Weissbier Bee Cave Brewery Bavarian Hefeweizen

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So it seems like the rotten egg/sulfur questions are coming up a lot lately.

Any experts on here that can chime in on how/if that can be controlled? Is it due to high ferm temps, low temps, changing temps, etc? Is it just always going to occur with this yeast and its just a matter of waiting till it goes away before racking?

My second attempt turned out pretty awesome, and smell went away. I left it in primary longer and used WL300 instead of 3068 but not sure what ultimately makes the difference.
 
After reading almost the entire thread I had to brew a batch - however, I'm not set up for AG batches yet so I went with the following...

6.6lbs LME (Briess CBW Bavarian Wheat)
Yeast: Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan
Yeast Started 3 hours
Batch Size (Gallons): 5
Original Gravity: 1.051 (Temp Adjusted for 60F Hydrometer)
Boiling Time (Minutes): 75
(After adding the malt it took 15 minute to return to boil - at which point I started the clock for 60 - maybe someone tell me if that's not the right way to do it.)
.75 Hallertau @ 50
.25 Hallertau @ 15
WORT chilled to 73F in 33 minutes with water bath.
Transferred to 6.5 gallon (bucket) primary and yeast pitched at 71F as of 3:20 EST today.

I guess I'll have to wait and see. It's my first Hefe. The sulfur issue has me a touch paranoid - as does not having a blow out hose attached. We shall see.

My intention is to primary for 10 days and then go right the the bottle with 5oz priming sugar - then condition for 4 weeks.

Just wanted to say thanks to all on the board who so openly share the knowledge.
 
I haven't brewed this but have been following thread.

I think you're going to want more time before bottling so any sulfur whatever can age out.

Some people have posted that the sulfur does not age out in kegs.

10 days is pretty short regardless.
 
I had mine in primary for 21 days......no issue with sulphur when I bottled it..........but there was some sulphur smell from the airlock about mid way through fermentation....so I suggest you let it ferment in primary 3 weeks like i did......
 
honestly i though i was gonna toss this batch... tasted like sour sulfur farts even when i bottled it... nothing like the first batch i did.. had no hint of even being a beer.
but i popped one open after about a week and man it is better then my first batch. no sulfur and the banana is coming out nice..
 
My LHBS recommended the 10 days in primary - so I thought I might follow that. There are a few other posts in this thread leaning toward less time in primary... I guess all of this really depends on whether or not there IS a sulfur component to it. After all - it's not guaranteed that it will end up like that - is it?
 
So it started fermenting at 1:00am this morning and by 10 or 11am was venting a nice banana smell - but very light. Now at 5:30 the whole house smells like a flatulent egg... Oh well. Part of the process I guess.

*** As of the next day all the sulfur smell in the house was gone... Who knows if it will return?
 
Checked mine today after 10 days. Mind you, my house has been around 60 degrees, and I know the beer has been fermenting around ther, and maybe a little higher. I tried using a heater to get it up to around 68 to ferment, but hard to control. I went from 1.056 --> 1.014 in 10 days. I am going to give it probably another 10 days in the fermenter then transfer to keg. A little sulphur smell when opening the carboy, but not much at all in tasting the hydro sample. I hope it drops to about 1.010 or lower. Tasting pretty darn good right now after 10 days. Nice recipe and thanks again!!
 
So my latest taste of this after 4 weeks in bottle at room temp and 1 week in fridge is a bit disapointing.......doesnt have the classical hefeweizen taste....actually tastes a bit like dishwater......I hate to say......maybe it is green....maybe I screwed up on brew process....but I thought I did everthing per recipe and hit all marks......

Perhaps I need to let condition in bottle more? Just does not have that hefeweizen flavor you would expect.....
 
Tested mine after 5 days and it had dropped from 1.051 to 1.021 - so I will check again in another 5 days and see. The sulfur is gone. Sample tasted like mostly dry, flat beer - as one would expect. Fermentation is anything but vigorous.
 
