White Labs Hefe IV WLP380

My wife's favorite beer until very recently was Weihenstephaner Dunkelweizen, so I decided to brew up a clone to have ready for her on x-mas. Since my LHBS doesn't carry wyeast, I decided to use White Labs Hefewiezen IV (WLP380), since I was told it has very little banana aroma and flavor, and would produce more clove and green apple flavors like the Weihenstephaner.

We tried it last night, and while it was very tasty, the banana aroma and flavor is almost overpowering. There is a strong clove flavor, and a nice bready backround, but the banana is by far the most prominent flavor. My sister in-law said it smelled just like banana bread, and refused to believe that I didn't add bananas to it.

I fermented at 64* ambient, with the beer rising to about 68-69* at peak fermentation. Should I have fermented lower to reduce the banana flavor esters, or is this yeast just more banana tasting than I was told it was?

Also, do you think it's possible that the yeast I got was mis-labeled, and was actually WLP300?

I use WLP380 quite often and have never gotten pronounced banana. It is very faint, some of my untrained friends dont even notice banana until I point it out. I usually ferment at 62 wort temp, I have never tried it warmer so I cant comment if that is the problem, but I would suspect it to be the case.

Did you make a starter?

yes, 1L pitched at high krausen.

I have never used that strain, although I plan on trying it soon. For my dunkelweizen, I use White Labs Bavarian Weizen yeast, its a platinum strain that I believe comes out around august. Very nice clove spice and no detectable banana when fermented around 64F.

When I use WLP380, I over pitch and ferment at 62. Last time was a 6L starter for an 11 gallon batch. Over pitching and cooler ferment temps subdue the bananna.