What did I do wrong with this beer?

[lalh20]

Brewed my first beer, an extract kit from Midwest - Hank's Hefewiezen. I absolutely love hefe's and was excited to brew this one, but it's all done and at this point, I wish I could say it were drinkable. For some reason the beer tastes...sweet?

My notes are below, I have read a ton after this first batch and definitely have procedures better now but I can't figure out specifically why this tastes so bad and it bothers me. Flavor wise I don't have any banana flavor, just some clove, but more than anything is the sweetness. I wish I had a better palate to describe this better.

Notes are below, if I left anything out, ask and I'll try to provide an answer. Please see if you can help me figure out what I did wrong.

Here is the recipe and my notes...
8oz ceraplis – steeping grains, crushed
1 lb Briess golden light DM – 4.0 livibond?)
6 lbs Wheat LME
1 oz tennang hops 6.0aa
5 oz priming sugar

Process…

Sanitized 2.5 gal of water by boiling and put into fermenting bucket to cool.

Heated another 2.5 gal to 155 and steeped caraplis for 25 min in mesh bag. Dipped 5 times then squeezed before removing.

Brought to boil then added DME and LME (off burner), brought back to boil, then added tettnang bittering hops (no aroma hops) and boiled the whole thing 60 min. boil ended up really being about 66 min because hops got added about 6 min before a strong boil.

Stirred entire time, was on electric stove.

Cooled wort about 1 hr in icy sink then added to other cold water and topped off with about 2 quarts from tap (due to boil-off). Temp based on stick on therm was 70 or 68 when pitched and topped off bucket. Yeast was pitched straight from WLP300 vial (no starter). Starting grav was 1.55 but this was measured before I knew to record temp when taking hydrometer reading so i don't trust this reading as accurate.

Kept in laundry room for fermentation to start which took about 18-20 hours. Strong fermentation originally then nothing in airlock after a day or so. Room temp was 69 degrees, Temp was about 70 and hit 72 on bucket therm and probably peaked at 72.5 or so. Strong bubbling for roughly 24 hours, then bubling stopped about 36 hours in (pretty sure bucket lid isn't airtight). Moved to another area where temp was fairly constant at 67-68 degrees, after one week, transferred to carboy. In bucket there was a good looking layer on top (brown, gooey,nasty lookin krausen, no mold colors etc). Left in carboy for 2 weeks. once transferred the airlock bubbled slowly but regularly for probably 5-6 days.

Bottled after 2 weeks in secondary. FG was 1.14 measured at 69 degrees. primed by adding 5 oz boiled sugar water to bottling bucket per instructions.

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Any ideas why this ended up tasting so bad?

 

[helibrewer]

You're showing about 75% attenuation so no real issues there. I don't think your temps were remarkably high for this yeast. Is it diacetyl you are tasting...a kind of buttery taste?

 

[IL1kebeer]

I would recommend to use maltodextrin instead of steeping carapils since AFAIK carapils should be mashed or else you will have a bunch of unconverted starches.

Other than that, if you hit your numbers then maybe your off flavors are fermentation related. Correct pitch rates, proper yeast health, and fermentation temps are the difference between bad beer and great beer. Remember, yeast make beer and humans make wort. If your yeast are unhappy then they make crap beer. A good example is a disgruntled mailman. A pissed off mailman will open a mailbox but may not close it (my mailman is disgruntled and does this throughout my neighborhood). A happy mailman will do the opposite. The same can be said for yeast, pissed off yeast will create off flavors and fall asleep before reabsorbing them. Happy yeast will create off flavors but they will reabsorb them at the end of fermentation. They will do the job right and finish it before moving on to the next step. Treat your yeast well and your beer will improve.


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[Hello]

It looks like it fermented as much as it could. I'm not sure about the unconverted sugars but quickly googling that idea suggests the poster could be right.

 

[lalh20]

Well... That makes sense about the carapils, except I figure more people should have the same problem then right? The reviews online for this recipe were great.

