Tastings: After failing to get a good taste test, I finally found 2 bottles that gave me good results and a good picture. I had been hasty to pour the fermenter, by hand, into the individual bottles in an attempt to not waste beer going down the drain. I don't have the best of luck with the auto siphon racking cane only to loose precious beer down the drain. So, I ended up with excessive yeast in the bottles and this amounted to extra pressure over 5 weeks with constant foam expelling from 2 of the bottles when they were opened. Don't try to take these kind of shortcuts! I would have been better to waste a little beer down the drain in order to get 2 more bottles that didn't have so much yeast in them. Another bottle didn't have a good seal with the bottle cap and I had little foam nor carbonation. I did end up with 2 good bottles pictured above. The Wyeast 3068 was a little too spicy for me. Maybe, if it was aged over 6 months, it may have a better taste. I did find the Llalemand Munich Wheat had some unmistakable, but not overwhelming banana esters. I still wonder how aging for 6 months would have came out. This Danstar wheat yeast was my favorite of the two.
Wiezenbier Research and Observations: This will be the last I comment on my Paulaner Wiesn clone publicly. Weizenbier yeasts produce a phenolic compound that gives off the clove aroma. Top fermented yeasts are used in primary fermentation, but many breweries will add a bottom fermenting yeast during a secondary warm fermentation. That may be what is going on as some Weizenbiers may be a mixture of top and bottom-fermented strains. So, it could be a lager, technically, but still have the ale yeasts to give it the green apple esters found in taste reviews of the beer. Reviews have shown that there is a wheat taste to it, there is no wheat in it per the list of ingredients on the back of the can. This wheat taste can only come from the yeast. A past taste test of my own Dampfbier was a lot better than any Hefeweizen beer I had tasted from my local breweries and there wasn't any wheat in it - just a wheat yeast. (See past blog entry)
New Ideas & Improvements: I will go on taste testing yeasts to find the best. I am considering now German Wheat 3333 for it's fruity, Sherry-like taste vs. Bavarian Wheat Blend 3056 for its mild ester and phenolic notes. I will continue to use the method of taking the batch to the low side of the fermenting scale, then up to the high side of the fermenting scale. Possibly 5 days for each. After I've found the best ale yeast, I will try to give it a lager ferment with some Wyeast 2124 (Bohemian Lager using the widely used Carlsberg type) adding to the ester character and allowing for a high side of 68 degrees fermenting just right for spring/summer temperatures in my basement. I noticed Paulaner uses hops extracts in its beers and I will make my own hops extracts to see if there is a noticeable taste difference. I will devote my mini-fridge to strictly ales now at 46 degrees F to see if aging these beers 1, 2 or 3 months makes a difference as well. There is a lot to test in my homebrewing future.