Fruit Beer Lemon-Lime Hefe Weizen

RCBIV said:

Slim — What's the advantage of keeping it in the primary for three weeks? This is my first hefe, but I know of various hefe recipes that call for 1-2 weeks in the primary and then bottle. I'm just curious your thoughts on this specific recipe.

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To me, the third week is the conditioning phase....earlier in my brewing life, I had beers with great flavor...but not beers that all the flavors combined to make an amazing beer....so to me, the third week is like spaghetti sauce...yes you can make it in 30 minutes but after a couple of hours and/or overnight, it just becomes amazing!
So try it at 2 weeks, then 3....you will never go back to two!

SD-SLIM said:

Haven't posted it yet... Brewing my third batch now for final tweaks!

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Excellent. Looking forward to your completed test. I'll be watching for it. Thanks.

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Is everyone pretty much going with the 158 for 45 mins? The OP said with his system this worked best for him, anyone try any variations? I typically get 80 - 85% eff. Just curious while I wait for my hops to show.

I feel that you should always adjust a recipe for your equipment. this one is up next for me and I will mash it for 90 minutes like I always do. either way you'll make beer!

Mysticmead said:

I feel that you should always adjust a recipe for your equipment. this one is up next for me and I will mash it for 90 minutes like I always do. either way you'll make beer!

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I agree 100%!

Looking to bottle a batch this weekend. How much priming sugar should be used for a 5 gal batch?

joshstokes122 said:

Looking to bottle a batch this weekend. How much priming sugar should be used for a 5 gal batch?

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5 oz of priming sugar to 5 gallons.

JonGrafto said:

5 oz of priming sugar to 5 gallons.

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That's what I planned on defaulting to. Wasn't sure if it should be more or less for the style.

If you are going for a true Weizen style carb, you probably should use about 7 oz. and make sure you weigh it out...

Here is a good calculator you can use.

This is what I use for caluclating priming sugar.

http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/carbonation.html

I got the day off on Friday, I'm planning on brewing this beer and smokin' some ribs.

This recipe gave me the idea to try the Simply Cranberry in my "Turkey Chaser" Cranberry Ale I brew around Thanksgiving, thanks!

I finally got all the hops I need, I am making this tomorrow! It will be ready just in time for lake season!!!

joshstokes122 said:

Looking to bottle a batch this weekend. How much priming sugar should be used for a 5 gal batch?

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I mainly keg, but when I bottle I use this as a reference:
http://byo.com/resources/carbonation

Trust Slim's comment about the Limeaide... That stuff is explosive and the yeasties LOVE it. My kreusen went from about 1in to 6+in and still going...

I've gotta try this one!!!

My LHBS didn't have sorachi so I got Citra instead... I know it's not ideal but it's what I'll be working with.

I've also never mashed @158 before. I thought the highest acceptable range was 156. I'm interested to see the differences at 158....

Also, is the 6 gallon batch size what you end up with in the carboy from the kettle? Or does it take into account the 1.75 liter container of Simply Lime?

Currently in the middle of my mash.

I use Brew Pal and iBrewmaster for the iPhone as my brewing software and noticed neither have Motueka or Soachi Ace in the Hops database anyone else notice this?

No big deal I primarily use the software for strike and sparge volumes. Not very common hops I guess??

I also missed my strike temps by a few degrees, oh well, it will still work.

msh227 said:

Currently in the middle of my mash.

I use Brew Pal and iBrewmaster for the iPhone as my brewing software and noticed neither have Motueka or Soachi Ace in the Hops database anyone else notice this?

No big deal I primarily use the software for strike and sparge volumes. Not very common hops I guess??

I also missed my strike temps by a few degrees, oh well, it will still work.

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check out beersmith. they have versions for windows, Mac, and Linux..

msh227 said:

Currently in the middle of my mash.

I use Brew Pal and iBrewmaster for the iPhone as my brewing software and noticed neither have Motueka or Soachi Ace in the Hops database anyone else notice this?

No big deal I primarily use the software for strike and sparge volumes. Not very common hops I guess??

I also missed my strike temps by a few degrees, oh well, it will still work.

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You can, well should be able to, add them to the list of ingredients through the Setup menu in iBrewmaster.

I say should be able to because I actually tried doing that with these hops and for some reason they wouldn't save. I emailed the iBrewmaster support about this but haven't heard/seen any fixes yet.

Brewed this yesterday and with a starter it took off in about 2 hours and is going nuts right now. Will add the simply lime tomorrow if it slows down a little tonight. My efficiency sucked as I am still trying to dial in my new system but I hit 1.049 which is close enough.

