Paint thinner

So, my last brew (my third brew) is a dunkelweisen OG 1.086. I under pitched as I learned here. I racked to secondary and gave it a taste after 12 days. The air lock had been producing nice banana smells...but it has slowed to almost no activity. Fermentation has been steady at 65. FG is 1.024. 8.2% So, the beer has a strong alcohol smell and doesn't taste so nice. I'm on the fence on whether or not conditioning and carbing will fix this or not. Any recommendations? Is this normal for a big beer at this stage of the game?

You say it has been fermenting at "a steady 65," which leads me to believe you're referring to ambient (room) temperature, no? If so, most Hef yeasts can produce enough energy to raise a beer's temp by 7-10, particularly one with such a high OG. If you're getting paint thinner out of your beer, my hunch is you fermented too warm. If, however, you're referring to actual beer temp during fermentation, and you haven't experienced this flavor/aroma in prior batches, there could be a few issues. So...

1. Ambient or beer temp was 65?
2. What yeast did you use?
3. What was the temp of your wort when you pitched yeast?

Cheers!

Carboy temp was 65. My house temp was 62. I've adjusted to keep it at 65. I also pitched at 65. The yeast being used was safbrew wb-06.
The beer has ok flavor, but it has a very strong alcohol flavor. More than I expected.

So the yeast appears to be fixing this beer. Three weeks in an i see groups of tiny bubbles. I tasted it, and the horrible paint thinner chemical taste is almost completely gone. I am shocked i didn't end up using this beer in a Molotov Cocktail situation...

argodzilla said:

So the yeast appears to be fixing this beer. Three weeks in an i see groups of tiny bubbles. I tasted it, and the horrible paint thinner chemical taste is almost completely gone. I am shocked i didn't end up using this beer in a Molotov Cocktail situation...

Click to expand...

Nice!!

Higher ABV beers can go through stages like that. Other alcohols are normally produced among other usual suspects as by products of fermentation. But as you've noticed,the yeast finish the simple sugars & turn toward these by products as the last bit of food before going dormant & settling out. Leaves the beer clear or slightly misty. And cleaner tasting.
Congrats,you learned a first big step toward better beer on your own!