IPA too sweet.

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So the below recipe is an ipa i did. It tastes great and is very drinkable, but is a little on the sweet side. So I am looking for a way to help with that. Any ideas? Actual OG 1.060 FG 1.011


HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: IPA comp

Brew Method: Partial Mash
Style Name: American IPA
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5.25 gallons (ending kettle volume)
Boil Size: 6 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.030
Efficiency: 55% (ending kettle)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.058
Final Gravity: 1.014
ABV (standard): 5.83%
IBU (tinseth): 62.87
SRM (morey): 8.35

FERMENTABLES:
7 lb - American - Pale 2-Row (58.3%)
3 lb - Dry Malt Extract - Light - (late addition) (25%)
2 lb - American - Caramel / Crystal 20L (16.7%)

HOPS:
0.25 oz - Magnum, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 15, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 14.75
0.5 oz - Magnum, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 15, Use: Boil for 30 min, IBU: 22.67
1 oz - Nugget, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 14, Use: Boil for 10 min, IBU: 19.96
1 oz - Cascade, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 7, Use: Aroma for 5 min, IBU: 5.49
1 oz - Cascade, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 7, Use: Dry Hop for 9 days
1 oz - Williamette, Type: Pellet, AA: 4.9, Use: Dry Hop for 9 days
1 oz - Nugget, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 14, Use: Dry Hop for 4 days

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Infusion, Temp: 154 F, Time: 60 min, Amount: 11.25 qt, Batch
2) Sparge, Temp: 175 F, Time: 10 min, Amount: 11.25 qt, Batch

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
1 tsp - Irish moss, Time: 10 min, Type: Fining, Use: Boil

YEAST:
White Labs - American Ale Yeast Blend WLP060
Starter: Yes
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 76%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temp: 68 - 72 F
Fermentation Temp: 68 F
Pitch Rate: 1.0 (M cells / ml / deg P)

TARGET WATER PROFILE:
Profile Name: Stump Springs North Ogden, Utah, USA
Ca2: 45
Mg2: 8
Na: 5
Cl: 4
SO4: 10
HCO3: 189
Water Notes:


Generated by Brewer's Friend - http://www.brewersfriend.com/
Date: 2013-11-16 14:32 UTC
Recipe Last Updated: 2013-11-13 03:01 UTC
 
Last IPA I did was partial-mash as well. I used 1.5# of Crystal 40. It was likely too sweet for some tastes but I like it - perhaps because my local brew pub also does their IPA noticeably sweet. Perhaps the concept of a "balanced IPA" is off but I happen to like them that way, a floral nose, a sweet start then an intense but smooth bitter finish. As to the sweetness, and this is only good for bottle-conditioned beers because that's all I do, it should reduce over time as the yeast slowly finish their job. Problem there is the hop aroma is also degrading. So, short story long, if you don't want the sweet part cut down on the crystal malt. And try some first-wort hopping to punch up the hop flavor as well!
 
Thanks Nosy. I like it no doubt, mine comes through a litte different, sweet, bitter, then malty caramel flavors that linger. ( is 8:40 am too early for a beer :lol: my mouth is watering thinking about it.) I bottle condition as well, so we will see how it develops, 4 weeks bottle conditioned now.

I want to try and make it more about the hops on the next go round, thats my only reason for a little less sweetness.
 
You could substitute some of the gravity points with simple sugars. That can dry it out some. You risk thinning out the mouth feel and might loose some of the malty flavor, so don't over do it. Notice I said "substitute" and not "add". The simple sugar should replace, not supplement.
 
are you talking brewing it again or fixing this one, fixing this one is easy if you keg, keg hop with 1/4 ounce magnum for a couple of days

add corn sugar to the recipe, drys out the taste
 
Matter of taste - I don't think drying the beer out is the way to go, although a British IPA is generally fairly dry. Alternative to "keg hopping" for us bottlers is to dry hop. Find something you like - one of the "C"s is generally a good bet, although I've done it with noble hops as well - talk about fine aromas! If you want a Stone-inspired, tongue-rippingly bitter IPA, get yourself some iso-alpha acid and experiment to find proper dosing. Stone does it and there's nothing at all wrong with it- it's your beer! Next brew, back the Crystal off to 1 pound and see what happens. You can always sweeten with lactose, splenda or stevia if it's too bitter. I like lighter Crystals in my IPAs and Pale Ales for their candy sweetness, in fact, I'm thinking of trying honey malt in my next one. It may be where you want it or you may want to increase but by bracketing the amount of sweetness, you'll close in on the right amount.

