Partial - Weihenstephaner Kristall Weissbier Clone

escalante88 · 07-01-2010, 01:28 AM

Recipe Type: Partial Mash
Yeast: W3068
Yeast Starter: 1 Liter
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.5
Original Gravity: 1.055
Final Gravity: 1.013
IBU: 10
Boiling Time (Minutes): 90
Color: 4.4
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 7
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 7
Tasting Notes: Almost identical to original.

To date my most delicious beer. Many thanks to DeathBrewer, who helped with with numerous steps. The recipe roughly calls for the following:

3.5 lb Wheat DME
3.8 lb German Wheat
1.5 lb 2 Row German Pilsner
0.80 Hallertaur Hops @ 60 mins
W3068 w/ starter

Kept fermentation below 65 F to avoid a banana bomb. Cold-crashed for 1 week at ~ 40 F. Added Saflager W-34/70 when I bottled.

Mistakes: not nearly enough priming sugar - used 6 oz for 5.5 gallons, but man - not even close - head is almost nonexistent. Mine is also darker. Should have cold-crashed for longer to improve clarity. Also, pantyhose fell off autosiphon tube and allowed some yeast to get into secondary.

Conclusion: My German neighbor who grew up in Munich can't tell the difference in taste between it and the real thing.

**passedpawn** · 07-01-2010, 02:05 AM

Great work. I can just almost taste it from here. It's hard to not get a good head on a wheat beer. Keep your bottles in a room > 70 for a couple of weeks and I bet you get the fizz. 6 oz. sugar in a 5.5 is plenty.

I missed the clarity on my last Kristall. If you want to make it clear, I believe you need to crash very cold, then gelatin. The gelatin will drop any remaining yeast out of the beer and hold it solid on the bottom. Then, bottle (or transfer to another container) while still cold (don't warm up). This will hopefully hold the yeast and haze forming proteins to the bottom. My guess, anyway.

escalante88 · 07-01-2010, 02:25 AM

Thanks. I let the secondary warm up after I took it out of the fridge, so that certainly didn't contribute to the clarity. At the time I was thinking I should let the temp increase to allow the bottling yeast to work, but now that I think about it - it was lager yeast! Oh well. I will definitely crank down the temp next time, add gelatin, and bottle cold. It's been a week since I bottled and still no fizzle. Hmmm...