Does a witbier need to be racked to secondary?

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ejabbott

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I've been brewing AG for over a year now and just brewed my first witbier. When I racked to the carboy I realized that I didn't really know when to keg it. Normally I wait for the yeast to settle, but obviously you wouldn't want this for a wit.

Does a witbier need to be racked to secondary at all? If so, for how long?

Also, I often cold condition a beer while in the secondary for a few days to help things settle out and so it's pre-cooled for carbonation when I keg it. Would a wit benefit from cold conditioning?

Thanks!

Eric
 
If you're not oaking, adding fruit, or adding souring cultures, there's not any beer that needs a secondary. I stopped bothering with secondaries a while ago, and my beer has improved in both quality and clarity since. My advice, give it a nice long primary (4 weeks or so) and bottle or keg from there.

Hope that helped, and welcome to HBT! :mug:
 
A lot of people will say that doing secondary will help improve clarity. IMHO, having a long primary + the carbing will do as good if not better.
 
since it probably has alot of wheat in it it being a witbier and all I would recomend 2 weeks in primary make sure your gravity is hit and then bottle.... you will want to drink it young.... its good to be a beer pedophile on wheats :)
 
michaelm said:
since it probably has alot of wheat in it it being a witbier and all I would recomend 2 weeks in primary make sure your gravity is hit and then bottle.... you will want to drink it young.... its good to be a beer pedophile on wheats :)
Click to expand...
So ... like ... why does everyone say this? I made the Garden of Wheat'n Hefeweizen (from Randy Mosher's book) last year about this time. I was looking through my inventory the other night when I noticed a bottle of homebrew marked "HW". It still had nice clove flavor, it was refreshing, and drinkable. And I didn't get any off-flavors that would indicate contamination or spoilage. Was it different than it was a year ago? Yes, certainly... but it wasn't different in a bad way -- it was smoother and clear (it was hazy last summer). And that was a year old wheat beer. So I'm not sure why everyone keeps saying to consume their wheat beers so young... Anyone?
 
Jack said:
So ... like ... why does everyone say this? I made the Garden of Wheat'n Hefeweizen last year about this time. I was looking through my inventory the other night when I noticed a bottle of homebrew marked "HW". It still had nice clove flavor, it was refreshing, and drinkable. And I didn't get any off-flavors that would indicate contamination or spoilage. Was it different than it was a year ago? Yes, certainly... but it wasn't different in a bad way -- it was smoother and clear (it was hazy last summer). And that was a year old wheat beer. So I'm not sure why everyone keeps saying to consume their wheat beers so young... Anyone?
Click to expand...

Some folks say that wheat beers don't age well. Some folks say that scrambled eggs are better than eggs over-easy. It's purely opinion.
 
If you are going to keg it - yes do a secondary. unless you really like to pour the first 5-6 glasses of nasty yeast sludge.
 
Like some others have said, you don't ever *have* to use a secondary at all. Having said that, I typically do for most beers, but I never use a secondary for wheats.

You want them to be a bit cloudy. 3-4 weeks in primary and my wheats are going to the kegerator.
 
Mutilated1 said:
If you are going to keg it - yes do a secondary. unless you really like to pour the first 5-6 glasses of nasty yeast sludge.
Click to expand...

I have brewed multiple wit beers with out ever using a secondary and I keg. As long as you don't go crazy while siphoning and stir up the trub I see no problem skipping the secondary and cold crashing.

Also I have never had to pour more than a quarter to a half of a glass out from my first pour. Granted if you move the keg around you do kick up some stuff but it's not the end of the world.

As far as aging goes you said the year old one tasted fine but it was clear clear. I like my wit beers cloudy amd yeasty so I would rather drink them before everything settles out.

:mug:
 
Jack said:
So ... like ... why does everyone say this? I made the Garden of Wheat'n Hefeweizen (from Randy Mosher's book) last year about this time. I was looking through my inventory the other night when I noticed a bottle of homebrew marked "HW". It still had nice clove flavor, it was refreshing, and drinkable. And I didn't get any off-flavors that would indicate contamination or spoilage. Was it different than it was a year ago? Yes, certainly... but it wasn't different in a bad way -- it was smoother and clear (it was hazy last summer). And that was a year old wheat beer. So I'm not sure why everyone keeps saying to consume their wheat beers so young... Anyone?
Click to expand...

Well you kinda answered your own question there.... Hefe's are MEANT to be cloudy :) I found a couple wits I brewed almost 2 years ago through them in the fridge and let them sit in there for a couple days and poured me one....

clear??? amazinly so
spoiled nope
did it taste like a wit is SUPPOSED to taste?? HELL NO :)
 
Do all the same rules apply if you're bottling instead of kegging?
 
michaelm said:
Well you kinda answered your own question there.... Hefe's are MEANT to be cloudy :) I found a couple wits I brewed almost 2 years ago through them in the fridge and let them sit in there for a couple days and poured me one....

clear??? amazinly so
spoiled nope
did it taste like a wit is SUPPOSED to taste?? HELL NO :)
Click to expand...
I guess I was reacting to something I see and hear a lot. I can't tell you how many times I talk to homebrewers who say something like, "On Saturday, I brewed this wheat beer. There was airlock activity for three days, and I kegged it on the fourth day. You can't make good wheat beer if you bottle it -- by the time it's carbed, it's no good. A wheat beer is only good for two weeks MAX."

I've always been a little doubtful of that kind of advice, but it wasn't until I had a bottle of year old wheat beer that gave me the proof. My hefeweizen became a kristalweizen, but other than that it still had the flavor notes I'd expect from the style. Would it win a competition in the hefeweizen category? No. But I don't think a year old APA, pils, brown ale, etc. would either. In other words, I don't think the changes I tasted are especially unique to wheat beers.
 
Jack said:
I guess I was reacting to something I see and hear a lot. I can't tell you how many times I talk to homebrewers who say something like, "On Saturday, I brewed this wheat beer. There was airlock activity for three days, and I kegged it on the fourth day. You can't make good wheat beer if you bottle it -- by the time it's carbed, it's no good. A wheat beer is only good for two weeks MAX."

I've always been a little doubtful of that kind of advice, but it wasn't until I had a bottle of year old wheat beer that gave me the proof. My hefeweizen became a kristalweizen, but other than that it still had the flavor notes I'd expect from the style. Would it win a competition in the hefeweizen category? No. But I don't think a year old APA, pils, brown ale, etc. would either. In other words, I don't think the changes I tasted are especially unique to wheat beers.
Click to expand...


Oh I agree there lol hell I dont care what you brew its going to be good for MUCH longer then two weeks LOL
 
I have a Honey Weizen in the primary at present. It's been there for 3.5 weeks and I plan to bottle this weekend. So I'll be able to conduct my own young vs. old taste test as time goes on. Every beer I've done so far just gets better and better with age. My first brew was 9 mos ago, a SNPA clone, that had an astringent flavor after the 3 week bottling. Guess what? It's all gone. Beer tastes great. I think better than the original.
 
I recently found an older bottle of the first good hefeweizen I brewed. I've had a couple of friends say it was one of their favorite hefes when it was on tap.
Brewed 1/21. Last bottle 5/5, so 4.5 months old, and the last bottle was definitely the best.
Do what you like :mug:
 

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