Need help accenting the "clove" character of my Hefes

Question

Need help accenting the "clove" character of my Hefes

Graham

2015年3月16日 18:01

So I enjoy the heck outa making Hefeweizens. Its a great style and very wonderful when fresh. However, my Hefe's never seem to hit that "clove" note properly, they always lean much more towards the "banana" side of the flavor spectrum.

I suspect this is because I am a single infusion masher. I've never bothered with a protein rest or any kind of steps, I just hit 150-155F and let it sit for an hour. Works great on my other beers, but I think it's making my Hefe's a little one dimensional.

I ferment in a fridge, usually at 64F, so it's not a temp control issue leading to more banana flavor. Furthermore, I like WLP380 Hefe IV yeast, which is supposed to give more balanced clove/banana than the WLP300. As such, I am pointing the finger at my mash schedule.

Does anyone have a mash schedule they use to accent the clove character? And if its not too much, would you mind explaining what volumes of water you use to hit those steps?

Or, if you think there's something else I can try besides a different mash schedule, that would be great too. Thanks!

Topic wheat-beer mash homebrew

Category Mac

Linden · Accepted Answer · 2012年4月30日 03:22

1

Linden answered at 2012年4月30日 03:22

Why not just put some cloves in your wort and save yourself a lot of messing about? You add hops for a hop flavour, add cloves for a clove flavour.

brewchez · Accepted Answer · 2012年4月11日 23:36

You can do a mash rest at 110F-ish to develop some of the precursors that the yeast use for clove character. This develops ferulic acid in the mash which get converted to 4-vinyl guaiacol. Thirty minutes is fine, then infuse up to your sac rest temp.

But its easier to just ferment warmer say 72F, that will develop more clove vs. banana esters. I ferment my Hefe as 62F to AVOID too much clove. Seeing how you are at 64F I'd try the temp thing first. If you go much warmer than that the yeast tends to produce more banana character than clove.

For the record, I am a WLP300 guy myself.

You can always email Whitelabs directly. They usually have more to say about each strain via email or on the phone than is posted on the website.

Kevin Colby · Accepted Answer · 2012年4月11日 22:35

Fermentation is the best place to effect the Yeast Ester Production. Specifically for Hefe's fermenting cold increases the production of esters that generate the clove smell you're looking for.

Fermenting warm and under pitching both tend to increase the Banana characteristics.

Are you measuring the air temp in the fridge or the beer temp. You may be fermenting at a higher temp than you expect due to the heat produced during fermentation. You may also want to try taking it down a few more degrees as well even though this is technically below the optimal range for the yeast. Just be sure not to take it down too far and end up with a stuck fermentation! In my experience though, Hefe yeasts are pretty vigorous and hearty yeast strains.

Need help accenting the "clove" character of my Hefes

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