theneedle.net

Well, it ‘aint Denison’s.  Still, it isn’t bad for a first try and its certainly better than a number of commercial Hefe’s I’ve had.  I’m not sure if that is due to the freshness (German beers, like English ones, suffer terribly from the trip over here) or the recipe.  Either way, it shows room for improvement.

First off, its a bit too watery.  Yes, a Hefe should be light in body but the tactile experience here is lacking.  It shouldn’t be at all chewy but it should have a bit more oomph than I’ve got here.  I’m guessing that this is a result of the mash temp.  My notes say that I did a rest at 139, 143 and 157 but I’m guessing that I wrote down what the recipe was, not what I was actually did.  It might have something to do with that 22oz of Wheat Malt I somehow forgot to grind & mash….

It isn’t bad appearance wise.  It could use a bit more cloudiness, but I did have this bottle undisturbed in the fridge for a few weeks.  Everything may have just settled out.  The head is nice but fades way too quickly.  My glassware handling skills are terrible, so I’m hoping that the head issues are from a slightly less than pristine vessel.

The nose isn’t quite there either.  I’ve got banana – no problems there – but other spiciness such as clove isn’t prominent enough.  I’m not trying for a clove bomb here, rather something like what I was drinking in Germany last summer.  Bubblegum is spot on, as is the wheat & pils malt.  Its got a bit of a solventy character if I inhale too long – that needs to go for the next batch.

The clove comes out much more in the flavor, blowing most other aspects away at first.  How is there too little in the nose but too much in the flavor?  The clove eventually gives way to tasty bubblegum notes, wheat, apple & a twinge of alcohol.  It is becoming quite apparent that I pushed this yeast past it’s optimum temperature.  It isn’t offensive, but there really shouldn’t be any hint of alcohol in a Hefe, no matter how hyper-critical I get.  Anyhow, the finish has bubblegum & wheat and a somewhat muted wheat character.

At this point its a like one of those rubix cube-like puzzles where you slide tiles into the one empty spot in an attempt to arrange things properly.  The aspects are there but the picture isn’t quite clear.  Aspects I’d like muted are forward & vice versa.  For next time I’ll remember to include that 22oz of wheat (Seriously – how did I forget to grind 25% of the Wheat?) and I’ll restrain the temperature a bit..

Still, this is a pretty tasty place to be starting from.