why do I keep getting this yeasty taste?

I had this same problem with my first batch (IPA), and I am experiencing the same problem with this batch as well. This batch (American Pale Ale) has been bottled for now 38 days. Bottled on 2-13-10. I am experiencing a (yeasty) aftertaste. My previous batch, it was suggested to let it age longer which I did and it came out great but this batch I have let age longer on purpose, but still getting an off taste. It is discouraging me. I bottled a champagne bottle (25 oz) and aged it with the rest. I tried 2-3 of my smaller bottles, getting the off taste , however, when I opened this 25 oz. bottle, it was absolutely the kind of beer I was shootin' for, very good. what was the difference? My next batch is in secondary going on 7 days and I will be racking to keg this time. I am learning that this is not the hobby for the impatient, it is putting me to the test. I will rack to keg and let it sit even longer for good measure. Can anyone tell me what the problem with my beer is? p.s. I am properly decanting when I pour as to not pour any residual sediment that is in the bottle. Thanks, rookiehomebrewer

Is it like the taste of baked bread or the taste of yeast slurry?

If its like yeast slurry or dried yeast then you have yeast bite. This could be caused by having too much yeast in suspension (low flocculating yeast).

Or bottling too quickly after fermentation has finished. You would think with 38 days in the bottle and a good pour would eliminate this possibility.

I'm going to take a wild guess that autolysis isn't a problem.

A couple things you might try on the next couple beers: higher flocculating yeast, irish moss, longer secondary, yeast nutrient (if it is autolysis).

If its baked bread, then your beer might still be green.

The most obvious answer is because there is yeast in the glass.
Naturally conditioned beers always have some yeast in the bottle, and if you pour that into the glass, you can taste it. If you pour very gently, watch carefully, and stop pouring when you see the sediment approaching the lip of the bottle, you can avoid the problem (although you will leave about 1/2 inch in the bottle).
I'm not saying this is the problem, but it's certainly possible.
As Beernik said, it's also possible that you were using a low flocculating yeast, bottled too early, or sucked up too much yeast/trub when racking to the bottling bucket.
As the 25 oz bottle tasted good, I would suspect that dumping yeast into the gl;ass could be the problem, as you would need a very big glass to pour a whole 25 oz bottle into a single glass. Did you leave any in the bottle? and did you taste the dregs from the bottle after drinking the good glass?

-a.

Start using a clarifying agent like Irish Moss, Whirlflock & Gelatin, even cold crashing will help drop the yeast out of suspention and help to avoid this taste. The reason the larger bottle tasted better is because beer ages faster in bulk. If you were to bulk age in a keg or a secondary your beer would age a bit faster and probably be more to your liking.

Thanks to all for your input as to what might be my issue. I really thought I learned the proper technique for decanting my beer into the glass as not to pour any remaining sediment, very slowly and leaving about a 1/2 in. of beer in the bottle. I will have to do more research as to what low flocculating yeast is because being a rookie brewer, I am not familiar with this. Please help me to understand a little more about 'cold crashing' to help my process. What is that and how do I do it? As far as my beer in secondary, (1- wk) I did use irish moss in the brewing process, and when I racked from primary to secondary, I picked up virtually no trub. It was a very clean transfer. Although I dry hopped into my secondary after racking, after a week in, I have very low sediment levels only from the hops floating down the the bottom. I am hoping for another clean transfer into keg where I will let it age for some additional time for possibly better results. Thanks again, any help will help

Cold crashing is to cool down your secondary (or primary for that matter)to usualy 32-40 f.That makes the yeast still in suspension drop to the bottom of the fermenter.You want to do this after your normal fermentation/conditioning.Cold crash for 3-7 days.What type of yeast are you using?...Try a "high" flocculating strain for the beer style that you are brewing next time.Nottingham is a high flocculating clean tasting dry yeast.Try it next time!

Before you buy your ingredients, look up the yeast strain on the manufacturer's website. It will usually tell you if it's high or low flocculating.

Thanks to all for your knowledge and help. Where and how do I cold crash my secondary fermentor at 35-40 degrees? It is kind of hard to do when you live in sunny so cal. the yeast was a dry yeast from a Brewers Best Kit. My batch in secondary, I used a White Labs liquid Ale yeast. hopefully I wont have these issues. Thanks again

Fall, Winter, and Spring, I put them in my cellar because it ranges from 35F - 50F in there. You might have to buy a fridge.

Do you remember which strains of dry yeast and White Labs? The White Labs would have had a WLPXXX number on it for an ale.

Here's a link to their yeast descriptions: http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/homebrew_strains.html#ALE_YEAST