Lack Of Flavour

[hockadays]

Hi guys,

Just tried my first two batches of hefe weizen that were my maiden voyage into all grain and they both taste nice and no off flavours etc but the flavour is not strong enough. It tastes a bit faint but all the right flavours are there.

The method is as follow..

40% wheat
50% Pils
10% Munich

Mashed at 66degC for 1 hour
Mashed out at 70degc for 10mins
Batch sparged at 73degC rested for 15mins

OG was 1.049 and FG was 1.010

A nice head forms and is retained thoughout glass.

My thought on giving the beer more flavour was to mash at a higher temp say 68degC. Am i on the right track here or is there soething else I'm missing.

thanks Matt :huh:

 

[Stuster]

Matt

Sorry you are not getting a taste explosion. Grain bill looks good, though you could up the wheat a touch. Mash looks fine, but I don't really think you need to have a 15 minute rest with a batch sparge. Just stir it up, wait a minute, stir again, recirculate until clear, then drain. No need to wait for any conversion as that has already happened. I think that 66 should be fine.

Perhaps the problem is with other factors. What hop schedule did you have? And what yeast?

 

[Gough]

A lot of the funky flavours in wheat beers come from the yeast - check the recent thread on the 'American Wheat Beers' where brewers are using the 1056 US ale strain to restrain these flavour and get a less 'full-on' yeast profile in their wheat beer. Which yeast did you use? Also temp of fermentation has a great impact on the flavours produced by wheat yeasts. If you aren't happy with the flavours this time, maybe try a different wheat yeast fermented at a different temp next time.

Shawn.

 

[hockadays]

Hops were Hallertau one addition at 60mins to 13 IBU and used a Wyeast Bavarian Wheat at 21degC. All the flavours seem to be there but they are just a bit to mellow. I was thinking if I up the body maybe that would fix it..

Matt

 

[Weizguy]

I'm happy to jump onto the advice train here.

The yeast is good, but I'd increase the ferment temp to about 24C. Have brewed to 27C with this yeast.
Maybe a smaller yeast culture to increase the flavours.

The recipe looks OK, but I'd be looking at 50+% wheat malt for a Bavarian wheat beer.
Bittering is OK. I usually use about 25g Saaz or Tettnang @ 4% AA for a 23l batch.

Seth out

 

[Duff]

My only thought is that with 10% Munich, 13 IBU is a bit low. I just use Pils and Wheat to around a similar OG, but bitter mine slightly higher at 17 - 18 IBU using Mittlefruh at 60min.

Cheers.

 

[tangent]

the other thing, is you're not really brewing a taste explosion style of beer. I've found the wheat yeasts a bugger to make them sing (apart from the belgian wit yeast)
it's also a style low in hops

try an apa or ipa for your bext brew and lose the wheat

 

[hockadays]

Thanks guys for the advice. I did use quite a large srter so maybe I'll up the temp of ferment a bit next time and slightly more IBUS I feel could be good as well. I just tasted a danish lager that has been lagering for a few weeks and it is the other extreme. Heaps of flavour.
Thats what I like bout AG as there's so many variables to play with..

Matt

 

[Mr Bond]

Just my 2c,based on personal taste experience.

My first weizen was 60% pils 40% wheat and was a little bland.

so i changed to 50% wheat 40% pils and 10% munich (light)

This made a world of difference ,50% wheat is the absolute minimum IMHO ,and the munich adds a little more to the over all profile as well.
65/66 c is a fine temp for mash@ 3 litres per kg ratio.

I prefer 20 ibu's with hallertau(organic),and find that the extra IBU's doesn't overpower the malt but lends a little more of an ending to a fruity ale(a balance of sorts)

Ferment at 20/22 c

Don't give up on this style as its really quite nice,and as Tangent points out "you're not really brewing a taste explosion style of beer"

Cheers Dave

 

[hockadays]

Sounds good.

I definately wont be giving up. A few changes coming..

Matt