Kayos

Recipes 

Never done a Hefe before and the wife wants me to make one for her...so.....

1. Now that morebeer offers Pilsner LME, should it be added to my upcoming Hefe? I see that ag versions have this in them. Or just stick to the wheat extract? How about flaked wheat?

2. The DME says "DME - Bavarian Wheat (Powder Form)" no option for 60/40..... where the LME says "60% Wheat, 40% Barley". No option for 100%. What's up with the difference? Opinions on which to use?

3. She really likes the bannana flavor/nose on them. Does the Wyeast 3068 or the White Labs 300 give more of it (yea, I know the warmer, the more you get. Probably going to ferment at 74).

The Pol

Recipes 

Okay, my last heffe was 40% Pilsner and 60% wheat... the issue with extracts is that the WHEAT extracts are generally 50-60% WHEAT only. I used the WLP300 and it fermented at say... 71F and it has a nice banana qulaity to it... it is awesome! It has been bottled for 2 weeks and is carbonated perfectly. I do AG... someone who does extract will have to guide you on the extract to use... 60% wheat should be good and use a blow off!!!!!

Pol

mjm76

Recipes 

Just go with LME. It is easier and cheaper. Just use about 6 lbs for a 5 gal batch. Then a small amount of the hops of your choice. The weinstephan strain produces more banana esters.....I beleive that is 3068. Good luck.

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homebrewer_99

Recipes 

Wheat DME is usually 60/40 or 55/45 so it's what you want.

Use about 1 oz Hallertau hops...in the 3.4-3.8 range.

Any German strain of Weizen yeast will make a good brew.

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Cheesefood

Recipes 

6 pounds wheat DME
1 oz hallertau
Yeast.

Boom.

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Beerrific

Recipes 

Sorry to offer conflicting advice but I would go with all DME.

LME has a limited shelf life. I question the freshness of the LME even coming from the high sales HBS (Austin Homebrew, etc.). Old LME will be darker in cooler and has off flavors. Also, even fresh LME has been know to add a "twang" to the beer.

DME is a little more expensive but you can safely (no aging) store the left-overs and use later (for priming, etc.).

Also, for a hefeweizen I would recommend adding most (90%) of the extract to the boil with 15 minutes remaining. This will reduce the caramelization and give you a a hefeweizen that looks like a hefeweizen. Search for "late boil extract addition" if you are interested.

My story:
I bought a hefeweizen kit and didn't get around to making it until about a year later. I did not know that LME aged. I have a hefeweizen that looks like a brown ale and has a very distinctive "twang" luckily that can be explained away by it being a hefeweizen. I just tasted my most recent brew, Kolsch-style, made with all DME. Very light in color and tastes great (even after 10 days in the primary).

EDIT: I would go with Cheesfood's recipe. I would propose adding 1 lb of DME at the beginning with .75 oz of Hallertau (assuming 2 gal boil and 5 gal end volume). Add the rest of the DME at 10-15 minutes remaining. But, again, this is optional.

Also, (I am full of it tonight), I used the Wyeast 3068 and fermented around 74 and have very little banana, maybe it is over powered by the 'twang' but. . .if it is available and the same price I would go with White Labs'.

The Pol

Recipes 

Never used the 3068 yeast, but I assure you the WLP will produce plenty of banana... my wife loves this brew

rcdirtbuggy

Recipes 

if you get the german hefeweizen kit from more beer it comes with:

6 lbs bavarian (60% wheat 40% barley)
.5 oz northern brewer hops 6.8
4 oz corn sugar (at bottling)

I've brewed this recipe numerous times and it came out delicious every time. theres no LME and no grains. and as far as yeast goes use WLP300. and ferment around 72-74 for the banana flavor and aroma. you'll love it and so will your wife.
Good luck.

Kayos

Recipes 

Cool. All sounds good. Are all the hops going in at bittering? No flavoring additions? I know there aren't aroma ones. I always use the late LME/DME addition when I am looking for a lighter beer like this one. My last batch was an APA and I used 6 lbs LME and 1 lb DME at flame out and it is a great light color without as much "twang". Thanks for the help, all.

mmmforbiddendonut

Recipes 

I did 6.6# lme, 1oz hallertauer (3/4oz at 60, 1/4oz at 15), and used WLP300 German Hefeweizen. Fermented a little too warm starting around 70F and ended up finishing around 78F. Banana was almost overpowering the flavor, it's mellowed off some as it's sat around for 1 1/2 months. Second problem was using John Bull Wheat LME, came out darker than I had planned, 10 SRM when i wanted 5-7. Still planning on making this same brew again just keeping temperatures controlled more to reduce the banana and using DME.

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