Hefeweizen Recipe Help - Please!

My girlfriend and I want to make a hefeweizen for our next beer. I've been researching hefeweizen recipes online, and no single one seems to sound too exciting. I was wondering if this mashup of recipes would work and what recommendations you any of you would make. We want a crisp, cloudy, slightly citrus but not clovey beer.

6 to 6.5 lbs wheat extract (liquid or dry?)
or
3.3 lbs Pilsner LME
and
3.3 lbs Wheat LME

2 oz flaked barley (malted or not?)
2 oz flaked wheat (malted or not?)

0.3 lbs crystal 40
or
0.5 lbs crystal 20

1 oz Mt. Hood Hops (Bittering)
0.5 oz Mt. Hood Hops (Aroma)

Wyeast 1007

On the first point, the extracts:
My local store sells a 7 lbs bucket of Wheat LME. I like to support them and it's guaranteed fresh. Can I just use the whole 7lbs bucket? If not how do I measure LME? I would like this to be higher alcohol if possible, would the extra extract accomplish that? What difference would using half pilsner and half wheat make? Should I do a low gravity boil and add the other half of the extract at knockout?

On the adjuncts:
Can I steep the flaked wheat, flaked barley, and crystal malts together? At what temp? For how long? I see between 30-45 mins for the malts at 150-152f, and 30 mins at 160-170f for the flaked grains. Is a compromise possible?

The Hops:
Will this combo work? I thought it would be nice and clean. Thoughts?

And the yeast:
Do I need to make a starter or can I just pitch from the package? Will I need to use Whirlfloc or Irish Moss because of this type of yeast? If so which is better and when do I add it?

Thanks for any and all help. I really appreciate it and am excited about experimenting more in my homebrewing.



It is a mashup of these 3 recipes:

Saccharomyces' infusion/extract recipe (3rd entry down.)
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/recipe-widmer-hefeweizen-clone-78223/

F.H. Steinbart's Portland Style Hefeweizen
http://www.fhsteinbart.com/recipes/portlandhef.pdf

Rickkickin's Recipe (near the bottom of the page)
http://www.brewboard.com/index.php?showtopic=78345

Wheat malt extract is usually 20-40% barley malt. Check your packaging for the specifics. I'd just use wheat malt extract.

I wouldn't use any crystal malt if you want a crisp beer. With that much wheat you probably don't need flaked wheat or barley, either.

German ale yeast won't give you the crisp citrus you want. Maybe use a Belgian Wit yeast instead, like forbidden fruit or something similar.

Just brewed and tapped this:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f70/bee-cave-brewery-bavarian-hefeweizen-35679/

A friend of mine that brews and samples a lot of beer just got back from Octoberfest in
Germany. He isn't a huge fan of Hefe's but wanted to try some real Hefeweizens overseas. The first thing he told me is that Hefes over in Germany taste completely different than the American "Hefes" The second thing he told me is the Hefe I had kegged and tapped was extremely close to the common German wheat beer he drank over there. So while not exciting in recipe, if you want a Hefeweizen per style then the ratio of wheat to grains are important. If you want a wheat beer then your options are wide open.

Edit:
Taste - slight banana with a hint of cloves. Neutral w.r.t hops. (i.e. light) light drinking - We killed a 5 gal keg in 5 days or so...ya we drink alot when it is good . SWMBO adds a raspberry flavor to hers to suit her taste ( I know I want to scream: OMFG SERIOUSLY??!! - but she likes it so I am like: ok sounds tasty...I will try it later...wait til keg is gone )

Nateo said:

Wheat malt extract is usually 20-40% barley malt. Check your packaging for the specifics. I'd just use wheat malt extract.

I wouldn't use any crystal malt if you want a crisp beer. With that much wheat you probably don't need flaked wheat or barley, either.

German ale yeast won't give you the crisp citrus you want. Maybe use a Belgian Wit yeast instead, like forbidden fruit or something similar.

Click to expand...

I do want a little complexity in grain flavors. Any advice? Is 7lbs Wheat LME ok? Will that make it higher alcohol? Any advice on the hops?

Sorry to dump questions on you, just really curious.

7lbs of LME will get you 5%abv. personally, id add 0.5lb rye malt and 0.25-0.5lb of honey malt, it worked well in my wit.

the hops will be fine, but if you want to add to the citrusy flavor you want, id use a citrusy hop like citra, centennial, cascade, or amarillo

How about:

7lbs Wheat LME
1lb Honey Malt
2 oz flaked Rye
2 oz flaked Wheat
1 oz Mt. Hood Hops
1 oz Mt. Hood Hops
1 Tab Whirlfloc
1007 Yeast

?
I want it have more alcohol than average hefe, good head rentention, crisp, and clean.

I would use half wheat DME and half Wheat LME, it lightens the color of the beer up nicely, and I think the taste is a bit cleaner.

I would use some carapils, and drop both of the other grains you have listed. Maybe some 10L if you want a bit of malty-ness.

I would use WLP300 (lots of banana) or WLP320 (less banana) or WLP380 (a bit more clove).

You could also use this Wyeast: Weihenstephan Weizen™ 3068.

Also, never use Irish Moss in a Hefe...since they should be cloudy.

Patrick

I kind of want to avoid the clove/banana flavor entirely in favor of something just clean and crisp. A hint (very very little) of citrus would be nice too. If this is too far from what some would consider a hefe I'm sorry.

I'm pretty new to this. But I thought I could perhaps get a nice wheaty/malty flavor that has a relatively clean finish, perhaps with a hint of citrus. I like the mouth feel and hazy/yeastiness of the hefe.

Being from Utah (but now thankfully in Portland) the first hefe that I tried was Squatters American Wheat Hefeweizen
http://www.squatters.com/our-brew/year-round.aspx

A great beer, but a Utah beer. Meaning lower alcohol level. I want to recreate/approximate that flavor but with much higher alcohol.

So I'm pretty set on the 1007 because I understand it doesn't have as much (any?) of the banana/clove flavors (esters?). But any recommendations for yeast that will work towards what I'm aiming for I'd greatly appreciate.

With as many adjuncts as I'm considering should I use a stronger/more bittering hops? I thought Mt. Hood, Cascade, or Chinook would be nice because I'm living in Portland and those are all regional names (and creations I believe.)

Perhaps 1 oz Chinook for bittering, 1 oz Mt. Hood or Cascade.?

Sounds like what you want to make is an American Hefe. Use the wheat extract and try to find a pound or so of light Munich extract. Fermenting it with a Cal Ale, 1056, or us-05 will give you the clean, non German Hefe taste it sounds like you are looking for. THis is actually a perfect occasion to use US-05 because it doesn't floc as well as the others (perfect for Hefe). Hefe's are simple recipes, don't use crystal malt.