Strangest Beer I've Brewed...

[GillettBreweryCnslt]

So I have a recipe for an Extra Special Bitter that I modified from the Common Room ESB that I love. I brewed my first 10 gallon version of this recipe a couple of months or so ago and I put it on tap this weekend. I noticed that it was really cloudy when I transferred it from primary to the keg but I didn't think anything about it till now. I am 100% sure that I used the wrong yeast! Normally that wouldn't be an issue, however I am %100 sure I had mislabeled my wheat yeast and thought it was my London ESB.

This is the strangest brew I've ever brewed and one of the strangest I've ever tasted. Here's the recipe and it was fermented with Safbrew WB-06. it has the nose of a witbier and the associated cloudiness. The very first flavour after you sip it confirms this is the yeast. Then suddenly and unexpectedly, the round almost sweet yeast flavour is replaced with the crisp bitterness from the ESB. Strange is all I can say. I'm not sure I like it, but I'll get used to it I'm sure!

This has only been carbing for a couple of days, so it's not properly carb'd yet....


Measured Original Gravity: 1.055 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.012 SG
Bitterness: 31.5 IBU
Est Color: 14.8 SRM

88.00 % Pale Malt
12.00 % Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L

1.50 oz Bramling Cross [5.00 %] (60 min)
0.25 oz Bramling Cross [5.00 %] (20 min)
0.25 oz Fuggles [4.00 %] (20 min)
0.25 oz Fuggles [4.00 %] (Dry Hop)
0.25 oz Bramling Cross [5.00 %] (Dry Hop)

[jason.loxton]

We had almost exactly the same thing happen to a couple batches of our beer. We convinced ourselves that we must have used a wheat yeast as well, but when it reappeared in an unrelated batch we realized it was a wild yeast infection (transferred from a hose, I think). It first showed up in a stout, and as you note it was the weirdest thing ever (banana clove stout is... not so good). (This was early in my brewing "career" and I brought some in for Steve at the Noble Grape to try; I expect he still remembers it.) In the second case, it was in a hoppy red, and less developed, but still weird. One word of warning: if it is an infection, watch any bottles (if you've done any): a couple of ours that we didn't throw out/drink blew (the yeast kept going). Hopefully yours really is the wrong yeast! I'd love to try a sample of your WittESB. : )

[GillettBreweryCnslt]

I've kegged the entire 10 gallon batch so I shouldn't experience any explosions! (and there's lots to try). Would a wild yeast be so close in characteristics to WB-06?

[Graham.C]

Heads up. Although kegs don't blow, beer/gas lines do and make a terrible mess. I still have stout colored ceiling from such an event.

[GillettBreweryCnslt]

I'm still convinced it was a mislabeled yeast, is there any way to discern between wild and not-wild? I would assume that the beer wouldn't have such a distinctive flavour to it if it was wild. But who knows...can anyone chime in on that?

[John G]

Easiest would be to do side by side small test batches of the questionable yeast and the wheat yeast you think it may be and taste test them. If you have the equipment / expertise you could plate them out on malt agar and look at/compare the colonies as well.