beer too sweet

As can be inferred from the name, sweet mead yeast is designed to halt at a sweet level... probably shouldn't be 1.030, but there could be other problems, such as lack of oxygen or dead yeast. You could try adding a more resilient yeast such as dry mead yeast, but then your beer could end up too dry..... I guess I'm not being of much help. Alternately, if you're not too concerned about the percent alcohol, you could simply add some distilled water, which would dilute the beer and lower the FG.... but I'm sure you don't want to do that. Your best bet is to dump some tougher yeast in to finish the job. You could also try adding more enzymes and ferment the more complex sugars by adding a few crushed Beano tablets... they can supposedly break down the bigger sugars and cut the FG in half..... I have never personally tried this, but if you've begun to lose all hope, it couldn't hurt to try.

Good luck.

That could be it! I did use some grains in making this, but I noted not a single product I used contained any enzymes. Because the beer is way too sweet and though the mead yeast is in there replicating, it isn't indicating aggressive multiplication or anything, and the SG hasn't dropped significantly, therefore it is probably complex sugars making it too sweet. Is this going to screw things up adding the enzymes in at this point, because if it is... I'll just toss it, yea it couldn't hurt. Will enzymes really work with the presence of alchohol?

Sweet mead yeast probably isn't a good choice as it isn't very attenuative (compared to most ale yeasts). Trappist yeasts are notably tolerant of high gravity beers. But there will always be a situation which makes an exception. The generally recommended practice for a stuck fermentation is to use a couple of packets of dried yeast - Danstar Nottingham being commonly recommended. I'm currently using a couple packs of Coopers ale yeast to finish a high gravity stout at the moment. Regarding the Beano option - I've never tried it but those that have, generally, have regretted it. Apparently it makes for a rather thin dry beer.

Here is a link with some information regarding the practice of rehydrating dried yeast prior to pitching which may be of some interest.

cheers rb

It's all gone now, we drank it all. Thanks, I'll check it out.

-Victor