Hefeweizen Gravity Too High?

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Anonn

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A week and a half ago I brewed my second brew, choosing to go with a straight-forward beer: I chose a Hefeweizen. The kit I bought said I should have a starting gravity of 1.048 to 1.052 (which I did). The final gravity is supposed to be between 1.010 to 1.014. I just popped open my primary and checked the gravity, but I am getting a reading of 1.020 instead.

The kit advises to wait a few more days, but I'm afraid that I may have waited too long? Perhaps I am just being paranoid. I'm not sure. How long does a Hefeweizen take to get to the proper gravity? Am I doing anything wrong here?

For anyone curious, here's my equipment and ingredients used so far:

Primary fermenter: 6.5 gallon "Ale Pail" (no secondary fermentation)
2 x 3.3lb Briess Bavarian Wheat Malt Extract
1 x 1oz. Tettnanger Hops, bittering
1 x 1oz. Hallertau Hops, finishing
1 x packet of Muntons Ale Yeast
 
TheHateCamel said:
A week and a half ago I brewed my second brew, choosing to go with a straight-forward beer: I chose a Hefeweizen. The kit I bought said I should have a starting gravity of 1.048 to 1.052 (which I did). The final gravity is supposed to be between 1.010 to 1.014. I just popped open my primary and checked the gravity, but I am getting a reading of 1.020 instead.

The kit advises to wait a few more days, but I'm afraid that I may have waited too long? Perhaps I am just being paranoid. I'm not sure. How long does a Hefeweizen take to get to the proper gravity? Am I doing anything wrong here?

For anyone curious, here's my equipment and ingredients used so far:

Primary fermenter: 6.5 gallon "Ale Pail" (no secondary fermentation)
2 x 3.3lb Briess Bavarian Wheat Malt Extract
1 x 1oz. Tettnanger Hops, bittering
1 x 1oz. Hallertau Hops, finishing
1 x packet of Muntons Ale Yeast
Click to expand...

I've had extract beers finish at 1.020, it has to do with the amount of fermentables in the extract. So don't worry if it doesn't get lower!

Just a note on the recipe, though. If you used Munton's yeast, you didn't make a hefeweizen. A hefeweizen has banana/clove flavors from the hefeweizen yeast strains.

Muntons is a very poor quality neutral ale yeast. So, next time, don't use it. Throw it away if it comes with a kit, and buy the proper yeast. (Throw away any "coopers yeast" also).

If you want a neutral dry yeast, there are several good quality yeast strains to purchase. But if you ever want to make a hefeweizen, you'll need the proper liquid yeast strain.

Anyway, this will be more of a "clean" wheat beer and not a hefeweizen. It looks good, though, and should be a nice clean drinkable wheat beer.
 
I beg to differ sir, Safbrew WB-06 has all the character expected in a hefe but in a dry yeast form.
 
06 is not the same as Bavarian wheat yeast. There is a dry version (munich) that will work well for a hefeweizen.
 
Thank you everybody, this really clears things up for me. This is only my second brew and I've already been told before to toss certain things out of kits, but this is definitely some useful knowledge. Thanks again!

One question remains from me, however: how much longer should I wait for the gravity to drop down again before I just say screw it and go ahead and bottle???
 
TheHateCamel said:
Thank you everybody, this really clears things up for me. This is only my second brew and I've already been told before to toss certain things out of kits, but this is definitely some useful knowledge. Thanks again!

One question remains from me, however: how much longer should I wait for the gravity to drop down again before I just say screw it and go ahead and bottle???
Click to expand...

Sounds like its been in the primary for a little over a week and a half. Mine was good after 2 weeks, so check it then. I did make a starter though with a wlp300, and my OG was higher, because I wanted to bump the abv. If it is still at 1.020, you can probably bottle it.
 
3 days at a stable gravity usually means you are ready to bottle. If the gravity is 1.020 for 3 days without changing, then I say you are good to go.
 

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