Appearance: Pretty nice. Color is hazy orange, with a persistent white head. Aroma: Yeasty esters of ripe bananas, but not strong. Bready malt notes. No hops.
Taste: Not sure. I think the initial taste is a kind of malty bread character, followed by yeasty phenolics and some cloves. I don't get a strong banana flavor however. Good, moderate body, with solid carbonation on the high side. Bitterness is very low.
Aftertaste: Again yeasty phenolics. Not especially pleasant but not undrinkable. Similar to the failed wit beer from almost a year ago.
Generally pretty bland wheat beer, with phenolic character bordering on unpleasant. I suppose I will need to wait to have a temp-controlled fridge before I can really do well with this style. Apparently 62F is the optimal temperature and this type of yeast is sensitive to deviations from the optimal temp, but as yet I cannot maintain a fermentation at that temperature.
Maybe the yeast is the issue. Perhaps a liquid yeast will be superior?
So, it's disappointing. But I'll try again at some point.
Sorry your hefe didn't turn out well. The hefe I brewed for my wedding rehearsal turned out great. We drank two 3 gallon kegs in one night!
ReplyDeleteIt may, and this is just me, have something to do with the dry yeast. Hefeweizens really derive all their flavor from the yeast. For both batches I used Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan liquid yeast with big starters. I also do not have a temp controlled fridge. Instead I use a Cool-Brewing bag with frozen water bottles to maintain temperature. So my temperature control is nothing stellar, but the beers turned out fine.
You win some, you lose some, and this one is a loss. Overall though most of my beers have been good, a few great, and a few crappy. None totally undrinkable though.
ReplyDeleteNext time I go for a hefeweissen I'll try a liquid yeast w/ a big starter, as you suggest. The dry-yeast I used here has a ways to go before being something I'd want to try again though. However I have had good experiences with the dry yeasts S-05 and S-04. I think for any beers w/ a significant yeast-derived character the liquid yeast w/ starter is probably the way to go.