Infection???

My first batch I'm currently drinking, a Beve Hefe. I mentioned in an earlier thread that it didn't taste great - not bad - just not great. I'm wanting to improve upon this batch so I have two questions.

1. Could the lack of taste be from moving to a secondary for a few days to free up my carboy, could that have left to much of the yeast behind for a Hefe?

2. Are infections very noticeable? I don't think I have one, it's just the beer taste kind of watery, and the ester that was noticeable after sampling isn't really present anymore. It's just a blan harsher flavor.

I used liberty hops and US 06 dry yeast.

I doubt it's infected. How long was it in the primary?

Recipe etc?

Adding water - at what point and how much?

I have a few q to add:
what temperature did you ferment at? The reason I ask, Lower temps produce less esters. Also, is this kegged, or bottled currently? Last one, when you say harsh, you mean harsh like sucking on a tea bag, metal or like green apples? To answer some of your Q
1. No.
2. Yes, always. If it doesn't taste like feet, donkey/horse/mule/cow (or a combo of donkey and cow) pee, vinegar, vomit, band aid, wet diaper, smoke and some other nasty flavors, its not infected. It can taste like vomit and still not be infected BTW. If it tastes like feet, please send me a bottle.

One more answer you didn't ask, some people here didn't like that yeast. Just keep in mind you can cure any beer by blending or aging.

Sorry guys, I've been at work...To answer the questions:

-Did a 2.75 gallon boil / at pitch added 3 gallons
-Left in primary 3 weeks / secondary for about 2 days
-Currently kegged
-The temps fluctuated, but i would say mid 60's to low 60's...Next time I think I'll go for around 70 - I like esters in my wheat/hefe's.

Kegged, great! Its much easier to blend beers when they are in kegs. I'm still not clear on where the harsh taste came from. Could it be that the beer is too young? Natural carbonated beer less than 2-3 weeks in the keg might cause this.

I forced carbed...I have been told hefe's are best young it's been a month since pitch so I doubt it. By the way harsh was not the right word to describe. I had some friends check it out, they agreed with me that it was weak and watered down tasting.

Hefs do taste best young, and they get more "plain" as time goes on. Depends on the beer, but mine have tasted in the prime between month 1 and month 4. Its downhill after month 6.

Oh, no harsh taste, then I'm thinking it must be the yeast. Not just the yeast, but the temp you fermented at. Heres some links I found about your yeast:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/safale-wheat-dry-strain-115800/

As for the dryness, what was your OG and your FG if you have those. If not, how much extract and/or sugars did you add to your boil? I couldn't find too many detailed specs about the attenuation of this yeast, it just says "high".

Do you shake the keg before you serve? Well, not shake, but rock it to get some yeast in suspension. IMHO yeasts make a hef. That might help get some more flavor out of it.

The last thing I would look at is your ingredients. Did you use wheat malt? If so, what kind? Muntons ferments dryer than some others for example. Or, did you use a kit? Did it come with grains?

I don't have all my notes in front of me, but this is what I can remember.

-I used LME wheat malt 6.6 ibs
-liberty hops 2 oz (1 oz at 60 / .5 at 15 / .5 at 5)
-This was a True Brew Kit
-Starting gravity I believe was 1.047 and I know that the FG was 1.010

Also, can you explain the attenuation thing to me? You said this yeast has "high" attenuation, what effect does that have?

One other thing I might add...The beer albeit not carbed tasted better after two weeks in primary when I took a gravity reading. So perhaps WB-06 loses flavor quick because afte 2 weeks there was definitiely the likable amount of bannana/clove, but now nada

Thanks guys!!!

Attenuation is how much sugar your yeast will eat before it stops eating sugar. A high attenuation results in a dryer beer. Attenuation is usually given as a percentage. So, for example, if your yeast has a "High" attenuation of 85%, that means that if you started at 1.047 OG your FG should be about 1.008. It appears that your attenuation is about 80%. Here is where I got the equation: White Labs

daveooph131 said:

One other thing I might add...The beer albeit not carbed tasted better after two weeks in primary when I took a gravity reading. So perhaps WB-06 loses flavor quick because afte 2 weeks there was definitiely the likable amount of bannana/clove, but now nada
Thanks guys!!!

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After reading this, I recommend that you shake the tar out of your keg. Put it on its side, and roll it around on the floor for a few minutes. Then take a taste. Does the banana/clove flavor come back? I'm thinking this because when you took your gravity reading, some yeast was still in suspension, and thats why you were tasting those flavors. But now that your keg is cooled, the yeast has settled to the bottom of the keg. By shaking, you'll re-suspend the yeast, and get those flavors back.

gointomexico said:

If it tastes like feet, please send me a bottle.

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im worried about your sanity....

My first two batches were partial boils and I got the extract twang, and off flavor you just can't put your finger on. This seems to lessen with time. Since I've gone to full boils I have not noticed this off flavor.. Could be a mental thing on my part, but I say full boil and don't look back.

gointomexico said:

Attenuation is how much sugar your yeast will eat before it stops eating sugar. A high attenuation results in a dryer beer. Attenuation is usually given as a percentage. So, for example, if your yeast has a "High" attenuation of 85%, that means that if you started at 1.047 OG your FG should be about 1.008. It appears that your attenuation is about 80%. Here is where I got the equation: White Labs



After reading this, I recommend that you shake the tar out of your keg. Put it on its side, and roll it around on the floor for a few minutes. Then take a taste. Does the banana/clove flavor come back? I'm thinking this because when you took your gravity reading, some yeast was still in suspension, and thats why you were tasting those flavors. But now that your keg is cooled, the yeast has settled to the bottom of the keg. By shaking, you'll re-suspend the yeast, and get those flavors back.

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I shook the keg, and it is still watered down tasting...Again not bad for my first go around, and definitely drinkable. When it was at its best was 2 weeks in primary when I checked gravity. A week later when I checked gravity it was weaker tasting?