As far as this brew goes, fixes depend on the problem. If you're happy with the nose and the beer's hop flavor, go the iso-alpha acid route - adding neutral bitterness to cut the sweetness. If you're not happy with the hop flavor, make hop tea by boiling a dose - maybe a half-ounce - of the hop of your choice in water for 10 minutes and add it to the brew until you're satisfied with the flavor. And if you're not happy with the nose, dry hopping is the way to go - pick the aroma hop of your choice and stuff a half-ounce to an ounce of it into the fermentor, let it sit for a couple days then sample.

What you get in the fermentor, unless you're doing something stylistically rigid, is only a starting point. From there on, let your inner chef run free. Think spices, think balancing out the bitterness or emphasizing some facet of the beer, stuff some peppers in it or try some fruit. Worst case, keep it for blending. The beer that has just finished secondary is a starting point, the sum of your decisions up to that point. You can take it much further.
 
I'd back off the crystal some and maybe add vienna or munich to give a bready / malty quality. Nugget hops might be part of it too, I think they add a kind of floral sweetness when added late in the boil.
 
another thing is did you hit your final gravity? yeast might have stalled making it a little sweet
 
Quality Home Brew said:
another thing is did you hit your final gravity? yeast might have stalled making it a little sweet
Good starter made me hit a couple points under.
 
Common advice has been to cutback on crystal, so will give that a shot. Also next one will be AG instead of PM, so that might/will make a difference :? .
 
A post script: Went to the Dry Dock Brewery this evening and had their Enterprise IPA, the bronze award winner at this year's Great American Beer Festival. It's an amazing beer and the one I want to emulate. It starts with a floral hoppy nose - I'd guess Citra and Centennial, moves into a sweet malt and then the bitterness kicks in .... When I think IPA, it's the one I want to emulate.
 
I over looked this before I'm pretty sure this is the culprit in the too sweet ipa is the 3 lb - Dry Malt Extract - Light - "(late addition)" (25%) not the crystal, I use 2 pounds of crystal all the time, never too sweet, more than likely wasn't all eaten by the yeast
 
I'm going with Mr. QHB on this one - underattenuation. I'll also throw an hypothesis out there: As your beer gets older, the sweetness will go away (provided you bottle-condition - if you filter and keg, what you have is what you get). The test is if you get residual sweetness - think cola - it's sugar, not malt and if it's sugar, the yeast didn't finish. Another possible indicator of underattenuation is diacetyl. Do a forced diacetyl test - warm the beer up to 140°, hold it there for a half-hour and see if you can detect any diacetyl once it's cooled.

Why is it I suddenly had the urge to laugh like either Tom or Ray of the Car Guys (cultural reference, likely not known by our overseas readers....)?
 
Nosybear said:
Why is it I suddenly had the urge to laugh like either Tom or Ray of the Car Guys (cultural reference, likely not known by our overseas readers....)?
I miss those guys! (6 hr. time difference makes it almost impossible to catch them via streaming radio)
Used to listen to them every week growing up... :D
 
If it were me, there's a few things here. I'd start with two things though. Reduce the amount of crystal malt to less than 10%, maybe as low as 5% and use a more attenuative yeast, such as wlp001. I like my IPAs to finish at 1.009 or 8, so they're nice and dry.
 
Quality Home Brew said:
I over looked this before I'm pretty sure this is the culprit in the too sweet ipa is the 3 lb - Dry Malt Extract - Light - "(late addition)" (25%) not the crystal, I use 2 pounds of crystal all the time, never too sweet, more than likely wasn't all eaten by the yeast
This got down from 1.060 to 1.011... are you saying the sweetness because of dme or because of the late addition, or because 1.011 is on the sweet side of things?
 
dme, any late addition sugar can still be left behind, only takes a small amount to sweeten the beer, it is puzzling that the gravity got that low and is still sweet but none the less the yeast might have just ran out of juice and stopped, if adding more oxygen which I don't recommend might have been even lower
 
Got it. Thanks QHB.

So I bottle condition and have a room kept at 66, and will wait it out and see. Also entering this beer in a club comp with a couple BJCP judges, and will be curious on their feedback.

Thanks everyone for all the ideas and responses!
 
So I think Nosy hit the nail on the head. TIME. Almost two more weeks and the sweetness has all but faded. :D tasting like I expect an IPA to taste.
 
time and carbonation will offset sweetness sometimes, glad it turned out good :D
 

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