Added 2lb honey to my hefe

I added 2 lb to my 10 gallon batch of hefe and reused a yeastcake from an extract batch. The flavor is quite different than the extract hefe. It isnt nearly as sweat and the strong banana flavor just doesnt seem to be there. It tasted like an Erdinger at bottling and that's not a bad thing, but still...

I split the 10 gallons between two fermenters and the taste was so far from what i expected that i opened the second fermenter and tasted it to compair. Both taste the same. I think the honey dried it out. Or, did I get an infection in both fermenters? It isnt sour, but not sweet.?..

What do you guys think?

If you pitched on top the old yeast cake you are very much so OVER pitching. Which will lead to decreased ester production, which you want with a hefe. So very little or no banana flavor is to be expected in this situation. As for the sweetness. Adding honey will lead to "drying out" the beer. What temp did you mash at?

The honey would indeed dry it out. And I agree that overpitching will lead to decreased esters, if you got enough clove then you might ferment at a warmer temp next time.

Extract tends to finish sweeter, which is a good thin for hefes in my book. I generally step mash or mash at a higher temp, or sneak a little crystal in my hefe to give it a little sweet character. I think it compliments the spice and banana.

This was a BIAB that I let steep at 155ish for an hour then took to 170 for 10 minutes. Pulled the basket and cranked the heat. I added the honey 15 min from flameout. Then cooled to 76ish and pitched half a yeastcake from a 5 gallon batch to each fermenter. Fermentation was in my basement at 66. The airlocks were active 15 hours after.

I thought the brew day went well. This is going to be a good beer, but not what i expected. Always learning!

I'd have to agree. The honey dried it out and the high pitch rate prevented the production of esters.

Your mash temp was fine then. If you want to keep the honey, I'd add more crystal. Did you get any character from the honey?

Really, if the beer isn't carbed and settled for a couple of weeks, don't be too hasty about judging it. It might be exactly what you want.

Oddly enough I bottled my last hefe Sunday night and the gravity sample had less banana than some batches. Probably had it fermenting a little cool.

I was trying to get a bit higher OG, but didnt want to affect its flavor too much. I love that my yeast cost is staying low and big starters seem to be the goal for most styles. This batch is going to be a good beer, but I missed my goal by a mile.

I've learned a ton and i didn't ruin 10 gallons doing it. i just ended up with something I sure didnt expect.

Thanks for the consult! I plan on doing another batch soon. Maybe I'll scale it back a bit. Most of my glass is full anyhow.

Thanks again,

Swifty

next time use honey malt, a little bit goes a long way, then you get body and flavor. 2lbs of honey gets eaten up by the yeast and transforms your honey wheat into something else; a pale shadow of what you intended.

I try not to have too narrow of an expectation for a style. For one thing it makes it hard to be satisfied, and I've also found that a beer changes over the course of the time it takes me to drink it, and of course its tasting outstanding at the point where the sickening sucking sound of an empty keg happens.

Honey malt is a good idea too. I usually am going for a floral note with honey.

I'd come help you drain that offspec brew if it wasn't such a long drive and you weren't snowed in.

That's awesome. hahaha! I do think it's going to be a really good beer. The roads are clearing and friends are welcome!

It's too bad that the brew supply shop is so far.. I'd like to add some honey malt an do it again. It gives me an excuse to order some stuff!

I took this to beer club to share the funk. The guys looked at me as though I tried to poison them, but then tasted it. It was a hit. After looking at the style, it's a spot on Berliner Weisse! I'm glad I didn't dump it.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!