Can I brew a German hefe with a neutral yeast and mimic the banana flavor using actual bananas?
Not really. Won’t get as much banana flavor with bananas. And then there’s the clove component.
Maybe just use banana powder?
How much to use is open to desired level, I suppose…
Is this question rhetorical? If not, why not just use a hefe yeast?
I thought to force the banana a warmer fermentation was all that was needed. Is this not valid?
Warmer fermentation, under-pitch to stress the yeast, complete a step-mash, pitch with the moon over your left shoulder :
. . . . I’ve tried all of it and was successful in one instance out of about 20, and I can’t duplicate it. In my experience, a good hefe is one of the most difficult brews to make. So, I’ll be anxious to follow this thread.
Cheers!
Or banana extract and clove extract. Add them after primary so they don’t blow off with the CO2.
?? 
There’s more to it than that. Amount of wheat as well as yeast strain and other factors play into it. Simply fermenting any yeast warmer will not do it.
Check out the hefeweizen tips in our latest podcast.
If you’re just looking for banana and don’t want to fuss with a weizen strain, S04 fermented around 74F will throw a ton of banana.
Semi rhetorical. Occasionally I wonder about things. I have some wheat dme, to use on an easy brew day, and several available non hefe yeasts and I want to do something other than plain wheat beer.
I just bottled a rye porter fermented close to that with S-04 and didn’t get any banana.
The only things I’ve gotten from S-04 are either Chico-esque neutrality or an unpleasant whang. I’ve never even gotten pleasant English-y esters, let alone banana.
I get an unwelcome breadiness
I’ve tried a few drops of banana “essence” in a glass, and it didn’t work very well.
That said, Germans have been known to add banana “nectar” to weizens. Google “kristallweizen bananen nektar”
i do love thought experiments, i have so far had a lot of trouble using baking/kitchen grade extracts to really transmit significant flavour to my beers, ie. vanilla, almond, chocolate extracts. they are either barely noticeable or different tasting.
maybe someone has advice on that - i know the brewing grade ones get positive reception.
not banana aroma but CLOVE - im wondering about enhancing clove with actual cloves at some point as well. i bet that would work well.
i know that using actual spices in belgians has fallen way way out of popularity, but i intend to use coriander again next belgian series i brew. i remember really enjoying the beers i had made with it long ago. maybe it’s time to start experimenting again.
final addendum: i believe due to age, getting a covid loss-of-smell period, other factors my ability to detect banana aroma has gone down a lot. sometimes im reminded when people discuss banana aroma in weizens or other beers and i feel sad about that lol.
As in the flavor didn’t come though? Or it tasted bad/fake?
It’s not about cooking/brewing. It’s simply about finding good extracts. I’ve used Olive Nation with good results. For chocolate, try Star Kay White.
Actual spices in Belgian styles is still very much a thing. In the current episode of Brew Files, we examine wit beer. Bitter orange peel for bittering, coriander for orange flavor. The way it’s supposed to be.
Probably a combination of two drops coming through too well and therefore tasting fake. Works great in banana bread and homemade yogurt, though.
I put corriander, black pepper and sweet orange peel in my Saison and it comes out great. Got the idea from Charley Papazian years ago.