Also, isn't steeping a small amount of grains similar to mashing? What's the end result difference? Did I possibly bring out way more unfermentables by squeezing the bag?

Either way, I'm taking your advice unless I hear otherwise. Sad part is I have a raspberry wheat in secondary with now with a very similar recipe (including the carapils).

 

[m1batt1]

You didn't indicate the lapse in time between bottling and tasting. I wonder about that because I just made a honey wheat and after a week in the bottle I couldn't wait and popped one open. It wasn't done carbing by any means so it still tasted fairly sweet from the priming sugar.

Also did you sample at all when you racked from secondary to bottling bucket? If so did it have a better taste then? Or was it sweet then too?

As far as steeping grains every kit I've made or helped make has had steeping grains as part of the process. I've never ended with an over sweet beer as a result.

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[lalh20]

2 weeks after bottling. Possibly not enough time?

 

[m1batt1]

After two weeks I would think you've got any decent carb in the bottle but that depends on a lot of things. Bottles are room temp?

Again did you sample the beer prior to priming and bottling?

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[IL1kebeer]

Also, isn't steeping a small amount of grains similar to mashing? What's the end result difference? Did I possibly bring out way more unfermentables by squeezing the bag?

No. Steeping isn't the same as mashing. Steeping is meant to extracts sugars that are already converted like those in crystal malt. The starches in carapils have not been converted like those in crystal malt, so when you steep carapils you are really just extracting starch without having the necessary enzymes to convert it since carapils has no diastic power. You can steep malts like chocolate malt or roasted barley for some flavor, but you won't be getting any fermentable sugar from them unless you mash. There is no conversion going on in steeping unless you include a malt with diastic power and hold the temperature at 148-156, but if this is the case then you are partial mashing, not steeping.

Adding maltodextrin is different from steeping carapils because it is a dextrin and not an unconverted starch. This will add the same mouthfeel and head retention that would get if you mashed carapils and had it's starches converted. Neither are sweet, but unconverted starches have it's own flavor and will also contribute to starch haze in your beer. Unconverted starches are also unfermentable.

I wouldn't worry about squeezing the bag unless you do it when it's above 170F.


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[flars]

You mentioned the bucket had the brown, gooey,nasty lookin krausen, no mold colors etc, on the surface of the beer. Was this krausen present on the surface of the beer when you racked to the carboy?

 

[lalh20]

Yes. Here is a pic of when I racked to secondary. imgur.com/7Oh9Gi3

 

[lalh20]

Also... Yes I tasted the beer at bottling (no priming sugar) and it did seem sweet.

 

[m1batt1]

If it was sweet prior to bottling, short of the non fermentable sugars that may have come from the steeped grains, it sounds to me like it wasn't done fermenting. The sweet taste and higher final gravity points that direction.

If that's the case assuming they don't end up as bottle bombs it will eventually ferment out all the sugar.

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[flars]

Yes. Here is a pic of when I racked to secondary. imgur.com/7Oh9Gi3

Looks like you racked before fermentation was complete. Removing the beer from the yeast stalled the fermentation.
Next brew wait until the krausen has fallen and the beer looks clear. This will take at least three weeks. Some brews longer.
Your hydrometer will tell you when fermentation is complete. After hydrometer readings are stable the yeast will continue working to clean up natural off flavors of fermentation.
More patience.

 

[Konn]

Recipe looks ok. Would recommend 2-3 weeks in the primary and making a yeast starter next time.

 

[SeeAliceBrewery]

Looks like you racked before fermentation was complete. Removing the beer from the yeast stalled the fermentation.
Next brew wait until the krausen has fallen and the beer looks clear. This will take at least three weeks. Some brews longer.
Your hydrometer will tell you when fermentation is complete. After hydrometer readings are stable the yeast will continue working to clean up natural off flavors of fermentation.
More patience.

I agree with Flars...this baby looks like it was still fermenting...

 

[paperairplane]

Full volume boil well help. Start ferm temp low may help. Pitch more yeast. Leave in primary 3 weeks. Leave in bottle at least 3 weeks.