I just brewed my first batch last night and came home after work today to a furious sulfur smell!!! Glad others were having this issue when I jumped to the end of the thread! Stinking up my whole basement right now.
 
I have made this batch 4-5 times and never had this sulfer smell that everyone seems to be talking about. I wonder if wyeast is having trouble with this strain of yeast.
 
Good lord I just kegged mine after 12 days in ferm. It tastes like sulfury ass. I sure hope it clears.
I followed the recipe to a "t" and even had it in my ferm chamber at 68-70........

so I guess we will see
 
Good lord I just kegged mine after 12 days in ferm. It tastes like sulfury ass. I sure hope it clears.
I followed the recipe to a "t" and even had it in my ferm chamber at 68-70........

so I guess we will see

It will, but it will take several weeks.
 
I emailed wyeast a couple of days ago about the problem. Haven't heard anything back from them though.
 
This is what I was able to get for this recipe :

Weyermann Pale Wheat Malt
Weyermann Pilsner Malt

want to make sure these are the correct ones

thanks !
 
Good lord I just kegged mine after 12 days in ferm. It tastes like sulfury ass. I sure hope it clears.
I followed the recipe to a "t" and even had it in my ferm chamber at 68-70........

so I guess we will see


Same exact problem I had and after a month in the keg I dumped the beer! Don't know what I did wrong but even the color was way off from a Paulaner or Franziskaner. Also with the recipe there is no way that I can think of that will get the color closer to a German hefeweizen any ideas?
 
Loodachris said:
Same exact problem I had and after a month in the keg I dumped the beer! Don't know what I did wrong but even the color was way off from a Paulaner or Franziskaner. Also with the recipe there is no way that I can think of that will get the color closer to a German hefeweizen any ideas?

I really think this is a yeast issue versus a grain or recipe issue. My starter seemed a little darker than normal and the smell hit as soon as fermentation started. I tasted my hydro sample before pitching and it tasted fine. I've also read from someone else on here that the taste doesn't seem to dissipate when kegged.
 
I wonder if you guys aren't fermenting too warm. I know the original recipe says to ferment at 68 but everywhere else I've read about brewing with Hefe yeast says to brew much cooler than that, around 62 degrees. I know a warmer fermentation just usually means more banana flavors but maybe with this recipe for some reason a warmer fermentation is producing more off flavors than normal.

I just kegged my second batch of this beer last weekend and it came out great. I fermented at 63-64 degrees and got no off flavors, used the Wyeast strain. My first batch I followed exactly the same as this one, and got the same result. I didn't go through all the posts about people having issues but temperature control is critical (ie. fermentation chamber) with this yeast.
 
Worth a try to ferment cooler. I am looking into a mini fridge or wine cooler to turn into a fermentation chamber before I try this for a third time. I have used both the white labs and wyeast with same bad results. As fas as color goes the Clone Brews book I have says to add 4oz of dark Munich for a Paulaner style clone but pretty much the same wheat and pilsner amount so I'll try that and see how the color turns out.
 
Interesting.....JSGT09 did you get some good banana overtones at 63-64?

thanks

I did get some banana, but in my opinion it is a much more balanced flavor when brewing at 63-64 vs. a higher temperature which is a little too much banana, again in my opinion.

Look into getting a used (or even new) chest freezer to use as a fermentation chamber. That is what I've been using and aside from having to lift a heavy fermenting bucket into it, it's been great. It's a must for finicky beers like this that need a specific temperature. A fridge would work too, but I like the option to cold crash my non-wheat beers to near freezing before kegging.
 
Yeah I would say it's close to Franziskaner or Weihenstephaner but not exact.

For whatever reason I've been getting a little more of a bite in the back end of this beer and it's not as clean of a taste as my first one. It's almost got a mild astringent aftertaste but I've never had trouble with my water PH or the long mash time that this beer calls for. I think when I brew this again I'll go back to WL300 since I used Wyeast 3068 in this most recent batch...I think the WL300 ferments cleaner.
 
Hello first post.

