Hefeweizen "Issues"

I brewed Bee Cave hefeweizen back on November 17, 2012.

Did not turn out as good as I was hoping....and based on the great reviews it got...I am assuming it is something I did wrong.

It has a bland flavor to me.....and a bitter aftertaste,......maybe tannins or astringency..... (almost like dishwater hate to say) I am not 100% sure what tannins would taste like.

Here is recipe and details:

7 lbs Wheat Malt
4 Lbs Pilsner Malt
0.75 oz Hallertau 45 mins
0.25 oz Hallertau 15 mins

Mashed at 152F start.....ended at 150F (60 mins)

Preak ferm temp around 69-70F for a day.....remaining time was around 68F.

1 litre starter.....Wyeast 3068 Wheinestephan

I did not check mash pH since I did not have pH probe at the time (have one now)......but when I put my water profile (1.5 yrs old test results) into Brunwater with recipe I come up with a predicted pH of 5.6.

So this does not suggest a tannin leach issue....but again water report was 1.5 years old (just sent a new sample away for updated test)

I also read in Jamil's recipe book that the key to a good Hef is ferment at 62F....I was quite a bit higher than that obviously.

Any thoughts on where I erred guys? Possible mash pH issue and tannin leaching or maybe just the ferment temp.

P.S. I am still drinking this stuff.... But want to improve on next batch cause I love a good Hef

I see nothing in your process that would cause tannins flavors/bitterness, were there any herb/spice additions? Did you vorlauf?

Tannin extraction occurs when you have a high Ph coupled with sparging above 170 degrees and that doesn't appear to be the problem. Tannin extraction would produce a somewhat husky, grainy flavor to the beer.

Astringency is a tart, puckering taste to the beer and is usually affiliated with darker specialty grains that can be over sparged and this also doesn't appear to be the problem.

With Pilsner malt you want to have a hard, vigorous boil, preferably for 90 minutes to drive off DMS which would cause a cooked corn type of flavor but you don't mention that either.

3068 at those temperatures would usually yield a strong banana flavor common with that yeast strain, the lower end of temperatures would yield more clove and neither of those is mentioned either.

Have you ever had a traditional Hefeweizen before to compare tastes? The majority of their flavor profiles come from the yeast as the typical grain bill is pretty boring and aside from the bittering addition and a small flavor addition there is not much hop profile to the style either.

The only other thing I can add is are these your first taste samples from a beer brewed back in November? I prefer my Hefeweizens to be more fresh, I can usually turn them around fully carbonated within 21 days and in my house they don't hang around very long at all. How have you had these beers stored and at what temperature? They are certainly not fresh anymore.................

Honestly its like a husky aftertaste....I know it may not make sense based on thr details I provided...but that its the best way to describe it....

I did only do a 60 min boil....as opposed to 90.....

Take a look at this site:

http://www.kroc.org/Links/TroubleshootingGuide.htm

Perhaps you can see something in your process that contributed to what you are tasting-perhaps you over crushed the grain?

If you really want to know what tannins bring as flavor, brew yourself a cup of black tea. Make sure you steep the teabag long enough to get good tea. Take the tea bag out and add sugar or honey as you might like in your tea. Now dump it out and suck on the tea bag. That's tannin.

rm-mn said:

if you really want to know what tannins bring as flavor, brew yourself a cup of black tea. Make sure you steep the teabag long enough to get good tea. Take the tea bag out and add sugar or honey as you might like in your tea. Now dump it out and suck on the tea bag. That's tannin.

Click to expand...

+1

What would you guys say if I told you my mash pH may have been 5.9 ???

Based on my latest water test and Bru'n weter prediciton....I think my mash pH may have been too high.....could have caused leaching or off flavors?

I have had tannins in my setup at 5.8. In other words I think 5.9 is very probable that it was tannins you were tasting. My water number changed drastically as well. I did not get the water retested, I simply added bicarbonate to my brunwater setup until a showed the pH I had measured. So after my 5.8pH failure I tweaked th bicarbonate and next batch was spot on.

Its funny, I brewed the same beer, but using BIAB style and I am getting the exact same off flavor. Its only on the finish. And it lasts a long time. Not sure why it is there. I have not had my water tested and I dont know what the pH of my water was pre or post mash.

Would the 5.6 mash supplement powder help this??

On one of my other posts some of the guys thought there might be an issue with the latest batch of Wyeast 3068.....anyone hear this or rumors of this?