Under attenuation

[maggotbrain65]

Hi folks,

i have been all grain brewing for over a year now and although the beers are turning out pretty tasty, I'm noticing that they seem to be finishing a touch 'sweet', but not cloying.
I normally use a liquid yeast strain and step up to a 2l starter. Fermentation temperature control is pretty good and I'm certainly leaving the beer ferment out. I haven't noticed my F.G's to be unusual so I wondered what steps I could take to dry out the beers a little (without resorting to reducing my grain bill and adding sugar). Mash temps? Larger yeast starters?

Thanks in Advance

Sandy

[bigdan]

A couple things to look at. Have you tried raising the temp a few degrees toward the end of fermentation? You can try lowering your mash temperature. Also look at your grain bill are you using alot of caramel malts? Those are the first things I would consider. I hope this helps.

[bsegroves]

Also be sure to aerate really well before you pitch your starter.

[Fritz Eye]

What sort of attenuation are you getting or final gravities?
You concern may be something else. On one of the recent Brew Strong shows, Jamil mention that he tasted 2 of Tasty's Belgian Pale Ales.
The one that finished at 1.009 was the sweeter one the one that finished at 1.014 was less malty.
Might be worth looking into.
Good luck.

[BDawg]

Have you checked your water? Sulfates affect hop presence, which also changes the perceived sweetness of the beer.

Also, have you checked the calibration of the thermometer you use during mashing? It might be a couple degrees high.

HTH-

[maggotbrain65]

Thanks for the responses. All very helpful.

I think I'll re calibrate my thermometer first of all and perhaps take a few degrees off the mash temp to see if that changes much. As a percentage of the grain bill, I dont think that the cara malts are too high and my water profile seems fair.

However, I don't use much in the way of aeration. I've seen the following aquarium air pump online, but would it do the trick? How would i attach a filter to it?

http://tinyurl.com/3xflejc

Thanks again

[BDawg]

You want to get something like this:
http://morebeer.com/view_product/16797/ ... ary_Filter

[maggotbrain65]

Hey BDawg,

thanks for the quick reply!