Bland Beer

Have you ever made a beer that was so tasteless that you would rather dump it out of the bottles rather then waste the bottles on it. I made this American wheat that's been in the bottles for 10 day now. it has great carbonation but zero flavor. The hop flavor is so non existent that i dropped and Amarillo pellet in to my glass just to have something to taste and smell. I have never used sorachi ace or motueka before and was expecting some nice lemon and got nothing

Measured Original Gravity: 1.051 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.011 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 5.2 %

8.0 oz Rice Hulls (Briess) (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 1 4.8 %
5 lbs Rahr Pale Malt 2 row (3.5 SRM) Grain 2 47.6 %
5 lbs Wheat, White (Cargill) (2.9 SRM) Grain 3 47.6 %
0.25 oz Motueka [7.10 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 4 6.1 IBUs
0.25 oz Motueka [7.10 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 5 3.4 IBUs
0.25 oz Sorachi Ace [10.50 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 6 5.0 IBUs
1.10 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 7 -
0.25 oz Motueka [7.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 8 2.0 IBUs
0.25 oz Motueka [7.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 9 1.1 IBUs
0.25 oz Sorachi Ace [10.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 10 1.6 IBUs
0.25 oz Sorachi Ace [12.00 %] - Aroma Steep 10.0 min Hop 11 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg American Wheat Ale (Wyeast Labs #1010) [124.21 ml] Yeast 12 -

If you want lemony beer, look no further than your shriveled yellow friend, the lemon peel.

You don't need much either. 0.50oz at 10 mins is plenty. 1oz produces intense lemon flavor. Drinkable, but super lemony.

lol I'm gonna need a lot o lemon. Here's to hoping that some major bottle time with increase the flavor or i just might be making my first hop tea to add to the glass

Sorry you didnt like your wheat,but as you may know even commercially they are generally more of a bland type sessionable beer. Somewhat comparable to pale lagers maybe on that mild level. Ive used some small amounts of crystal malts and or certain pilsner malts which can give a bit of sweet edge.

Wheats are more of mild type ales, I would give it a week or three more time though. Its odd you didnt get any hop flavor doing those additions though. Maybe that yeast doesnt do much for hops.

(Temper what I'm about to say with the fact that I've only been brewing for eight months, but...)

Your grain bill seems to me like the problem. I've never brewed with wheat, but all the wheat beers I've tasted are....on the bland side. You have half base malt and half wheat. Was this a recipe you came up with or someone else's recipe? I'm just curious.

personally, I don't care for wheat and can't imagine a day I'll brew with it. and your hops are unfamiliar to me (except the Sorachi Ace).

Jakeintoledo said:

(Temper what I'm about to say with the fact that I've only been brewing for eight months, but...)

Your grain bill seems to me like the problem. I've never brewed with wheat, but all the wheat beers I've tasted are....on the bland side. You have half base malt and half wheat. Was this a recipe you came up with or someone else's recipe? I'm just curious.

personally, I don't care for wheat and can't imagine a day I'll brew with it. and your hops are unfamiliar to me (except the Sorachi Ace).

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This is just wrong. Many of the world's most renown wheat beers have the exact same grain bill. Most German hefeweizens have this grain bill.

brewmaster12 said:

This is just wrong. Many of the world's most renown wheat beers have the exact same grain bill. Most German hefeweizens have this grain bill.

Click to expand...

Hence, The disclaimer.

My inspiration came from this we received recipe
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f70/lemon-lime-hefe-weizen-255659/

Jakeintoledo said:

(Temper what I'm about to say with the fact that I've only been brewing for eight months, but...)

Your grain bill seems to me like the problem. I've never brewed with wheat, but all the wheat beers I've tasted are....on the bland side. You have half base malt and half wheat. Was this a recipe you came up with or someone else's recipe? I'm just curious.

personally, I don't care for wheat and can't imagine a day I'll brew with it. and your hops are unfamiliar to me (except the Sorachi Ace).

Click to expand...

I've made an adjustment to my hops and grain bill today. the hops didn't do it for me so i thought id go a different way. its been 2 days since i last tried it. i got a bottle ice cold today and tossed a slice of lemon in it and made sure i got the yeast in it, which is how i like my wheat's and it seems to be improving

8.0 oz Rice Hulls
5 lbs Wheat, White
4 lbs Rahr Pale Malt 2 row
1 lbs Wheat, Flaked
4.0 honey malt (im still deliberating on the honey malt)
0.50 oz Mt. Hood [7.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 11.7 IBUs
1.10 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 7 -
1.00 oz Amarillo [10.40 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 8 14.6 IBUs
1.00 oz Citra [13.90 %] - Aroma Steep 5.0 min Hop 9 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg American Wheat Ale (Wyeast Labs #1010) [124.21 ml] Yeast 10 -
1.00 oz Amarillo [10.40 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 11 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Citra [13.90 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days

brewmaster12 said:

This is just wrong. Many of the world's most renown wheat beers have the exact same grain bill. Most German hefeweizens have this grain bill.

Click to expand...

In my experience the German hefeweizens use a much more flavorful yeast (eg 3638, Bavarian Hefeweizen). That's responsible for the powerful banana and clove flavors. The American wheat may not be quite as powerful.

Elevated fermentation temperatures will drive production of more esters, including the banana and clove. Did you ferment really cool?

Scotty_g said:

In my experience the German hefeweizens use a much more flavorful yeast (eg 3638, Bavarian Hefeweizen). That's responsible for the powerful banana and clove flavors. The American wheat may not be quite as powerful.

Elevated fermentation temperatures will drive production of more esters, including the banana and clove. Did you ferment really cool?

Click to expand...

yes my fermentation temp was in the low 60's

Jakeintoledo: put 5% white wheat into your next pale ale. Great for head retention and you'll never know its there.