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Hey there,
Have been brewing ales using malt and fuggles for quite a while. Always been a hit with my english buddies. I love wheat beer so tried a change. Got in grains for once. 1 hour, I had 1.5 kg wheat grain mixed with 1.5 kg pilsner grain at 140F. Removed grains. Left to rest for 1 hour. Smackpack bavarian wheat yeast. Pack never expanded. Broke wort and used rakau hops for 60 mins. 20 mins with other half of hops. Hydrometer read 3.9 abv before adding yeast from smack pack. When bottling ( hydrometer read just under 1% sugar reading), I had smells of banana, peach and a slight hint of lemon.1 carbonation drop per 450 ml bottle. 15 days later, I tried a bottle. I recycle grolsch swing tops. No pop. A tiny hiss. Poured into my world cup Erdinger glass. No head. Slightly carbonated. It still has a Paulaner smell. My brother was my test subject. He asked me did I put a banana in the brew ( everyone laugh now). He now robs a few bottles when he can. I was not impressed. It tasted watery with dry banana.
Going to leave this batch mature a bit longer.
Have a new batch on at 6.7% as a result after bottling using same ingredients. Left grains steep for longer this time.
Hoping for a better body this time.
Can anyone tell me where I am going wrong?

Hi Sean, one thing I would point to would be the very low temp you mashed at, this should really be up around the 67-68c mark, unless there is something particular about mashing grains for a wheat beer that I haven't heard of.

Also you need to hold this temperature (Grains and Liquid) for the one hour, from your post it sounded like you steeped the grains, removed them and then let it sit for an hour?

What type of smack pack was it? Did it need growing up into a starter? Was it an activator or a propogator pack?

I have the same concern as Mark, did you remove the grains before leaving it to sit for 1 hour?

The low mash temps WILL make a more fermentable brew with less body, and if you're already starting out targeting 3.9%, you're really going to want to ferment at the high end to end up with more dextrins to prevent the beer from ending up very dry.

Are you using Malted Wheat or Unmalted Wheat? (If you're using unmalted wheat, you're not going to get anything out of it with a single infusion at 60-70C.)

You should definitely build up the smack pack using a starter a day or two before your brew day if you're using a "propagator" pack. -Especially with that yeast; the yeast will produce more esters and phenols (banana or clove) if it's stressed by underpitching the quantity of yeast (directly pitching the smack-pack without a starter).
-The flavors that yeast produces are dependant upon the fermentation temperature, too. -Higher temps (up to a point) will produce more banana/bubble gum flavors with less clove flavors, but too high and you'll get bandaid flavors like I did on my first wheat beer.

-I should note that some brewers INTENTIONALLY underpitch bavarian wheat yeast to produce more of those flavors, so if you like liquid banana; go for it.


Adam

Thanks for the advice. I did intentionally stress the yeast to get the banana flavours. Has anyone tried Friar Weisse at the Fransican Well in Cork. Dream banana cream. I had seen on yank vids on youtube mashing grains at 140F. I chose the rakau hops to introduce a peach style to complement the fruit in the beer. Pity, it didn't work. What is the ideal temp to condition bottles? Is this my carbonation problem?
Thanks everyone.

Hi Sean, To carbonate your bottles they should be left at room temperature for about two weeks.