do u think this is a good Hefeweizen?

Recipe type: Extract
Batch Size: 5
Starting Gravity: 1.044
Finishing Gravity: 1.012
Time in Boil: 40 minutes
Primary Fermentation: 5 days @ 68'F
Secondary Fermentation: 1 week @ 70'F


Ingredients:
6.6 Lb Coopers wheat malt extract
1/2 lb wheat/pale dry malt extract
1/2 lb Munich malt
3 oz Crystal malt (40L)

2 oz Tettnanger hops (40 min)
1/2 oz Cascade hops (10 min)

White Labs American Hefeweizen yeast
¾ cup Corn sugar (priming)

Procedure:
Steep Crystal and Munich malts in 150-180’F brewing water (amount of water determined by the size of your pot) for 15-20 minutes. Then remove malts. 2) Mix in malt extract syrup, and dry malt extract. Bring to boil, watch for boilover. 3) After hot break, add Tettnanger hops and boil gently for 40 minutes. Top up water periodically if necessary. Add Cascade hops with 10 minutes remaining in boil. 4) Cool wort in pot to room temperature. Transfer into fermenter. Aerate well, then top up to 5 gallons if necessary. 5) Pitch yeast when temp is <80’F

Looks good to me. What color are you shooting for on it? If you want it to be a lighter color i would wait untill the last 15 min or so of the boil to add the extract, it will help from camilizing the sugars too much and making the beer darker then you want it.

Let us know how it comes out.

Cheers

If you're going for an American wheat, that seems fine, but it will not be a Bavarian hefe. The use of Cascade and the American wheat will throw it way out of that style. Pet peeve of mine: American wheats are not hefeweizens! I hate ordering a hefe at a bar and getting an American wheat instead because of breweries misnaming their beer (Pyramid, I'm looking at you). I personally dislike American wheats but love a good German hefe.

If you're going for the German style I'd drop the crystal 40L and just use Tettnanger or another noble hop variety, and White Labs WLP300. If your intention is to make an American wheat beer, I think you're probably good to go.

Buford said:

Pet peeve of mine: American wheats are not hefeweizens! I hate ordering a hefe at a bar and getting an American wheat instead because of breweries misnaming their beer (Pyramid, I'm looking at you). I personally dislike American wheats but love a good German hefe.

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I'm so with you on that one

the recipe is a widmer hefeweizen clone that i found on the web

Why do some hefe's in bottles say Malt Liquor?? I've been dying to try a real hefe, and the 3 different ones i've found say "malt liquor" on the label...what gives?

I wont buy anything that says malt liquor unless it's 1999 and I get a Mickeys

OK, two things...

1. I agree an American Wheat is not Hefe Weizen!!! ARGHHH

2. It says "malt liquour" because US beer laws say any beer over 5% is to be labeled "malt liquour"...as are the labels on German Hefe Weizens.

Seems to me you turned down a lot of good brews and have some catching up to do. Now get to drinking my friend!!!

davidgarcia said:

the recipe is a widmer hefeweizen clone that i found on the web

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Widmer is an American wheat. I just wish they hadn't confused the styles by calling their beer by a german name that generally means something else.

As far as American wheats go, the recipe seems fine.

homebrewer_99 said:

OK, two things...

1. I agree an American Wheat is not Hefe Weizen!!! ARGHHH

2. It says "malt liquour" because US beer laws say any beer over 5% is to be labeled "malt liquour"...as are the labels on German Hefe Weizens.

Seems to me you turned down a lot of good brews and have some catching up to do. Now get to drinking my friend!!!

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I'll fix that tonight! Hah.. sweet deal!

wop31 said:

If you want it to be a lighter color i would wait untill the last 15 min or so of the boil to add the extract, it will help from camilizing the sugars too much and making the beer darker then you want it.

Cheers

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So if you add the extract in during the last 15 mins. of the boil, will you still get a Hot Break from the grains? or will you get a hot break after you add the extract? sorry for the off topic, noob question, but making up a heff this weekend and dont want it to come out too dark. Thanks

jjmadden08 said:

So if you add the extract in during the last 15 mins. of the boil, will you still get a Hot Break from the grains? or will you get a hot break after you add the extract? sorry for the off topic, noob question, but making up a heff this weekend and dont want it to come out too dark. Thanks

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Hot break usually comes more from grains. It really just protiens reacting to the boiling temperature. Extract has already been boiled, so there is usually little break when you add it to you brew. You may get a little break at the beginning of the boil, but not much. Go ahead and add most of the extract in the last 15 minutes, you'll get the lighter color you want.