First time brewing. Need help!

[Buffalo716]

So I did my first brew a week ago. It was a Kölsch. First thing is it came out at 6.5% and I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be around 5%.
Also it came out smelling kind of sweet like wine and tasted a little like grapes or a little sweet.
What did I do wrong and can I fix anything?
I decided in the moment to still bottle it in hopes that bottle conditioning will help somehow? Idk I'm new to this haha

 

[GreenEnvy22]

Do you have the recipe and steps you followed so we can see if it all looks right?

 

[Buffalo716]

Do you have the recipe and steps you followed so we can see if it all looks right?

 

[GreenEnvy22]

So was your SG higher than expected before ferment? Or FG lower than expected after?

 

[Buffalo716]

So was your SG higher than expected before ferment? Or FG lower than expected after?

I don't know what they were supposed to be but I'm assuming FG. I just think it's high because the style of beer isn't usually that high so I'm not even sure what the recipe was supposed to be.

 

[GreenEnvy22]

Ok so how are you determining it's 6.5%?

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Welcome to the forum. Well, you made beer, and you did it in a hurry. The one ingredient they cannot put in the kit is patience. without checking the gravity how can you be sure that fermentation is done? Another reason for letting it ride before packaging is the yeast “clean up” unwanted byproducts of fermentation.

 

[Buffalo716]

Ok so how are you determining it's 6.5%?

My OG was 1.060 and FG was 1.010

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

How much priming sugar did you use?

 

[Buffalo716]

How much priming sugar did you use?

The instructions said to use one ounce

 

[OnePlate]

So I did my first brew a week ago. It was a Kölsch. First thing is it came out at 6.5% and I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be around 5%.
Also it came out smelling kind of sweet like wine and tasted a little like grapes or a little sweet.
What did I do wrong and can I fix anything?
I decided in the moment to still bottle it in hopes that bottle conditioning will help somehow? Idk I'm new to this haha

Congrats on your first brew! Kolsch is my favorite

An original gravity of 1.060 is way high for that style. Did you end up with less wort than you expected? If you followed the boil schedule exactly and your boil-off rate was too high, you can easily end up with a lower than expected volume of (i.e., more concentrated) wort which will boost your ABV when it ferments out. This happens a lot for new brewers and anyone who is getting used to a new boil kettle setup. Boiling some water for a half hour and measuring the volume before and after will help you dial this in, and adjust your heat or needed starting water volume for the next brew. All you need is a simmer, not a full rolling boil.

Kolsch yeast has a vinous quality (slightly white wine flavor) which is normal for that yeast, if they did indeed include a dry kolsch yeast in that kit.

Extract kits can taste a bit sweet or have "extract twang", so there's that. Also, if you tasted it after you added the priming sugar then it definitely will taste sweet. If it's still sweet after a couple weeks in the bottle, throw it in the fridge for a couple more weeks and see how it tastes. Kolsch is often lagered for a while, although I like to drink mine fresh. Drink yours whenever you like

 

[Buffalo716]

Congrats on your first brew! Kolsch is my favorite

An original gravity of 1.060 is way high for that style. Did you end up with less wort than you expected? If you followed the boil schedule exactly and your boil-off rate was too high, you can easily end up with a lower than expected volume of (i.e., more concentrated) wort which will boost your ABV when it ferments out. This happens a lot for new brewers and anyone who is getting used to a new boil kettle setup. Boiling some water for a half hour and measuring the volume before and after will help you dial this in, and adjust your heat or needed starting water volume for the next brew. All you need is a simmer, not a full rolling boil.

Kolsch yeast has a vinous quality (slightly white wine flavor) which is normal for that yeast, if they did indeed include a dry kolsch yeast in that kit.

Extract kits can taste a bit sweet or have "extract twang", so there's that. Also, if you tasted it after you added the priming sugar then it definitely will taste sweet. If it's still sweet after a couple weeks in the bottle, throw it in the fridge for a couple more weeks and see how it tastes. Kolsch is often lagered for a while, although I like to drink mine fresh. Drink yours whenever you like

Yeah I definitely ended up with less wort.
Thanks next time I'll try to not let it get that low.

