Quick poll: how many of you use a ferulic acid rest to encourage 4VG production in appropriate styles?
I haven’t done it since the 90’s. I use mainly 88% Lactic Acid or Acid Malt to reach my desired mash pH.
I tried it once and didn’t notice a difference so I never bothered with it again. I find pitch rate and fermentation temp do a good job of getting me what I’m looking for. FWIW, I brew hefeweizen about once every 2 years or so, so I don’t consider myself an expert.
A ferulic acid rest is very helpful in creating the clove notes (4VG) in a good weizen. I always perform that step for that style. Lactic acid or acid malt does not do anything to provide for 4VG creation.
PS: It is not really a mash-acidifying step, although it probably does do that to a degree.
I did a ferulic rest on my last roggenbier and was very pleased with the result. I’ve made hefeweizens in the past that had almost zero clove, so while I cannot say it made a difference for sure, it’s easy to do and I’ll continue experimenting with it both ways in the future to see how much difference it makes.
Never. For me, the typical hef strains produce ample clove without a ferulic acid rest–too much, in fact. I definitely don’t want to encourage more. And I don’t brew any other styles with clove notes to them.
I have done it and have been pleased with the results. But it has been a long time since the last one. I like the spicy clove phenols over banana bomb.
I do a ferulic acid for all my Hefeweizens. The banana bombs aren’t as pleasing to me as a more balanced hefe.
I never got much in the way of clove from a ferulic rest, having tried several times. I think the balance of clove and banana has more to do with fermentation temps.
So what do you target to hit that clove-banana balance? I just tried my first hefeweissen and found the yeast character a little lacking. I used Lallemand’s Munich Classic held to the mid-sixties °F.
I consult the information in this article alot.
https://braumagazin.de/article/brewing-bavarian-weissbier-all-you-ever-wanted-to-know/
From that article:
Open non-pressurized fermentation in combination with a suitable yeast like the classic W68 can already produce a sufficiently strong banana flavor. High OG or High-Gravity wort can promote the banana flavor further. Higher mash in temperature reduces the clove flavor significantly and additionally promotes the banana flavor.
In my brewery, the open fermentation helps this style. I know Palmer recommends a fermentation temperature of 62F. I have tried this a few times and struggle to get much banana from this. I have also tried all the dry yeast alternatives, including Munich Classic, and frankly, they all fall short for this style. In short, for me there is a fine line between not enough banana and way too much banana. YMMV.
Well, you could have a point there. As I’ve heard from other experts, around 62F is the fermentation spot to be to drive the balance about right for clove and banana. A degree or two in either direction does make a difference.
I doin’t disagree. I remember reading an article a few years back that said the the ferulic acid rest doesn’t do much of anything. Can’t remember the specifics. But for some of us it seems to do something. 
Perhaps the FA rest is a holdover from the days of under-modified malts. I think a lot of today’s homebrewing “knowledge” stems from processes that may have been appropriate at one time but are now largely antiquated, just like protein rests and mashing out.
In my homebrewery, I get huge (too huge) clove notes from hef strains without even trying. So my efforts go into trying to up the banana, not to get a banana bomb, but simply to balance those clove notes.
My guess is that none of us have used the scientific method in this instance. I think most of us brew a Hefeweizen every now and then as opposed to it being a go to brew like an ipa for some or euro lager or English bitter for others. So rather than brewing it a couple dozen times a year and changing a variable over and over we all probably go all in trying to get what we like.
The last time I brewed a hefe I used a yeast strain and temp conducive to clove and also did an F rest, all in hopes of bringing out the beloved clove and tamping down the despised banana. So I did the F rest and got clove, but cannot say scientifically that one followed the other.