Death by Banana

I recently found a long forgotten bag of DME in a box in the back of a closet. A four pound bag of wheat and 3 lbs of light DME brewed with one oz of Halletauer for 60 and 1/2 oz of Tettnag at 30. I used a Propagator pack of 3638 Bavarian Wheat that I didn't make a starter for. (I know, I know, but I found the stuff and I had to brew it that day or not at all for a month, so underpitching won.) I was going to call it my"Gee Ma , Look Wheat I Found." I figured it would be pretty close to a double wheat, my OG was almost 1070!

So it's fermenting, slowly. It started out quite vigourously, really churning along there for a day or two and then the krausen started to drop. I decided to pour out a half cup to taste and check the gravity. First off, I was shocked that the gravity was still around 1050 and it was obviously still really sweet. I swear it got sweeter as it fermented. Then next thing that got me was theoverwhelming bannana nose on this one. I mean like Death by Bannana. This is incredible.

So I swirled the heck out of it to make sure that everything is still in suspension and am pondering what to do next. (OK I know not to DO anything, it is eventually going to ferment to it's FG on it's own, with or without me mucking around in it. I'm just thinking about it and thinking out loud here.)

The bannana is almost unpleasantly strong at this stage, and this is from someone who really likes a German bannanary wheat. I haven't made a German wheat in a few years, I've been experimenting with making American wheats for a while. I decided a while ago that I wouldn't make American style wheats much anymore, since I've concluded that I much prefer the other style and every thime I make an American wheat I'm disapointed that it doesn't taste like the Bavarians. Am I just forgetting that GW's start out really phenolic and it tones down as the fermentaion finishes? Did underpitching make the yeast produce a weird concentration of bannana? I'm sure it will eventually pick back up and finish fermenting. I oxygenated it pretty good at the start, and it took off in a reasonable time period. But that overwhelming bannana has got me stumped.

PTN

edited to add I just realized I posted this in the all grain section. Mods, please move to where it belongs. Sorry, my bad.

Hi
I'm guessing the the bannana smell is just an ester, that should age out. Did you use any yeast nutrient? You could boil a teaspoon per gallon of wort, in about a cup of water, then add it to your wort.
Joe
Relax and have a hombrew

Generally, a weizen yeast will contribute banana flavors at higher fermenting temps and cloves at the lower end.

What was the fermenting temp?

I have been told what homebrewer 99 said, the warmer you ferment a weizen yeast, the more banana you get. I have also been told this temperature for banana flavor is mid to high 70s F. I have not done this myself. The banana character comes from an ester called isoamyl acetate.

Dr Malt

Well, I added some yeast nutriend this morning before going to bed and shook the carboy up,and then shook it up a few minutes ago when I got up. It's still goig, albeit slowly. I'll see about moving it somewhere cooler and seeing if that changes things any. It;s been regular house temps here, probably averaging around 64 or so, wiht the heat only on for a few hours in the morning and in the evening.

PTN

Also, the low pitch rate and high gravity really stressed the yeast. That produces more esters.