Imperial / Double Hefeweizen Homebrew

This beer is a good example of the iterations I go through when formulating a new recipe.  Originally, the plan was to make a California Common out of a Pilsner grain bill.  I quickly came to the decision that my brew areas were too warm.

So I thought, "maybe an estery Hefeweizen?"   So I took half Pilsen malt and half wheat malt started fooling around.  So I thought "make it big, use weird hops, and dry hop."   In short: everything you're not supposed to do.   I debated for a while on whether to call it an Imperial or a Double.  Eventually, I decided on "Double" because my goal was "twice what you typically find in a hefeweizen."

Here's what I came up with for my Double Hefeweizen:


Malt
7.25 lb Pilsen
7.25 lb Wheat
12oz 10L Crystal

Hops
1oz Motueka 85 minutes
1oz Motueka 30 minutes
1oz Williamette 15 minutes
1oz Williamette dry hop 10 days

Yeast
Wyeast 3068

Mash
30 minutes at 122F
90 minutes at 150F
10 minutes at 168F

Ferment Temp +75F

OG: 1.085
FG: 1.016
ABV: 9.1%
SRM: 5L
IBU: 39

Brewed: 06/16/2012
Dry Hopped: 07/18/2012
Bottled: 07/30/2012
Ready to Drink 09/30/2012

This is a delicious beer, but there really isn't a whole lot of esters.   I was hoping for a banana or bubblegum bomb.  But it never quite got there.  And I think I really got more bubblegum than banana.  The esters are present, but they hang out in the background.

What really comes across is the Motueka hops: lemon and lime zest. It's in the aroma and in the flavor.  I suppose it's like squeezing a lemon and lime in your hefeweizen.  I am "supposing" it because I don't ever fruit my beer in the glass.  If I want fruit in it, I want the fruit to have been put in the fermenter, the way God intended.

What went wrong in this beer is a symptom of the 3068 yeast.   It can have an extended sulfury taste and aroma when it is young.  This happened to me. I had to let the beer sit a month longer than I anticipated to get the sulfur taste out of it.

I suppose this really should have been expected it to take longer to mellow.  It's a big, 9.1% beer. Bigger beers always take longer to "come together" and develop a good flavor profile.