Help! Fizzy wheat beer with no head or flavor. (carbed correctly)

I just recently made a wheat beer with the standard partial extract procedure. It sat in primary for two weeks and has been bottle conditioning with Brewers Best carb tabs for three weeks.

The result, fizzy carbonated ditch water with zero head. I mean NONE. Hell, my hard apple cider has more head than this.

The taste is "OK" to say the least, but tastes more like a standard beer than a wheat one. I haven't really enjoyed it since I'm not to fond on drinking infected brew (if that's the case).

Also, I had one bottle explode on me (also a first for me) but that may have been due to a bottle defect since the others have had no issues and pop open fine.

I used:

1lb specialty grains steeped for 20m.
3lb wheat DME.
3.3 lb Bavarian Wheat LME.
1oz Hallertau hops for 30m.
Safale American Wheat yeast.

I have a new Dunkelweiss brewing now and hope this one turns out better.

If anyone can help me I would really appreciate it. I searched the forums and sat hunched over with candles like a 13th century monk studying my John Palmer brew bible, and could only find over carb issues and gusher infections, but It's not a gusher infection, since there's nothing to gush unfortunately.

Thanks!

Well, the recipe is for a wheat beer, true, but remember that wheat extract is about 35% wheat and 65% barley, so it's still predominantly a barley beer, but with wheat in it. The yeast strain you used is a "clean" ale yeast, and there are little hops in the beer, so it looks like a light drinkable beer with very little flavor. If your specialty grains included crystal malt (or carapils), you should get some flavor from that but not a whole lot.

As far as for the head retention and things, that will get better with more time in the bottle to carb up. Also, scrub your glass well with a salt/water scrub to make sure there is no residue in the glass. That will help hold any head that may form.

How many carb tabs did you use in each bottle?

Yooper said:

Well, the recipe is for a wheat beer, true, but remember that wheat extract is about 35% wheat and 65% barley, so it's still predominantly a barley beer, but with wheat in it. The yeast strain you used is a "clean" ale yeast, and there are little hops in the beer, so it looks like a light drinkable beer with very little flavor. If your specialty grains included crystal malt (or carapils), you should get some flavor from that but not a whole lot.

As far as for the head retention and things, that will get better with more time in the bottle to carb up. Also, scrub your glass well with a salt/water scrub to make sure there is no residue in the glass. That will help hold any head that may form.

How many carb tabs did you use in each bottle?

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I do 24oz PET and 12oz glass. I added two tabs for the 24, and one for the 12.

The IPA's I normally make all turn out great. I just cant figure this one out. I would try the salt scrub, but this beer has literally nothing in terms of head, it's like pouring a 7up. I'll try and take a picture.

What was your water profile like?

dg35884 said:

What was your water profile like?

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The water I used? NYC tap.

Well,if they're Cooper's PET bottles they're 25.16oz,or some 740mL. I can't remember if the BB carb tabs are like the cough drop type like Cooper's or the asprin like ones the others sell. The Cooper's type do take 2 for the 25oz PET bottles. The pill like ones typically take more.
2 weeks in the fermenter may've been a tad short. I let it go till it reaches FG,then another 3-7 days to clean up & setle out clear or slightly misty before bottling. This has the effect of not only cleaning up normal fermentation by products that in higher amounts make off flavors. But also conditions the beer a little bit before bottle carb/conditioning/fridge time finishes the job.
With 6.3lbs of extract & 1lb of grains,it looks fine their with regard to amounts for a 5 gallon batch,producing a normal range OG in the 1.04X range. More water would account for a thinner beer. The 1oz of hops @ 30 minutes wasn't great though. At 30 minutes,you start gaining bittering & loosing flavor ime. 1oz @ 20 minutes would've been better,with another ounce @ 10 minutes for better flavor.

Brunobearbo said:

The water I used? NYC tap.

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The only reason I ask is I had an experience where before I had researched it I brewed with distilled water and it came out very bland in the end. Just curious