Stressing yeast to increase phenolics

This is a great question that is perfect for a short answer. Contrary to my love of marching to my own beat, I do believe in following supplier suggestions. I would start out by doing what the yeast manufacturer suggests for weizen beer. The best place to find this information is usually on the supplier’s website. If you don’t get the desired results, there are two paths to follow. One is to choose a different yeast strain and the second is to start adjusting your mashing, pitching, and fermentation set points. Because I am a simple brewer, I would start with Door #1 if I were unhappy with my fermentation results; change yeast strains.

But if you want Door #2, there is a whole lot of stuff to consider. Adding a ferulic acid rest (see my column in the July-August 2024 issue for more information), decreasing pitch rate, decreasing wort aeration, adjusting temperature (up and down both have their merits), and adjusting your grist bill are all options. The challenge with Door #2 is that you have just entered the hall of mirrors and it can take a very, very long time to figure out the best path forward.

And then there is Door #3 — which is following my homebrew hefeweizen recipe. The grain bill is made up of 50% German pale malted wheat, 48% Pilsner malt (brewer’s choice), and 2% light crystal malt for a touch of color. Wort gravity should be 1.050 (12.5 °Plato) and the bitterness should be ~12 IBU using a single addition of a German noble hop variety. Mash in at 122 °F (50 °C) and hold for 20 minutes, then heat to 154 °F (68 °C) and hold for 30–45 minutes. Collect wort, add hops at the start of the 60-minute boil, cool to 64–68 °F (18–20 °C), pitch SafAle W-68 per the pitch rate for your batch size (printed on pack), and ferment at 68 °F (20 °C). 

Being this specific with brewing suggestions is something I rarely do, but I am really loving having a dried source of Weihenstephan 68 for my weizen brewing. This strain is the classic weizen yeast for those fruity and clove aromatics found in quintessential Bavarian wheat beers. Prost! 

Response by Ashton Lewis.