Fastmetal said:

Brewed this yesterday and with a starter it took off in about 2 hours and is going nuts right now. Will add the simply lime tomorrow if it slows down a little tonight. My efficiency sucked as I am still trying to dial in my new system but I hit 1.049 which is close enough.

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Don't get too anxious to add the limeade...2 to 3 days of yeast working on your grain sugar's will keep your beer from exploding!

I just recently switched over to all-grain brewing and am still working on my wife to let me replace our fridge so that I can use the old one for fermenting and later kegging. The thing I worry about is that my wife doesn't really like anything above what I would call slight banana flavors in beers and would prefer them not there. She still likes the general taste of wheats, but not the pronounced bananas, which I fear I would get by fermenting this in my basement w/out temperature control.

My question is has anyone tried this beer with either WLP001 or WLP008 (Cali Ale or East Coast Ale yeast)? Anyone think that either of those yeasts would 'ruin' the beer or just remove some of the wheat characteristics?

Thanks
~Mike

slapnutz said:

I just recently switched over to all-grain brewing and am still working on my wife to let me replace our fridge so that I can use the old one for fermenting and later kegging. The thing I worry about is that my wife doesn't really like anything above what I would call slight banana flavors in beers and would prefer them not there. She still likes the general taste of wheats, but not the pronounced bananas, which I fear I would get by fermenting this in my basement w/out temperature control.

My question is has anyone tried this beer with either WLP001 or WLP008 (Cali Ale or East Coast Ale yeast)? Anyone think that either of those yeasts would 'ruin' the beer or just remove some of the wheat characteristics?

Thanks
~Mike

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I will tell you that the White Labs Hef IV has only a very slight hint of banana in general, however once the simply limeade is gobbled up, it's not even detectable...while you could get ok results with Cali Ale, I would recommend White Labs Abbey Ale as a sub...it's not the best match, but it's a hard working yeast that will gobble these sugars up!

I have brewed this recipe using u s 05 and it was amazing, very clean and refreshing no bananas at all . I currently have a nother batch in the fermenter with nottingham and im really looking forward to it. Not exactly a Hefe, but an American style wheat beer I guess.

SD-SLIM said:

After brewing this beer several times and having other people brew it as well....I can tell you this will be one of your favorite recipes!

All Grain

• 6.25lbs Pale Malt (2 Row)
• 4lbs White Wheat Malt
• 1lb Vienna Malt
• ****Mash 158 for 45 minutes****
• 0.25 Motueka Hops at 60 Minutes
• 0.25 Sorachi Ace 20 minutes
• 0.25 Motueka Hops 20 minutes
• 0.25 Sorachi Ace 7 Minutes
• 0.50 Lime Zest 5 Minutes
• White Labs Hefeweizen IV Ale Yeast
• ****Start Vigorous Fermentation****
• After Vigorous Fermentation subsides, add 1.75L Simply Limeade
• ****Ferment for a minimum of 3 weeks****

Extract

• 7lbs 12.6 Ounces of Wheat Liquid Extract
• 10.7 Ounces of Pale Liquid Extract
• Follow rest of All Grain Recipe

This beer is a great every day drinker, I recommend a frosty mug and a lime garnish!

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Slim,
Have you ever made this with Wyeast #3638 Bavarian Wheat? I was unable to find WLP380 locally and that was what they recommended.
Also, I'll be doing the extract recipe and wondered what you thought about simplifying the ingredients so a partial LME can isn't required. I was thinking about these changes for a 5 gallon batch where I boil 5.7 gallons.
2 (3.3 lb) cans of Wheat LME
1 (lb) Light DME

I'm not too sure about how those changes might modify the flavor profile. Cans of LME typically come in 3.3lb size and I'd have to open and try to save the extra some how, not to mention measure it out.

I'm really looking forward to trying this recipe as I've had 2 failed attempts at a Shandy using TruLemon at bottling. I'm hoping this lands me the results I'm looking for.

thanks, Jay

Here's what BeerSmith2 is telling me about my changes. I'm still new to this and to me it looks ok, but what do I know

jamursch said:

Slim,
Have you ever made this with Wyeast #3638 Bavarian Wheat? I was unable to find WLP380 locally and that was what they recommended.
Also, I'll be doing the extract recipe and wondered what you thought about simplifying the ingredients so a partial LME can isn't required. I was thinking about these changes for a 5 gallon batch where I boil 5.7 gallons.
2 (3.3 lb) cans of Wheat LME
1 (lb) Light DME

I'm not too sure about how those changes might modify the flavor profile. Cans of LME typically come in 3.3lb size and I'd have to open and try to save the extra some how, not to mention measure it out.

