Suggestions for Dunkeweizen recipe

If I mash the Munich do I need to use some 2 row or will it have enough diastatic power to convert itself?
I believe it does.

Am I using to much specialty grain? Not enough?
I don't think too much, we just did 10 gallon batch with 12 lbs. wheat, 8 lbs. munich, 1/2 lb. of chocolate. You could certainly mash a little more.

With fermenting at 62, you might expect lower banana ester and more clove to shine through.

 

Chocolate wheat is a mighty fine specialty malt.

 

I recently fermented a hefe (Wyeast 3068) at 62F and got very little banana. However, a friend did the same thing and got a lot of banana. There are clearly more factors than just temp. Next time I'm going to cut back on the yeast pitch rate and on the O2 and see what that does.

 

I prefer WL380 (WY3333) for my darker wheat beers...the spiciness goes better with the dark malts.

 

Just from reading, they say it's the temp and the pitch rate, as you noted. Stress them out enough and I suppose the odds are on your side.

We fermented our recent one at 64 I believe, first time trying will be tonight when we keg. Pitch rate should have been good, however I didn't even think about cutting the O2, we didn't use a stone or anything fancy, so maybe we'll get some more banana after all.

 

Caramunich is a "crystal" malt whereas Munich is a base malt.

 

If you're doing a partial mash, I would do a 1-2lb of Munich base malt (Weyermann Munich I ~ 6L), 0.25lb Chocolate Wheat, and 0.5-1lb of Caramunich (II or III) wouldn't be out of place for this style...depending on what you're going for..

 

Just to report back in, at 64F, it looks like we got no detectable banana esters (which is kind of a bummer, but my own fault for no looking into it sooner).

This is just right from the fermenter to a sampling glass, so I didn't try that much, maybe I'll get lucky - good beer though, spicy clove is definitely present and after only 2 weeks there doesn't seem to be any green flavor. We'll see how it taste after it's chilled and carbed.

 

if you're only using 1# munich malt for a dunkelweizen, I'd toss in maybe 4-8oz melanoidin malt as well.

 

Looks good !

 

Nah, we didn't under pitch (maybe we over pitched? that would explain the lack of esters) - I didn't even look into it until after we started fermenting, as usual... if anything it may have been under aerated. Keep in mind, I haven't tasted it chilled or carbed yet - only that one small sampling at kegging.

You mean that part from Brewing Classic Styles? Ferment at 62F - produces clean tasting beer, with a balance of banana and clove. I do find this odd when Wyeast says lower temps will inhibit banana esters - and 62 is lower than the range. But I suppose as long as you don't over pitch, you'll still get some.

I like the addition of the CaraMunich!

 

Okay, just gave ours another try now that it's chilled and mostly carbed. There is some subtle banana notes in there - I think it's a nice balance.