 

[Buffalo716]

Congrats on your first brew! Kolsch is my favorite

An original gravity of 1.060 is way high for that style. Did you end up with less wort than you expected? If you followed the boil schedule exactly and your boil-off rate was too high, you can easily end up with a lower than expected volume of (i.e., more concentrated) wort which will boost your ABV when it ferments out. This happens a lot for new brewers and anyone who is getting used to a new boil kettle setup. Boiling some water for a half hour and measuring the volume before and after will help you dial this in, and adjust your heat or needed starting water volume for the next brew. All you need is a simmer, not a full rolling boil.

Kolsch yeast has a vinous quality (slightly white wine flavor) which is normal for that yeast, if they did indeed include a dry kolsch yeast in that kit.

Extract kits can taste a bit sweet or have "extract twang", so there's that. Also, if you tasted it after you added the priming sugar then it definitely will taste sweet. If it's still sweet after a couple weeks in the bottle, throw it in the fridge for a couple more weeks and see how it tastes. Kolsch is often lagered for a while, although I like to drink mine fresh. Drink yours whenever you like

Also, I tasted it before the priming sugar but I'm hoping the off flavor will mellow out

 

[Jag75]

Was this a 1 gallon kit or 5 ? How did you check your gravity as Greenenv22 previously asked. I've done numerous Brewersbest kits when I first started brewing. You must have really skimped out on your water addition. With those kits the OG and FG are spot on within the range on the instructions. Another way you can get a false reading is not mixing the water after you add it to the fermenter to get your desired amount.

 

[Buffalo716]

Was this a 1 gallon kit or 5 ? How did you check your gravity as Greenenv22 previously asked. I've done numerous Brewersbest kits when I first started brewing. You must have really skimped out on your water addition. With those kits the OG and FG are spot on within the range on the instructions. Another way you can get a false reading is not mixing the water after you add it to the fermenter to get your desired amount.

I checked with a hydrometer.
It was a one gallon and I started my boil with 1.5 gallons.
Am I supposed to add more water after the boil to get to 1 gallon?

 

[Jag75]

I checked with a hydrometer.
It was a one gallon and I started my boil with 1.5 gallons.
Am I supposed to add more water after the boil to get to 1 gallon?

Yes, for the 5 gallon kits . Maybe not for the 1 gallon . You probably should have started 1.5 gallons minimum of water. You may have just over boiled . So basically if you started off with 1 gallon you were destined to be short of 1 gallon in the fermenter.

 

[Buffalo716]

Yes

Damn I almost did that too but I was afraid of messing it up because the instructions didn't mention that.
Thank you for the help

 

[Jag75]

Damn I almost did that too but I was afraid of messing it up because the instructions didn't mention that.
Thank you for the help

Yeah I looked at the instructions. They aren't very helpful. Especially people who brew them are new at it . I would have never thought to add more water at first because of a boil off . If you notice the 5 gallon recipe tells you how much to start with . You only need a nice rolling boil. 1 gallon on the stove top could be fierce

 

[Buffalo716]

Yeah I looked at the instructions. They aren't very helpful. Especially people who brew them are new at it . I would have never thought to add more water at first because of a boil off . If you notice the 5 gallon recipe tells you how much to start with . You only need a nice rolling boil. 1 gallon on the stove top could be fierce

So should I bring the boil down a little bit next time then if it's not a full gallon fill it up to a full gallon in the fermenter at room temp?

 

[Buick Beer Gardens]

I checked with a hydrometer.
It was a one gallon and I started my boil with 1.5 gallons.
Am I supposed to add more water after the boil to get to 1 gallon?

You can water add to the 1 gallon. I don't though. No particular reason. When I make the 1 gallon kits I do a easy rolling boil. Some kits have clear instructions and include boil temp. Some don't.

 

[Jag75]

So should I bring the boil down a little bit next time then if it's not a full gallon fill it up to a full gallon in the fermenter at room temp?

Yeah you dont need a raging boil. Raging boil plus any steeping grains are gonna reduce your water.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Boiling Wort Visual Reference (link). Level 1 works well for my beers.