I'm really looking forward to trying this recipe as I've had 2 failed attempts at a Shandy using TruLemon at bottling. I'm hoping this lands me the results I'm looking for.

thanks, Jay

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It will make a darker beer, but for simplicity purposes you should be fine...I have not used 3638 on this recipe, but I did on my blood orange hefeweizen recipe and it dramatically changed the flavor profile so I don't recommend 3638, but if you want to stick with wyeast then go with 3068, or try a Abby Ale or Cali Ale...I hope this helps, happy brewing

What about a dry yeast option? Is there one you'd recommend if I can't find any of those?

jamursch said:

What about a dry yeast option? Is there one you'd recommend if I can't find any of those?

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Safale US-05 will work on wheat beer...caution thought, this yeast and the amount of sugars will be explosive for 24 hours!

Hello All...I just finalized my Blood Orange Hefeweizen, I tried to use some of the same ingredients as the Lemon-Lime so that people could purchase in bulk...the only downside to this recipe is that you need to make your own Blood Orange Aide: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f70/slims-blood-orange-hefeweizen-320585/#post3986134

SD-SLIM said:

It will make a darker beer, but for simplicity purposes you should be fine...I have not used 3638 on this recipe, but I did on my blood orange hefeweizen recipe and it dramatically changed the flavor profile so I don't recommend 3638, but if you want to stick with wyeast then go with 3068, or try a Abby Ale or Cali Ale...I hope this helps, happy brewing

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Thanks Slim,
I was able to find WL Abby Ale, so I'm gonna rock with that instead of the 3638.
I've never done a starter, so it's a new experience for me but I have the process and it doesn't look hard at all. Like brewing a mini batch of beer.

jamursch said:

Thanks Slim,
I was able to find WL Abby Ale, so I'm gonna rock with that instead of the 3638.
I've never done a starter, so it's a new experience for me but I have the process and it doesn't look hard at all. Like brewing a mini batch of beer.

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Yes starters are simple, just remember the basics....sanitize everything....boil and cool wort...add yeast, cover to prevent any unwanted air born yeast from joining the party...it's that simple! Also, I would recommend using Mr. Malty online to calculate how large of a starter you need.

jamursch said:

Thanks Slim,
I was able to find WL Abby Ale, so I'm gonna rock with that instead of the 3638.
I've never done a starter, so it's a new experience for me but I have the process and it doesn't look hard at all. Like brewing a mini batch of beer.

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One other thing, the WL Abby Ale in the test tube doesn't required a starter due to the large number of yeast in the vial...however it's never a bad thing to do one!

Starters are always a good thing to make. Even the white labs tubes really need a starter (you can pitch it straight from the tube but starters are better). Also look into either making or buying a stir plate. Three yeast cell count goes way up. Plus brew gadgets are kewl

Jamursch - here is a link to White Labs instructions for creating a starter: http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/homebrew_starters.html I hope this helps you!

Thanks gentlemen, I'm disappointed I couldn't find the Hefe yeast, but really looking forward to the finished result of this recipe.

jamursch said:

Thanks gentlemen, I'm disappointed I couldn't find the Hefe yeast, but really looking forward to the finished result of this recipe.

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Good luck on brew day...and while the Hefe yeast will add another level of complexity to this recipe, your beer will still taste great with Abbey Ale Yeast! For future brews, I would look at getting your supplies online from Northern Brewer or Austin Homebrew Supply...if combined with grain/extract it can actually be cheaper than your local shop!

SD-SLIM said:

Good luck on brew day...and while the Hefe yeast will add another level of complexity to this recipe, your beer will still taste great with Abbey Ale Yeast! For future brews, I would look at getting your supplies online from Northern Brewer or Austin Homebrew Supply...if combined with grain/extract it can actually be cheaper than your local shop!

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brewmasterswarehouse.com is another great place to order. I'm lucky enough to have them as my LHBS. I normally order online with an in-store pickup option and have my wife stop by and pick up the order

Mysticmead said:

brewmasterswarehouse.com is another great place to order. I'm lucky enough to have them as my LHBS. I normally order online with an in-store pickup option and have my wife stop by and pick up the order

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We need to lobby them to stock the Hops. They don't list the Sorachi Ace and show out of stock on the Motueka. Same with Austin Home Brew. They are my two favorite Net HBS.

KirkD said:

We need to lobby them to stock the Hops. They don't list the Sorachi Ace and show out of stock on the Motueka. Same with Austin Home Brew. They are my two favorite Net HBS.

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Send them an email about the Sorachi...Brewmasters is pretty good about adding stuff, as for vendors with Sorachi in stock...Northern Brewer!

I emailed Ed... we'll see what he says