First Hefe attempt - turned out as a Wit

[DaveGillespie]

Hi all, bottled my third AG brew at the weekend which was supposed to be a Hefe Weizen but has turned out much closer to a Belgian style Wit. The recipe was as follows:

3450g Wheat Malt
1950g Pils Malt

Mash 60 mins @ 67C

Boil for 90 minutes.

Hallertauer @ 75 minutes to 11 IBU
Hallerauer @ 15 minutes to 3 IBU

Yeast WB-06
23 Litres into the Fermenter at OG of 1.050
Finished up at 1.010 after 15 days

I don't have any temperature control so this was fermented in my kitchen at ambient temperature, say around 18C ambient.

As far as I understood it WB-06 should produce a Hefe although not as nice as some of the liquid yeast strains - am I incorrect in this assumption? Is it the temperature or combination of temperature & yeast strain that has caused my problem?

Which of the liquid Hefe strains would be recommended if I don't have any temperature control?

Also, the colour was slightly too pale for a Hefe - what can I add to give it a colour close to Paulaner, Weihenstephaner or Franziskaner?

 

[jack_a_roe]

I do believe I have the same thing going on right now. A friend wanted a batch of hef so I figured no problem, real basic recipe and it turned out just like yours. Real real pale color and taste more of a wit than a hef. It also has a weird lingering aftertaste I can't put my finger on.

All of that and I had a thermo wrap thing hooked up for fermentation. It fermented at 68 and brought it down to 1.006....which is from mashing at 148 by accident...

 

[W0rthog]

I've had good success with Wyeast #3056, Wyeast 3068 and Wyeast #3638. I would recommend adding some Carahell for color. Up then15%.

I've also added a little carawheat for color as well.

Cheers

 

[skibb]

Personally I wouldn't put any crystal malt in a hefe - if you are looking for a more saturated color I would consider addin a small portion of Munich malt and boiling more vigorously or long (90+ minutes) or both to promote malliard reactions.

 

[sjskeels]

I have had really good luck with WB06 with my weissbier. It is very temperature tolerant so easier to keep the banana flavour down and find it gives a subtle clove note. I would second the addition of Munich. If you want stronger banana notes you need to ferment at a higher temp.