Hi!
I am looking to brew a 5-gallon batch of a hefeweizen to then split into multiple secondaries with various fruits. Would the American Wheat Beer kit or the Bavarian Hefeweizen kit be the most appropriate? I am leaning towards the Bavarian kit, since I am looking for slightly weightier beer that can drag some summer flavors into the fall.
I’d go with American wheat. A Bavarian hefe already has the banana and clove character and fruit flavors can step on this and sometimes clash. The Am wheat is fairly neutral with a soft sweet grainy flavor that accentuates tart fruit flavors. My wife has a battery of DaVincis syrups to use in Am wheat and cream ale. She just adds it by the glass, that way she can have strawberry, raspberry, orange, or whatever she feels like that day.
Earlier this year I made the Bavarian Hefeweizen kit and then added a whole bottle of the raspberry flavoring. In agreement with what tom sawyer said, that beer had loads of apple/banana/clove flavor from the yeast, and so the raspberry flavoring was a little lost.
I guess I could also turn it around and say that there was a lot of wheat beer flavor and the raspberry flavor ended up being well balanced against the rest?
I think if I make a hefe again and want fruit flavorings I’ll go with the syrups to be added to the glass when served. More possibility to flavor to taste etc. And that bavarian hefe kit was a knockout all by itself.
If your goal is to compare the different fruits, go with a neutral yeast like us05 or 1272. More assertive yeasts can dominate or clash with the fruit. If you want a “weightier” beer add some extra grain or extract to bump up the gravity.
