skipping starter to favor phenolic flavor

[jive365]

i am planning on doing a 5 gal batch of dunkelweizen, OG 1.055, this weekend. i am looking to mute the banana-like qualities and focus on the clove character. i already plan to ferment this one with wlp351 at 66 degrees or so to favor the phenolic component.
i was told by a fellow brewer to skip the starter process for this beer as you want the yeast to struggle a bit to provide more weizen-yeast character. does the struggling increase both the ester and phenolic qualities of the beer or does it favor one over the other? Or is this soley a function of temperature?

 

[duboman]

IME, the flavors you are looking for are more about the temperature than the stress on the yeast. I am not a fan of the banana at all so I ferment all my hefe and Dunkels cold, like 60-62F and get zero banana and lot of clove. I do make starters for them as well, I am a firm believer in proper pitch rate making proper starters for every beer.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Yeast stress is more likely to produce esters. If you want clove but not banana you need to pitch proper numbers at cool temperatures. Also get a mash rest at 113F.

 

[jive365]

thanks for the advice. ill do a starter and pitch low. what will the rest at 113F do for my brew?

 

[duboman]

thanks for the advice. ill do a starter and pitch low. what will the rest at 113F do for my brew?

It will assist in keeping the beer cloudy as that is desirable for style