Which wheat yeast, and fermentation temp for big banana flavour/aroma

[mxd]

Hi Guys

I'm not a wheat (as in EU yeast) fan, but I will keep trying, the one wheat I liked was a black hefe (Chris T), that was like a chocolate banana slit, so I thought I would make a chocoalte hefe. I want a good banana (I think it's the cloves that I don't like ?). So What year should I look at and what temp.


If WB06 is good that's easier/closer for me to get (Keg King) otherwise it's off to another LHBS that sell liquid yeast (Brewers den do white labs only (I think) )

thanks
Matt

 

[Ross]

WY-1214 at 19c. Big banana.

 

[mxd]

WY-1214 at 19c. Big banana.

thanks for that, will do some travelling to get some.

 

[GalBrew]

Definitely not Wyeast 3333 - German Wheat.....not falling for that one again :unsure:

 

[zeggie]

mxd, what recipe are you using for a black hefe? sounds interesting

 

[maxim0200]

Or coopers PA bottle yeast fermented at a high temp?

 

[mxd]

mxd, what recipe are you using for a black hefe? sounds interesting

Choc Hefe
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 73.12 l
Post Boil Volume: 67.60 l
Batch Size (fermenter): 64.00 l
Bottling Volume: 64.00 l
Estimated OG: 1.046 SG
Estimated Color: 42.0 EBC
Estimated IBU: 12.7 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 81.2 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
7.00 kg Wheat Malt, Malt Craft (Joe White) (3.5 Grain 1 58.8 %
3.50 kg Pilsner (2 Row) UK (2.0 EBC) Grain 2 29.4 %
0.90 kg Brown Malt (Simpsons) (295.5 EBC) Grain 3 7.6 %
0.50 kg Chocolate Malt (886.5 EBC) Grain 4 4.2 %
55.00 g Hallertauer Hersbrucker [4.00 %] - Boil Hop 5 9.3 IBUs
40.00 g Hallertauer Hersbrucker [4.00 %] - Boil Hop 6 3.4 IBUs
3.0 pkg Belgian Ale Yeast (Wyeast Labs #1214) [1 Yeast 7 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 11.90 kg
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 41.65 l of water at 69.0 C 64.4 C 60 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun, , 43.64l) of 75.6 C water
Notes:

 

[Dan Pratt]

Hi MXD,

On a few occaisions that I have made my Belgian Wit the LHBS have said that if Im chasing the Bananna flavour to add 5% dextrose to the recipe and to ferment at 21c and this will increase that aroma. I havent tried this myself however i usually ferment at 20/21c for my witbiers and they give a nice bananna aroma but its not the main character of the beer.

 

[mosto]

I'm not a fan of wheat beer either, but I did make one chasing lots of banana myself and achieved it using WP300 at about 21 from memory. To my taste, it's probably the best wheat beer I've tasted. When I brewed it, I hadn't tried Sierra Nevada Kellerweis, but I have since and think it is very similar.

 

[mosto]

I must say, despite wheat beers not being something I really look to brew, you've got me interested with your Choc Hefe. I've got some wheat malt lying around that I was wondering what to do with, the Choc Hefe may be the answer.

 

[RelaxedBrewer]

You definitely want a hefe yeast. I would recommend Wyeast 3068 and ferment above 20C. If you really want a big banana hit ferment at 23C.

IMO the liquid wheat beer yeasts are much better than WB06.

Also drink these young as the flavor fades with age.

 

[mr_wibble]

You definitely want a hefe yeast. I would recommend Wyeast 3068 and ferment above 20C. If you really want a big banana hit ferment at 23C.

IMO the liquid wheat beer yeasts are much better than WB06.

IMHO RelaxedBrewer is on the money with '3068.

I'm not a fan of WB06 for German-style wheat beer, to my palette it produces citrus flavours.
Which is great if that's what you want, but *I* want banana+clove+bubblegum - which is what I taste in Wiehenstephan, Paulaner, Ayinger(sp?), Kloster Andechs, (etc.) wheat beers.

