Hefe tastes watery

DutchK9 · 09-08-2008, 03:59 PM

I did a Midwest Hanks Hefe and it tastes a little watery. I started off with 7 gallons of water and had one gallon boil off. I did a secondary on it ( I know people say you don't need a secondary with a Hefe) and ended up with around 5 1/2 gallons. I forgot to take the starting gravity when I made it, but the ending was 1.010. I was wondering why it tastes so watery? Other brews have been made with the same amount of water and they came out fine.
I was going to mix it with the remainder of a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale I had done, but it is almost gone.
Any suggestions on how to make it taste fuller now that it is already kegged? Upon kegging I did add 5oz of Malto Dextrine.

homebrewer_99 · 09-08-2008, 04:44 PM

Knowing your OG and FG is the tip.

Sounds like you did all you could with the MD.

Did you stir it a bit?

jpuf · 09-08-2008, 04:53 PM

I've made that kit myself, but I generally start with about 6 gallons of water. It leaves my yeild a little short, but I have no complaints about the flavor. The malto was a good idea, should help the mouth feel, but the flavor will remain a bit diluted.

**Yooper** · 09-08-2008, 04:56 PM

If you boiled 7 gallons, and finished with 6 gallons at the end of the boil, you watered the beer down with one extra gallon of water. Kits that make 5 gallons are designed to be made at the 5 gallon level.

homebrewer_99 · 09-09-2008, 12:31 AM

Yoop: I sometimes use 5.5 gals so I don't think 6 gals would water it down that much...

The information we're missing is how much malt did you use?

If it was only 5 lbs then I can see how it would be thin.

I usually stick to about 6 lbs DME for 5.5 gals.

DutchK9 · 09-09-2008, 02:19 AM

Here is what the website says is in the kit;

Product Description:
Hank’s Hefe Weizen: There once was a homebrewer named Hank. He liked to brew Hefe Wiezens. He gave me a bottle of his favorite recipe one day, a traditional Hefe Weizen. I drank it. I liked it. I brewed it. Now it’s your turn to brew the legend of Hank. Wyeast is recommended for best results. Our ingredients for this recipe include: 6 lbs. Wheat liquid malt extract, 1 lb. of Light DME, 8 oz. Carapils specialty grains, 1 oz. oz. bittering hops, yeast, priming sugar and a grain bag.

Yooperbrew I understand what you are saying, but my other beers haven't come out watery with these amounts. Not sure why this one did. I guess I can leave it for awhile to see if the flavor changes some. It has been a month since I kegged it.

I did stir it good during the brew process, so that shouldn't be the problem.

I guess I will have to use 6 gallons at the start like jpuf did.

homebrewer_99 · 09-09-2008, 04:43 AM

With that much malt it shouldn't be watery.

bernerbrau · 09-09-2008, 04:56 AM

Give it a little more time. I've had "watery" tastes go away with age.

Kauai_Kahuna · 09-09-2008, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bernerbits

Give it a little more time. I've had "watery" tastes go away with age.

+1 on Bernetbits, I have found that Hefe's taste very plain under 3 weeks of conditioning. Using WLP300 helps with the banana / clove smell but the body is just not there. After three weeks it is all there and I can't keep it in stock. I'm not sure if it's my friends or if I drink it all.

Danek · 09-09-2008, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bernerbits

Give it a little more time. I've had "watery" tastes go away with age.

+ another 1 to this. I've had really nice beers that took a while to lose the watery taste, but after six weeks or so they whupped ass.