Dunkelweizen (PM) - What did I do wrong?

Dunkelweizen (Partial Mash)
5.5 Gal, OG= 1.048

4lbs- Wheat DME
2lbs- Munich
1lb- Wheat Malt
0.50lbs- Crystal 80L
0.25lbs- Chocolate
1oz Hallertauer (60 min)
Wyeast 3068- Weihenstephan

- I took the 3.75lbs of grain and let them steep at 155-160 for about 45 minutes. Sparged it with water at 155.

- Did a 60 minute boil, adding the DME with 20 minutes to go.

Put it in the primary for 2 weeks at 68 degrees.

The final gravity should be around 1.012. I just took a reading yesterday and it was at 1.014.. close.

I've done a weizen (never a dunkel) and it tasted very close to Franziskaner.

I tasted this yesterday and it had very little weizen flavor and too much of a dry roasted flavor. Very bland.

Was 0.25lbs of Chocolate too much? I really didn't think that would do much except add color. And I thought the Crystal and Munich would add a malty.. sweet flavor.. which they didn't.

Should I have let it go the first couple days closer to 72+ degrees?

Did I do something else wrong?

That much chocolate malt would be appropriate for an AG 5 gal batch, but since you're only steeping a small amount of the grain, maybe too much of the chocolate was extracted during the steeping? I've not really heard of that being the case in the past, though. Is the beer carbed and ready to drink? If it's not carbed up, chilled down, and poured into your glass then it may just be that the beer is young and the flavours need some more time to meld.

Yeah, its still in the primary. I brewed it 2 weeks ago. I'm going to let it go for another week before I bottle.

I'm hoping that you are right and that it is just green.. but usually weizens are pretty good young. Thats why I'm worried.

what I'm afraid of is that I was steeping a lot of grain and may have got a low effeciency therefore the taste of the chocolate stands out more.

anyone else have any ideas on this?

Is it just green.. with the weizen flavor come out with time?

The biggest difference between what you did and what German brewers would do making a dunkelweizen is your use of chocolate malt. A German dunkelweiss would use Carafa special instead of the chocolate. Carafa produces lots of color with relatively little roast because it is roasted huskless grain.

The banana & clove flavors of weizens are pretty subtle. I imagine they are there at your 68F fermentation -- they're probably just masked by the stronger roasted flavors. The roasted flavors may mellow a bit over time & let the other flavors come out.

I wonder what would happen if I boiled 4-8oz of Lactose along with the priming sugar before I bottle.

Would that be a weird taste to go along with this type of yeast flavor?

I wouldn't go messing with adding lactose, you'll only end up more unhappy. The best you can do is let it ride, bottle it, carb it, and see how it tastes.

I too used only a quarter pound of chocolate in my first dunkel for color....and quickly found out that was a no-no. If I can recall correctly, the roast flavor faded after a month or so. But by that time, so had the banana and clove.