high gravity hefeweizen?

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jonp9576

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i am not sure if the term is used correctly, but i assume that high gravity just means high og which would mean more alcoholic?

any way. anyone have any input on a higher abv hefeweizen.

my last hefe was the AHS bavarian hefeweizen. it came out around 4.5%. i am looking for a recipe around 9% any ideas. can i just add more fermentables to this existing recipe? what would i add?

thanks
 
thanks. i figured there would be another term i needed for a different style of beer.

is there a function on beersmith that would work backwords from a target abv and give me fermentables?
 
BJCP 2008 Style Guidelines - Category 15

The last weizenbock i made was so damn tasty...about 8% alcohol, boozey and clean.

from memory, it was something like this:

7 lbs German Pilsner Malt
10 lbs Red Wheat Malt
1 oz Fuggle @ 90 minutes
WLP300

you could add a bit of carafa II or chocolate malt to make it more to style.

i fermented low (60°F) to give it that nice clean clove flavor and slight banana.

damn, my mouth is watering just thinking about that beer.
 
no problem. with extract, just replace the malt with Wheat DME until you reach your desired gravity (1.082 on this one)

I would do a partial mash, tho, and mash really light (around 150°F)
 
the best way would be to do a partial mash recipe and use only half of your extract and boil to only 4.5 gallons volume into your fermenter.

then, after it has been fermenting for about 3 days, boil up the rest of your extract to 1 gallon of water (total), cool and dump that in. stepping it up will make a cleaner beer, make it finish faster, and ensure you don't have a stuck fermentation for such a big beer.
 
the best way would be to do a partial mash recipe and use only half of your extract and boil to only 4.5 gallons volume into your fermenter.

then, after it has been fermenting for about 3 days, boil up the rest of your extract to 1 gallon of water (total), cool and dump that in. stepping it up will make a cleaner beer, make it finish faster, and ensure you don't have a stuck fermentation for such a big beer.

That sounds like a great technique. Would that also work for other extract versions of bigger beers?
 
yep...it works great for belgian strong ales.

1. make a belgian ale all-grain and start with the volume at 3.5 gallons.
2. add your extract a couple of days later to make 4.5 gallons.
3. add your sugar a couple of days later to make 5.5 gallons.

fast ferment, clean profile, complete attenuation. boozey and yummy. i'm bottling that belgian in a week or so :)
 
oh, i get the practice, but i dont quite understand the theory.

is it to introduce fresh sugars to the yeast to rejuvinate(sp?) fermentation?
 
it's so the yeast can build themselves up and multiply in a low gravity environment. that way, they reproduce and you have fresh, healthy yeast ready to take on the next task.

it's like making a starter and stepping it up to make a bigger starter, only you're doing it with your beer.

EDIT: and yes, to keep fermentation going strong. in a heavy gravity/alcohol environment, yeast don't do so well, so stepping it up does in fact rejuvenate the yeast.
 
Sorry to resurrect an old thread...but how did the weizenbock turn out? I brewed EdWort's Bavarian Hefe this past weekend and I must've had a much higher efficiency than expected as my OG topped out at 1.068! The only change I made was adding in a little caramunich and carapils (4oz each) - in addition to the original recipe of 7lbs German wheat and 4lbs German pils w/1 oz of Hallertau. Regardless, 1.068 seemed pretty high for an 11.5 lb batch. 82% efficiency by my calculations.

I've been told that I could rack it onto some Sinamar to make it a Weizenbock, I just don't know if I want to do that...I like the idea, just a little unsure if I want to do that or stay with the status quo of an Imperial Hefe.
 
See what you get first, then decide if you need to make changes.

There would really be no point in adding the Sinamar unless you're trying to win a competition. The beer would pretty much taste the same.

But the fact that you "messed up" is a potential indicator that the beer is possibly not competition material.
 
See what you get first, then decide if you need to make changes.

There would really be no point in adding the Sinamar unless you're trying to win a competition. The beer would pretty much taste the same.

But the fact that you "messed up" is a potential indicator that the beer is possibly not competition material.

This beer is for a charity event anyways, so there wasn't any desire to compete with it. I just want patrons to understand what they're drinking and if I can make it more appropriate to a specific style - that's all the more incentive for me to communicate to the casual beer drinker some new information.

I was planning on waiting until 10-12 days and sampling to see where I'm at gravity-wise and then making the decision from there. I've heard Sinamar doesn't impart any flavor anyways, just darkens it up.
 
I'd say just stick with "Imperial Hefeweizen" rather than going through this:

You: It's a weizenbock.
Patron: What's that?
You: It's a stronger, darker, German wheat beer made with a German yeast strain.
Patron: Oh I see (said with a completely blank stare)
You: Uh, it's a high alcohol beer. Drink it, rummy.

Repeat 100 times.
 
Sorry to resurrect an old thread...but how did the weizenbock turn out? I brewed EdWort's Bavarian Hefe this past weekend and I must've had a much higher efficiency than expected as my OG topped out at 1.068! The only change I made was adding in a little caramunich and carapils (4oz each) - in addition to the original recipe of 7lbs German wheat and 4lbs German pils w/1 oz of Hallertau. Regardless, 1.068 seemed pretty high for an 11.5 lb batch. 82% efficiency by my calculations.

I've been told that I could rack it onto some Sinamar to make it a Weizenbock, I just don't know if I want to do that...I like the idea, just a little unsure if I want to do that or stay with the status quo of an Imperial Hefe.

Weizenbocks don't have to be super dark! I know it sounds like heresy but I read it somewhere. There was a thread about it a few weeks back. Here are the BJCP guidlines:

STYLE OG FG ABV% IBU COLOR SRM
17. WHEAT BEER
A. Bavarian Weizen 1.040-56 1.010-14 4.3-5.6 10-20 2-9
B. Bavarian Dunkelweizen 1.040-56 1.010-14 4.3-5.6 10-20 10-23
C. Berliner Weisse 1.026-36 1.006-09 2.8-3.6 3-8 2-4
D. Weizenbock 1.066-80 1.015-22 6.5-8+ 15-30 7-25
 
Weizenbocks don't have to be super dark! I know it sounds like heresy but I read it somewhere. There was a thread about it a few weeks back. Here are the BJCP guidlines:

STYLE OG FG ABV% IBU COLOR SRM
17. WHEAT BEER
A. Bavarian Weizen 1.040-56 1.010-14 4.3-5.6 10-20 2-9
B. Bavarian Dunkelweizen 1.040-56 1.010-14 4.3-5.6 10-20 10-23
C. Berliner Weisse 1.026-36 1.006-09 2.8-3.6 3-8 2-4
D. Weizenbock 1.066-80 1.015-22 6.5-8+ 15-30 7-25

Is that current? This BJCP link states the range is from 12-25. Not that it really matters - I'm not competing with this sucker.
 
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