last 2 brews taste sweet

[bizit524]

Hey so I just recently into brewing and so far i've made a porter and a lager.

both of them have turned out ok. However both have a sweet after taste. I am curious as to why? each of them have set in the fermenter for at least 2 weeks each then calculated priming sugar and bottled. Waited 1.5 weeks to try.
Each of the batches reach the specific gravity that says it should reach on the packet
my lager is has a hint of being almost a cider. i find it sort of annoying.

Any suggestions for future improvements? I have measured out the right sugar that it says on the kit.

 

[NervousDad]

What were your original and final gravity readings? Sounds like your beer was under attenuated, leaving it sweet. For the cider, do you mean that it had a apple flavor? If so, that would be Acetaldehyde which is common in young green beers over time that will go away.

 

[bizit524]

The original gravity of my lager was 1.045 and it finished at 1.005 and my porter was 1.043 finished at 1.008
each had 1kg of white granulated sugar in them.
Yeah I mean appley taste

and what do you mean by under attenuated as in i added to much or to little water?

 

[dangerbrew]

The original gravity of my lager was 1.045 and it finished at 1.005 and my porter was 1.043 finished at 1.008
each had 1kg of white granulated sugar in them.
Yeah I mean appley taste

and what do you mean by under attenuated as in i added to much or to little water?

1kg of sugar in them?! So that would be over 2 lbs. of sugar in each!

I'm guessing that's your culprit right there. There's probably some unfermented sugar left in the beers and also it would account for why they might taste "cider-like." Acetaldehyde from unfermented residual sugars would make it taste like green apple and the residual sugars themselves would likely make it taste mildly sweeter.

By under-attenuated, they mean it didn't finish fermenting fully before being removed from the primary and the yeast cake.

I'm wondering why so much sugar was added in both recipes? Did the recipes both call for that much sugar to be added??

 

[ballsy]

We're these full extract, PM, or AG? Those seem like pretty good FG's. Under attenuated would be leaving you with higher FG and hence forth more unfermentable sugars (sweeter beer). What were your ferment temps?

 

[TipsyDragon]

I agree the kilo of sugar is a bit much even for a 20L batch and could be the cause of your off flavor. Also it could be your fermentation temperature. Lagers like temps around 12C. Room temps can stress them and make them give off bad flavors. The flavors could clear up with time. Give them a couple more weeks and try them again.

 

[Captain Damage]

When you have a lot of simple sugar in your beer - like the 1 kg of sucrose in the beers your asking about - the yeast will often eat the simple sugar first and stop there, rather than continuing on to the more complex sugars. it seems paradoxical because the conventional wisdom says adding sugar should dry out your beer. You can think of it as if the yeast gets "trained" to eat only the simple sugar and then quitting. Many brewers recommend adding simple sugars such as sucrose, dextrose, honey and syrups after your primary fermentation appears done - or at least is slowing down significantly. That way the yeast will have a chance to eat the more complex sugars first.

 

[bizit524]

I was following the directions and for a 23 litre batch for coopers lager was 1kg of sugar. then at bottling time you use 4.5 oz of sugar for bottling

ballsy what do you mean PM or AG? I just started so i don't know all the lingo

The fermentation temps were about 20c. Unfortunately it can fluctuate from 19-22c i've tried keeping it close enough to the heater where it doesn't sky rocket in temp but keeps it at a standard temp. this helps a lot. If i were to put it in my room it would go from 17 at night to 22ish during the day. that's how bad the heating/ insulation in Scotland is that sun can affect our stone buildings

side notes from my last post.
I have let my porter sit in bottles for about 3 weeks now. which has gotten a LITTLE better but still sweet but now I can't really tell because i might just be used to it.
My lager I have let set in bottles for 1.5 weeks now and it has gotten a little better as well less cidery but still not what I expect from a lager

 

[Yooper]

I was following the directions and for a 23 litre batch for coopers lager was 1kg of sugar. then at bottling time you use 4.5 oz of sugar for bottling

ballsy what do you mean PM or AG? I just started so i don't know all the lingo

The fermentation temps were about 20c. Unfortunately it can fluctuate from 19-22c i've tried keeping it close enough to the heater where it doesn't sky rocket in temp but keeps it at a standard temp. this helps a lot. If i were to put it in my room it would go from 17 at night to 22ish during the day. that's how bad the heating/ insulation in Scotland is that sun can affect our stone buildings

side notes from my last post.
I have let my porter sit in bottles for about 3 weeks now. which has gotten a LITTLE better but still sweet but now I can't really tell because i might just be used to it.
My lager I have let set in bottles for 1.5 weeks now and it has gotten a little better as well less cidery but still not what I expect from a lager

Those kits are really just not very good quality. Some people do them, and enjoy them, but overall they are not going to give you craft beer quality.

The other thing, "lager" is just a word on their box and not really a lager. Lagers are a type of beer fermented cool (at 10C).

These type of beer "kits" have prehopped malt extract, poor quality yeast, and boost the fermentables with sugar and then are fermented too warm. I would compare this type of beermaking to someone making macaroni and cheese. You can buy a boxed $1 mix, and make mac 'n cheese, or you can buy the individual ingredients (not that powdered fake cheese) and make a true gourmet dish.

The cooper's and John Bull kits are like the powdered macaroni and cheese mixes. You can make them, and call them beer, but they just won't be as good as if you made them from scratch. You have the convenience factor, but not the quality.

If you want to make something really enjoyable to drink, and like better quality beer, then a different brand of beermaking ingredients would work great. Fresh extract (not canned) or dry malt extract, hops, and quality yeast along with a few freshly crushed grains can make an excellent beer at home.

 

[skw]

I was following the directions and for a 23 litre batch for coopers lager was 1kg of sugar. then at bottling time you use 4.5 oz of sugar for bottling

I have brewed a number of those kits. I did the 1kg sugar only once though, you can improve the taste of your brews by using malt extract. Dry or liquid doesn't matter, but look up the ratios as they are not 1:1 replacements for table sugar. With only one batch with 1kg sugar, I don't have conclusive evidence, but I really think that the sugar is what causes your cidery flavor, my sugar bomb beer definitely was dry and slightly acidic in taste.

The fermentation temps were about 20c. Unfortunately it can fluctuate from 19-22c i've tried keeping it close enough to the heater where it doesn't sky rocket in temp but keeps it at a standard temp. this helps a lot. If i were to put it in my room it would go from 17 at night to 22ish during the day. that's how bad the heating/ insulation in Scotland is that sun can affect our stone buildings

20 is pretty high for most yeasts. When I experimented with kits, I could notice a distinct improvement by pitch and temperature control. Next time, try using two packets of quality dry ale yeast instead and fermenting in the appropriate temperature range for that strain, preferably the lower range. If necessary, a wet towel around your fermenter can help keeping it a bit cooler than room temperature.

Eventually, leaving canned instant brewing behind and doing a full boil with extract or doing a full mash brew, as Yooper points out, can be a big step forward. But even then you will have to equally pay attention to fermentation temperature and yeast pitching rate.

 

[bizit524]

yeah I sort of figured the canned kits weren't that good but it's all i can afford/ have time to do right now.
My third brew does have malt extract so i am hoping for something different.
I would love to move up to all grain but unfortunately i am a masters student with no job and have limited space and funds so I shall stick with trying to improve these canned kits. LOL i started doing these because beer in the UK is outrageously expensive and has a 75% tax on it along with the price

I have read that you can do a hybrid of partial grain and kits which improves it a lot. so I might try that when i have time after finals