You get a lot of banana with Wyeast 3068, a truckload, so I would ferment it on the low-side of 20 if you can.
Unless you don't believe there's such a thing a too-much banana I fermented this (the first time) at winter room temperature, which was around 18-22C (night & day).
I was not happy with the result because I perceived the flavour as overly-estery, and on the banana side rather than the clove.

Most things I've read recommend about 18C for '3068. This yeast goes off like a rocket.

 

[RelaxedBrewer]

Most things I've read recommend about 18C for '3068. This yeast goes off like a rocket.

Yeah I only recommended fermenting above 20 because he was asking for banana flavour. If you want the clove ester you definitely want to ferment ~18C.

 

[verysupple]

You definitely want a hefe yeast. I would recommend Wyeast 3068 and ferment above 20C. If you really want a big banana hit ferment at 23C.

I can vouch for that. Before I had temp control I brewed a weissbier at ~23 C and got bananas galore. Tasty, just not very authentic for a weissbier, but for your choc-banana hefe that should get the job done nicely.

 

[carniebrew]

I've tried wb-06 at 19.5, 21 and 23.5 degrees. All of them tart and ordinary, no banana, just wrong-ness.

I then moved to 3068, and tried it at 22 degrees....and still thought the beer was just plain wrong (I was chasing something like a Weihenstephan Hefeweissbier). I then discovered Brewing Classic Styles, which insisted on using 3068 at 17 degrees. So I gave it one last go...and it was absolutely perfect. Since then I've done many dunkel and hefe brews with 3068 at 17C, all with spectacular results.

I recently discovered an old packet of wb-06 in the back of my fridge, so thought I'd try it at 17C, which I'd never done. I was expecting very little, but surprisingly it was pretty bloody good. Not quite the result I get from 3068, but pretty close.

I am keen to try 1214 one day in search of the elusive banana, as none of my wheat beers have achieved it yet.

 

[TheWiggman]

I did a brew for a mate using 3068, 25l in a standard fermenter. It started to bubble about 3 hours after adding the yeast (used a starter) and after day 2 it frothed through the airlock and was spitting about a metre up the wall. That was at 21°C, 22 was recommended for the recipe. That was for a weissbeir.
Glad he had it at his place.

 

[Mardoo]

Anyone tried starting 3068 off at 17~18 for clove and then bumping it up to 21-ish at the end to bring up the banana? I'm curious whether this would work to fully develop both.

 

[technobabble66]

Anyone used WLP-351?
I've got some from a while ago (maybe 6-8 months old now). Keen to try my first Weizen soonish, and was wondering how this differed from the other wheat yeasts. I've read it's the equivalent of WY3638 - Banana, clove, slight bubblegum, & vanilla, plus a bit tart?
I'm keen to get a bit more of the bananas rather than cloves, so i'm not sure if this will produce that result or not, or what temps are required to do it.
I'm also going to have to do a starter i think, since it's a bit too old now. Never done one, so that'll be an added bit of learning!
RelaxedBrewer's helped a bit with a few recipe ideas, but i was wondering about anyone else's experience with this yeast?

 

[beerbog]

3068 @ 17 deg for a big banana flavour. I've done numerous at this temp and, yep, bang on the mark. This came from Jamil, I think it is out of Brewing Classic styles or off his podcast. P.S @ 17 deg it still blows the gladwrap off the fermentor! :icon_drool2:

 

[pedleyr]

I've only used 3068 in a couple of brews, one at 18.5 degrees one at 20. The 20 had pretty strong banana, 18.5 was moderate.

A few people here report banana at much lower temperatures - that's probably also related to pitch rate.

With both of mine I was over the recommended pitching rates by 10 or 15%. From what I understand, if you lower your pitching rate that will also give you banana, even at lower temperatures.

So, if you want HUGE banana, use 3068, underpitch and ferment at 19.5 or 20 degrees (or even more).