. Another idea is to mix up 500ml of starter wort, oxygenate it well, then add to the fermenter. The fresh influx of fermentable sugars and o2 should reinvigorate the yeast population.
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