[MattyAHA]

is it common practice to brew a hefe without a starter? to underpitch on purpose? i remember i heard that somewhere but just wanna hear what you all think? bout to brew one so was thinking about using wy3068 if i go the liquid route but if i go the dry route im gonna use munich classic which no starter obviously, cheers

[kramerog]

IIRC, underpitching is normal/traditional.  But bear in mind that open fermentation in shallow fermenters is also normal/traditional which alleviates the downsides of underpitching.  Good luck!

[KellerBrauer]

is it common practice to brew a hefe without a starter? to underpitch on purpose? i remember i heard that somewhere but just wanna hear what you all think? bout to brew one so was thinking about using wy3068 if i go the liquid route but if i go the dry route im gonna use munich classic which no starter obviously, cheers

I would have to agree that under pitching will help produce the trademark banana and clove characteristics of a nice Hefe. But to say that going without a starter is completely dependent on the batch size and OG of your beer and also the viability of the yeast.

When I brew a Hefe (and I am NO expert on this style), I typically pitch a starter about 10-15 percent less volume than BS3 and/or Mr. Malty recommends.  Then, I’ll typically start my fermentation temperature on the low end of the yeast range and slowly raise the temp to the high end of the range over a 4-5 day period.