Update on brew #2

[Brewing Clamper]

So, over the weekend I tried my second brew (wheat beer) after patiently waiting 2+weeks. First of all, it was under carbonated which I can handle, but the kicker was the taste. It was too sweet, but more importantly, it had a chemical taste to it. It's hard to describe it, almost like an aluminum can. The aftertaste was pretty harsh too, bitter & tangy. Frankly it was hard to drink... so I didn't. Just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke bottle, I opened a couple more, but they all tasted the same. Now I'm concerned that the whole batch is crap and that I'll have to dump it. I'm planning on taking a bottle of it to my LHBS owner, maybe he can shine a light into what went wrong. This is a total bummer because my first batch we brewed was awesome and we drank it in no time. This makes me question my third batch, which I’ll be racking to secondary in the next day or two. BUMMER!!

 

[cweston]

What yeast did you use? That's the primary source of flavor variation in wheat beers.

It probably tasted sweet because wheat beers typically have low hop bitterness/flavor. That's pretty normal.

You described the off taste as "metalic?" What about "medicinal?" (That's a fairly common phenolic flavor in hefeweizens.) Would that be a reasonable description, too?

Did you use liquid malt extract from a can? Sometimes, if it's been in there a while, it tastes distinctly like the can.

 

[cweston]

Oh, by the way: the more of the recipe + process you can post (in as much detail as possible), the more likely we can get at the problem.

 

[Brewing Clamper]

This is the recipe I used. I just opened another bottle and yes, the taste is closer to a medicine like flavor. There is still that tangy aftertaste, but not like a hopps bitterness... Is this recipe going to taste like this everytime? if so,,, I'm ready to hit "delete". Thanks cweston.


A ProMash Recipe Report

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
-------------------------------

15-A German Wheat and Rye Beer, Weizen/Weissbier

Min OG: 1.044 Max OG: 1.052
Min IBU: 8 Max IBU: 15
Min Clr: 2 Max Clr: 8 Color in SRM, Lovibond

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.00 Wort Size (Gal): 5.00
Total Extract (Lbs): 8.00
Anticipated OG: 1.057 Plato: 14.04
Anticipated SRM: 7.2
Anticipated IBU: 39.2
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Pre-Boil Amounts
----------------

Evaporation Rate: 15.00 Percent Per Hour
Pre-Boil Wort Size: 5.88 Gal
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.048 SG 12.02 Plato


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
87.5 7.00 lbs. Alexander LME - Wheat America 1.037 4
12.5 1.00 lbs. Crystal 20L America 1.035 20

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.50 oz. Hallertauer Pellet 5.20 37.1 60 min.
0.50 oz. Hallertauer Pellet 5.20 2.1 2 min.


Extras

Amount Name Type Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.25 Oz Irish Moss Fining 15 Min.(boil)


Yeast
-----

WYLP300




Notes
-----

First Brew: 04/21/06



SG 1.046 @ 84º, effective SG = 1.049

 

[cweston]

So did you do a full boil (5 gallons or more), or did you boil a portion and then top off to 5 gallons in your fermenter?

According to this, you boiled 5.88 gallons, which greatly increased your hops utilization, resulting in IBUs insanely above the style range. (12 IBUs is a typical target for a German hefeweizen.) If the recipe called for, say, a two gallon boil and you did a full boil, that would explain the increased bitterness.

This would certainly produce an odd-flavored beer.

The medicinal quality is typical of that yeast strain. Hefeweizen strains are very temperature sensitive: anything above 70 will tend to bring out strong phenolic flavors.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

Have you tried a commercial Hefeweizen such as a Weihenstephan or Franziskaner?

 

[homebrewer_99]

Granted it's not the best recipe in the world, but did you really use .25 oz of Irish Moss?

Are you sure the flavor isn't more like "anchovies"? You only need 1 tsp of Irish Moss, not .25 oz.

 

[Brewing Clamper]

Yeah I've tried commercial hefes, acutually Franziskaner is one of my favs... and yes I used the .25 of irish moss... I guess I'll just have to get a better recipe and be more careful with my sanitation....

 

[bigears]

For what it's worth my first weissbier had a strong tangy taste after a couple of weeks in the bottle and father time sorted it out. Give it another couple of weeks and it could well mellow.