I'm new at all grain. Brewing a wheat beer using torrified wheat. I'm wondering if I will get any enzyme conversion from the wheat starch. I'm looking to get abv 5.5 -6. Unsure about how much if any the wheat will contribute.
I plan to use some 2row and Belgian pilsner for the base malt. Not sure how much of those to use though.
Any insights will be greatly appreciated.
 
Hello first post.

I'm new at all grain. Brewing a wheat beer using torrified wheat. I'm wondering if I will get any enzyme conversion from the wheat starch. I'm looking to get abv 5.5 -6. Unsure about how much if any the wheat will contribute.
I plan to use some 2row and Belgian pilsner for the base malt. Not sure how much of those to use though.
Any insights will be greatly appreciated.

If i were you, try and find an online recipe calculator. It will give you all the amounts. If you cant find one, I can enter it to Beersmith for you. As the recipe sits, its around 5.5%. Not sure why you would use 2 Row and Belg Pilsner malts, with the wheat. If you want to use both, use majority Bel Pilsner and the rest 2Row, with more Wheat. So as the recipe is on the first page, your recipe should be something like:

7 lbs. Wheat
4 lbs. (2-Row (US) + Belgian Pils (2-Row))
Rice hulls
Hops schedule as written

Hope that makes sense. That give you 5.6% in a 5.5 gallon batch, 5.1% in a 6 gallon batch. (according to BeerSmith)
 
For whatever reason I've been getting a little more of a bite in the back end of this beer and it's not as clean of a taste as my first one. It's almost got a mild astringent aftertaste but I've never had trouble with my water PH or the long mash time that this beer calls for. I think when I brew this again I'll go back to WL300 since I used Wyeast 3068 in this most recent batch...I think the WL300 ferments cleaner.

Exactly describes how mine turned out....first time brewing it for me.....I used 3068.....but my fermentation temp got up around 69F......Jamil's book says the key to a good Hefeweizen is to ferment at 62-63F....so I may try this again and keep same yeast...but lower the ferm temp to 62F.....and see if that was the issue.
 
Thanks for the info. I originally planned to use more wheat but was unsure if I could get the gravity up with the torrified wheat. I was only using the 2 row to increase the fermentables.

Thanks again I have a lot to learn.

One thing I know though. It stinks to make a beer that doesn't taste good, but it is a tragedy to have it not taste good and not have enough abv
 
This was my second all grain brew. I didn't get the Sulphur smell like the others have posted.
It's been in the keg for a little over a week. I had a pint last night, it was a bit cloudy but had a good flavor. I am hoping that by next weekend it will be ready to serve.
 
Just checked gravity. It has settled at 1.012. Not bad I guess, as I hit a little high at 1.056 for my OG. Makes it around 5.5%. Perfect for a Hefe. The sample has NO sulphur smell and tastes great. Going to keg it tonight and carb it up. Should be tasty!!! Thanks again for the recipe. Might have to brew it again and just pitch it to the cake or wash some yeast and get it going again.
 
What temp did you ferment at and do you have chamber to hold the temps?

I dont have a ferm chamber. It ranged anywhere from 64-68 according to the fermometer on the side of my carboy. It was just in my second bedroom. Couldnt control it very well. Should turn out even better if you can control temps. Just racked it to the keg and tasted another sample. Good clove flavor, with little banana flavor. Should be carbed up for Super Bowl!!:ban:

GO NINERS!!!
 
I'll be brewing this again next weekend but this time I will be making a starter plus I picked up a 5.0 CF chest freezer and I am currently working on a temp controller so hopefully this will do the trick. If all works out this will be on tap at all times.
 
Quick question... for some reason I ordered 2 oz of Hallertau instead of 1 oz. I don't have any way to vacuum seal and I'm not sure I'll be brewing anything that calls for Hallertau soon enough to keep them fresh. Anyone have opinions on how dry hopping with the extra 1 oz will turn out? I looked at bumping up the 45 and 15 min additions with it but I'm afraid I'll bitter way out of style.

Also, this may have been answered already in the thread but are you doing a 90 or 60 min boil? I'm guessing 90 since there is pilsner malt involved.
 
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