Hefewiezen with no Banana Flavor?

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Heineken

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I recently made a Hefewiezen and while the beer taste OK, it doesn't have the banana flavor that I believe it should have. My understanding is that the banana flavor typically comes from the Yeast.

For this recipe, I used Weihenstephan Weizen (Wyeast Labs #3068). My fermentation temperature was probably a bit high - ~72-74 degrees but still within the Yeast range.

Question is what could be the reasons for not getting the banana or fruity flavors? The yeast is a weizen yeast and is described as providing these flavors.

I'd like to try this recipe again but really want the flavors to come out properly next time.
 
Banana flavor fades during maturation - 8 weeks after bottling it may be completely over.
 
Can you provide the recipe? I had this issue once and I think the problem was that I overhopped and covered up the banana character. I don't think 8 weeks is too long. I've had a Bavarian Hefe longer than that and it still had those flavors. Also a cooler ferment would be better. 65 tops. I think Jamil suggests 62 for that yeast...
 
I thought that yeast developed a ton of banana at higher temps (?)...maybe I'm wrong. I would suggest to post the recipe as well...easier to diagnose when we see the whole picture.
 
I'm drinking a weizen that I pitched the Weisenstepahn 3068 into. Brewed on 29Dec, kegged on 8Jan, drinking a sample right now after force carbing and it has the bananas and clove. I've read (somewhere or another) that you want to drink these wheat ales fairly young to get those "off" flavors.

edit-- fermentation was 68F
 
i have a keg on tap with that yeast, and it's so banana cheetah would go ape over it... maybe the phenols are overriding the banana
 
Weird, because I have had a fairly old couple of bottles of Franziskaner that tasted bananaramic.

I was gonna say the same thing. If it were to fade so quickly how do the breweries manage to keep the flavor so long in their bottles? - major Franziskaner fan here, my favorite beer actually.


Rev.
 
Pitch lower amounts of yeast (hefes are the only time I'll just pitch a Wyeast smack pack without making a starter), ferment warm (70-72F ambient, so ferm temp 75ish works for me), and drink young. Lower temps skew it more clovey and less banana-y for me, and pitching more yeast cuts both of those down.
 
Here is the recipe:

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item
6.00 lb Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM)
3.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM)
1.25 lb Pale Malt (6 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
1.00 oz Hallertauer [3.10 %] (60 min)
1 Pkgs Weihenstephan Weizen (Wyeast Labs #3068) Yeast-Wheat
 
I've brewed several wheats with 3068. You should have strong banana at the fermentation temp you mention. At lower temps I get more of a clovey or bubble-gum flavor.

I've had them after a year and the banana is still there.

I have to believe that there was a yeast screw-up. Really. Or, as someone else mentioned, you overhopped the beer. Did you have any hop additions after the bittering addition? I.e., additions with less than 30 minutes left in the boil would not be appropriate.
 
The degradation i wrote earlier takes place in beer that is naturally conditioned & carbonated - no cold crushing, no forced carbonation, natural contitioning with the same yeast that fermented beer. Some of my fellow brewers do not confirm such degradation, while others see the same effect in theirs, i don't know why that difference. Anyway, we had 2 competitions here in 2010 where one of categories was weissbier, both was won by beers that was very young, not older than 4 weeks.

I saw this in all my weissbiers (underpitched + hot fermented @68F):

- 1 week, overly banana flavor covers all other flavors & aromas, the aroma is like bucket of fresh bananas
- 2 weeks, clove & banana starts to balance, but still all these aromas are very strong
- 6 weeks, banana begins to fade
- 8 weeks, tart flavor dominates banana
- 10 weeks, tart flavor slightly fades, light banana and clove is present (at this point the beer resembles most of German "hefe weissbier hell")

For me, it's best to drink weissbiers when young, 2-8 weeks after bottling, but YMMV.
 

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