1st extract brew ...tastes too sweet. Help?

[waltonburger]

Hi guys, I'm new (please be nice! )

I tried my making my 1st brew that wasn't from a complete kit and have a quick question about its sweetness.

Due to a very slight leak on my barrel I decided to pour off half a pint to release some pressure. It had been in there for exactly a week. Obviously I didn't want to throw the half pint away so I tasted it!

There beer tasted good but was a little too sweet. I'm wondering if this is normal for a week in the barrel (it had 2 weeks in the fermenting bucket) or have I barrelled it too early?

There was good carbonation and a good head on the glass I poured.

Some details....

I made 20 litres

1.5kg Amber liquid malt extract
1kg spray dried light malt extract
500g pale malt
500g Vienna malt
Mountains premium gold yeast packet
Wort was well aireated
Fermented at 20 deg C

I didn't take an OG (forgot!) But final gravity was 1.013

Primed with normal cane sugar

Will the sweetness go with time?

[sbond10]

Did you forget the hops ?

[waltonburger]

Only on the details above!

I can't remember the name but they had AA of 4

50g added to the boil then 15g with the irish moss

Added another 15g after fermentation for 7 days before I transfered to barrel.

[sbond10]

Well (and others may correct me) that's a shed load of malt and not particaully strong bittering hops how long did you ferment for

[waltonburger]

Fermented for a week and then added the 15g of hops for another week before transferring to the barrel. Home brew shop guy recommended the hops as I wanted a fruity / floral flavour. Guess I should have started with higher AA for the boil then added the lower at the end?

[sbond10]

Yep you have your bittering hops flavouring hops and dual purpose but I'm sure others will along shortly to provide greater details what hops where they ?
Your fermenting times are good IMO

[waltonburger]

Well......

What a difference a few days can make!

Tonight sample was completely different. Clean, crisp with plenty of floral notes, and more importantly the over sweet note has disappeared!

Absolutely delighted with the outcome and the beer has a nice creamy head and crystal clear (rapid cooling certainly makes a big difference)

I'm forcing myself to let it mature in the cool garage for another fortnight and will bring it out for my birthday!

Incidentally - thanks to the advice of the guy in my local brew shop, I have managed to stem the leak on my keg! After pouring off a pint tonight which released some pressure, I was able to turn the tap nearly 360 deg ....seems it wasn't tight enough before I filled with beer.