Brew Day - Strawberry Hefeweizen

It's a good day for brewing, so I'm brewing up an early summer favorite - Strawberry Hefeweizen. The recipe itself is simple enough:

1.00 lb Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 9.52 %
5.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 47.62 %
4.50 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 42.86 %
1.00 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] (60 min) Hops 17.6 IBU
1 Pkgs Weihenstephan Weizen (Wyeast Labs #3068) Yeast-Wheat

But the real beauty of this beer is the 10 pounds of strawberries that get added to the beer a few days into fermentation.

Wyeast 3068 is known to kick off a lot of esthers (smells), particularly a compound that smells like bananas. Typically the warmer the fermentation temperature, the more esthers. Also, not adding enough yeast can add to esther production. If this were a normal hefeweizen, I'd like to keep those esthers somewhat under control, but this isn't a normal hefeweizen. I like to kick it old school with this brew and just leave the fermenting beer in a dark, cool corner of my apartment, which is about 65 degrees or so these days. That keeps the beer around 72-74 degrees and keeps those banana esthers popping out. The strawberries get dumped into the same bucket a few days later.

The banana smell really blends nicely with the aroma of the strawberries, and almost gives it a milk-shake like smell. However, the smell is a little misleading, as the beer is actually more tart than sweet. All of the sugar ferments out of the berries during fermentation, and all that's left is a tart fruitiness. Coupled with a high level of carbonation when it comes time for that, this ends up being a very dry beer perfect for warm summer days. I'm excited for it already.

On deck for tomorrow's brew day - Black Gold IPA:

10.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 81.63 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 8.16 %
0.50 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 4.08 %
0.50 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 4.08 %
0.25 lb Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 2.04 %
3.00 oz Cascade [8.00 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
3.00 oz Goldings, B.C. [5.00 %] (60 min) Hops 50.7 IBU
2.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (60 min) Hops 33.8 IBU
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (First Wort Hop) Hops 16.9 IBU
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale