high final gravity and weird taste at bottling...

So, I just bottled my citrus hefeweizen.

I used: 7lbs fresh LME, 2 oz hops, 1/2lb each victory, crystal 20l and munich. I also added the zest of 5 oranges, 1 lemon and 1 lime at flameout and transferred to the primary.

My OG was 1.050 and my FG (after 3 consistant days) was 1.018. Now I realize I only got about a 60% attentuation. I also added 4.5oz of priming sugar (since I heard hefe's work better a little higher carbed. Should I worry about fermentation starting again and having bottle bombs?

Secondly. I tasted the hefe during bottling. I get this great aroma and good looking beer, but the taste...its...off. The best way to describe it is almost like dish soap. Its not appealing at all. SWMBO washed the primary with dawn, but when I fermented (2-3 weeks after she washed it), I used oxyclean to clean it, then sanitized with star san. I don't think it could be from washing the primary with soap since I re-cleaned it, and it was 2 weeks later I used it. So, any reason for this taste? Will it mellow/disappear? This is the first brew I tasted at bottling that I didn't like, so it's a bit off putting. The dawn dish soap taste plus the high FG worries me.

Whaddya think guys?

as far as bottle bombs go it depends on the bottle in this case. some bottles can handle more pressure than others. you will most likely be ok. what kind of yeast did you use?

soapy tastes can be cause by having to much break material in your primary. break material contain lipids which turn to soap during fermentation. i have no idea if the taste will go down with time. i suggest waiting a month and trying one. if its bad wait another month.

From http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html

"Soapy flavors can caused by not washing your glass very well, but they can also be produced by the fermentation conditions. If you leave the beer in the primary fermentor for a relatively long period of time after primary fermentation is over ("long" depends on the style and other fermentation factors), soapy flavors can result from the breakdown of fatty acids in the trub. Soap is, by definition, the salt of a fatty acid; so you are literally tasting soap."

TipsyDragon said:

as far as bottle bombs go it depends on the bottle in this case. some bottles can handle more pressure than others. you will most likely be ok. what kind of yeast did you use?

soapy tastes can be cause by having to much break material in your primary. break material contain lipids which turn to soap during fermentation. i have no idea if the taste will go down with time. i suggest waiting a month and trying one. if its bad wait another month.

Click to expand...

I used White Labs WLP320, the American Hefe. I filtered out the break material before pitching, but added the orange/lemon/lime zest directly to the primary after sanitizing. See below.

NorCalAngler said:

From http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html

"Soapy flavors can caused by not washing your glass very well, but they can also be produced by the fermentation conditions. If you leave the beer in the primary fermentor for a relatively long period of time after primary fermentation is over ("long" depends on the style and other fermentation factors), soapy flavors can result from the breakdown of fatty acids in the trub. Soap is, by definition, the salt of a fatty acid; so you are literally tasting soap."

Click to expand...

Hmm....well, it was only in my primary for 15 days. I did consider that maybe its something to do with the actual zest that I left it in the primary while it was fermenting. I added it right to the primary, and added the wort on top. So, it wasn't filtered out, and it wasn't added after primary fermentation was complete. Could that be the issue? If so, am I screwed?

I'll wait a week and try a bottle, see if the flavor changed any, if not, I'll prob wait a month and check it again, then decide to toss or not.

So is that the only cause for the taste? And will it mellow with age, or is the beer done for?

I would say just wait it out. It's hard telling if it will go away or not. Try one in a week, then another in 2, then 3....etc.

Hopefully it will turn out fine. But from everything I hear, don't dump it! Just wait it out! If you dump it now, it'll be possible alcohol abuse!