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- Nov 24, 2020
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I just brewed my first hefeweizen and it's bottle conditioning as I write this. When I tasted the beer on bottling day, I was surprised to find that it tastes like clove without any discernible banana flavor. I'm not disappointed but I am a little surprised because I was shooting for something balanced, with both flavors present. My first thought is that I fermented at a low temperature that favored clove phenols over banana esters. I'm excited to try this again and I'm wondering what to do differently to get more banana flavor. I don't want a banana bomb, just a little more banana flavor.
Before beginning, I read a bunch and, unsurprisingly, I saw a lot of wildly different suggestions. Ferment at 62F. Ferment at 72F. Underpitch. Pitch normal. Don't aerate. Aerate.
In the end, I decided to pitch a normal amount of yeast at a somewhat low temperature, let the temperature rise on its own, then set the temp around 68F for the remainder of the fermentation.
Here's what I did.
3 gallon (final volume) extract brew.
3.25# Briess Bavarian Wheat DME.
Chilled the wort to 60F.
Aerated with a pump for 40 minutes.
Pitched about 2/3 of a tube of WLP300 (exp date Jul 24, 2021).
Pitched at 60F.
Set temp on the thermostat to 62F.
The next morning when fermentation had not yet started, I adjusted the temp to 65F.
Later that day / beginning of the following day, the temp had risen to ~68F and it stayed there for a day or so.
When it fell to 65F I set the thermostat to 68F and kept it there for a total of two weeks.
Gravities (corrected refractometer readings)
OG = 1.044
FG = 1.011 - more of an estimate because the yeast scatter the light so much but I made the reading without checking my notes and this was dead on what I expected.
So, in order to get a little more banana, what would you recommend? Would you recommend that I pitch at a warmer temp and/or ferment at a higher temp? If so, what temps would you recommend? Should I do something other than adjust the temperature?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Before beginning, I read a bunch and, unsurprisingly, I saw a lot of wildly different suggestions. Ferment at 62F. Ferment at 72F. Underpitch. Pitch normal. Don't aerate. Aerate.
In the end, I decided to pitch a normal amount of yeast at a somewhat low temperature, let the temperature rise on its own, then set the temp around 68F for the remainder of the fermentation.
Here's what I did.
3 gallon (final volume) extract brew.
3.25# Briess Bavarian Wheat DME.
Chilled the wort to 60F.
Aerated with a pump for 40 minutes.
Pitched about 2/3 of a tube of WLP300 (exp date Jul 24, 2021).
Pitched at 60F.
Set temp on the thermostat to 62F.
The next morning when fermentation had not yet started, I adjusted the temp to 65F.
Later that day / beginning of the following day, the temp had risen to ~68F and it stayed there for a day or so.
When it fell to 65F I set the thermostat to 68F and kept it there for a total of two weeks.
Gravities (corrected refractometer readings)
OG = 1.044
FG = 1.011 - more of an estimate because the yeast scatter the light so much but I made the reading without checking my notes and this was dead on what I expected.
So, in order to get a little more banana, what would you recommend? Would you recommend that I pitch at a warmer temp and/or ferment at a higher temp? If so, what temps would you recommend? Should I do something other than adjust the temperature?
Thanks in advance for your help.