I bottled an Imperial IPA, opened one after one week, not carbonated enough. Waited another week, opened another, great carbonation but now tastes and smells sweet overtaking the hop taste. I’m thinking the taste is from the priming sugar. I used 3/4 cup of corn sugar boiled in 2 cups of water for priming. Do I just need to let the beer condition longer or will it remain sweet? OG 1.074, FG 1.014.
unless you used that much sugar in 12 bottles and not a 5 gallon batch, i doubt it is enough to make the sweetness change. you could mix that much up again and mix it with 5 gallons of water and see how it affects the sweetness. that said, don’t be in a rush. let them carbonate for a few more weeks and see how one tastes
Thanks for the reply. This was for a 5 gallon batch.
The bottle conditioning (carbonation) process should, if anything, make the beer less sweet the longer it goes. What’s happening is that the yeast are consuming the sugar which creates the CO2 that carbonates your beer. Once the sugar is consumed by the yeast, it can’t contribute any sweetness to the taste.
What temperature are you conditioning at? Should be at room temp. of between 66 to 72 degrees. Conditioning at cooler temps will take longer. You cant rush conditioning, give it time, at least a minimum of 10 to 14 days.
Also, large amounts of hops can give the beer a sweet taste, so I’ve heard.