Issue with my Wheat Beer....help?

First off what I did and my recipe:

6.0 lbs White Wheat
4.5 lbs 2-row

1 oz Centennial at 60 min
1 oz Cascade at 5 min

Wyeast American Wheat Ale 1010

Mash
122* for 20 min
154* for 60 min

OG - 1.055
FG - 1.006
CO2 Volumes ~ 2.6 (34* in my keggerator and CO2 set to 10 psi)

I just pulled a pint off the keg and it has completely no head whatsoever (fully carbed though)! Its pretty crappy but I can deal with this and from now on I'm not doing a protein rest with modified malts!

My real problem however is that when you first go to take a drink you get a powerful yeast smell thats a little off putting, it doesn't taste like yeast but the smell is not good. Then the taste is....well....boring, it needs to be spiced up with some orange or something.

Can I get rid of the yeast smell and can I zest some oranges then boil and throw in the keg (peels in a muslin bag)?

Sounds like your racked to keg too soon, had lots of yeast in suspension and settled in keg. How long in primary? How long in keg? How long in kegerator? Mine magically changed on day 6 i think at 12psi. But I let in primary for week, to 2nd a week and keg a week.

It was in the primary for 10 days then the secondary for 14 days and its been in the keg for 6 days. Do you think the yeast will eventually fall out and it will smell/taste better?

how many pints have you pulled? all the sediment that fell while crashing in the keg might just be getting sucked up for now if you've only pulled a few pints.

yep, if you went that long, you should be good with the process. pull a liter or so one cup at a time and see if the yeast taste lessens. If so, problem solved.

I have to say that the yeast smell/taste is definately going away. This beer is still a little bland though, can I zest a few oranges then boil, cool and pitch into the keg or is it too late?

I used that American 1010 once and I was not impressed. No flavor what so ever. To dry. Just the wheat malt and 2 row. Like drinking a bland cracker. As important as hops are for a beer's flavor, a wheat beer, to me, has to have some spice/orange/sweetness to it, American or otherwise. The two other wheats I have made I always add something to it spice, orange peeel, crystal malts etc.

+1 to the orange zest one orange will do for 5 gal. Put in a hop bag. if you are putting in keg, do not cuy too fine or your get into the beer glass.

Kuglehaus said:

+1 to the orange zest one orange will do for 5 gal. Put in a hop bag. if you are putting in keg, do not cuy too fine or your get into the beer glass.

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Should I boil these or just give a quick rinse with star san before I chuck them in?

A protein rest can be used with modified malts if it is short enough, I do a 10 min rest for my hefes in which I use boiling water to bring the temp up to sac rest, that way your not spending anymore time in the protein zone while you slowly bring the temp up. Also, for more flavor try a different yeast. I recently used wyeast's belgian wheat and really liked it, not as much bubblegum/banana flavors as the germans, but still mighty tasty.

If you are a sanitation nut, I'd bring to 160 for 30 sec, cool and put in. Or I'd just chuck em in... but that's me... It's your beer. Boiling would release a lot of the oils...etc... I'm speculating there...

I am not too sure about this but I would stay away from the re-boiling idea as I would assume the beer at this point already have alcohol and bringing it to 160 would not be safe I would think.
I have the same exact problem with my IPA and after reading this post looks like I am not the only one with the yeast smell problem.
However, since this is the first time this happened to me I have decided to let it sit in the keg and age for about a month and see what happens.

no, not the beer, the peels

Ahh; Do keep us updated, I definitely would like to know how it turned out.
If your brew gets fixed this way then I won't wait for mine and go with your approach.

Well the yeast smell has definately subsided but the head retention is still a problem. Last night I zested an orange then placed all the shavings in a tea ball. I dunked the tea ball in star san for about 10 seconds then chucked into the keg, hopefully when I get home tonight I'll have a beer thats not as bland.

when I want to add some orange zest I soak them in a little Grand Marnier and then toss in the lot ...

I would guess the lack of head comes from the protein rest as already mentioned.

My last haus ale had the same "yeasty" smell you're talking about when I first kegged it. After about 2 weeks on the gas it's cleaned up A LOT and turned into a damn fine brew. My suggestion is to just let it sit (as hard as that always is) and let it clean up a little more.

Hey Ewalk02 I hope you don't mind me updating/asking my problems in this post as I have the exact same problem with my IPA.

I already had mine in the fridge and charging and after reading this thread I ended up deciding to go with the orange zest idea.
Transferred it to another keg and left about 1" in the keg and pored it into a Pyrex tray; and yes it still had some gunk particles.
Zested an orange and am about to toss it into the keg when it cools down.

My question is since mine was already in the fridge and charging is that going to cause any issues?