Hefeweizen Flavor/Aroma

I made a hefeweizen from a kit. Extract with specialty grains. WLP300 yeast. 2 weeks in the fermenter. 3 weeks in bottles before starting to drink it. I've now had a few bottles over the past 3 weeks or so.

I tasted a little at bottling time and the beer had a nice, distinct banana aroma and taste and also some clove. Now that it has been bottled, these have both faded, which disappoints me.

What happened and what can I do to avoid this next time?

(The beer is also clear, rather than cloudy, which surprises me, but I can live with that.)

Pour @ a third of the bottle into your glass, then swirl the bottle really good to get all the yeast back into suspension. Now pour the remainder of the bottle into your glass to top up. (Bet those yummy flavors come back!)

I love Hefeweizen.
I do nearly the same thing with mine... pour the glass except for 1/3 to 1/4 remaining in the bottle, then swirl to get the yeast and extra head and dump it into the glass.

It's almost the reverse process from a Guinness draught -- the yeast swirls down into the clear beer below.

My last Hefe was with 2nd gen WLP300 at 65-66 degrees. The banana is very faint, but the clove comes through strong and makes for a pleasently spicy beer.

thughes said:

Pour @ a third of the bottle into your glass, then swirl the bottle really good to get all the yeast back into suspension. Now pour the remainder of the bottle into your glass to top up. (Bet those yummy flavors come back!)

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+1

Pour half, do the Unfiltered Hefe shuffle ban then pour the rest.

I appreciate the suggestions, which all seem to agree.

I have very little yeast sediment in the bottles. When I moved the beer from fermenter to bottling bucket, I left the trub behind. Was I supposed to intentionally siphon up some of the spent yeast into the bottling bucket?

I have found the same thing. I have bottles from a batch I made months ago that pour clear unless I swirl the yeast back into suspension.

On a side note I have also found that after a few generations of yeast washing I begin loosing the banana aroma.