Weissbier Bee Cave Brewery Bavarian Hefeweizen

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evrytime i brew this i brew at 70 or above temps. i want more banana character out of it but they always come out more clovey. anyone ever ferment at 62 as jamil suggests in his book? it smells super banana like when fermenting but when i bottle and chill it's nowhere near as banana like. thinking i might ferment the next batch at 62 and see where that gets me. i always heard higher temps= more banana. seems that way during fermentation butnot so much in the final product, any thoughts
 
I made an extract version


4# breiss dry wheat extract
2# breiss dry pilsen malt extract
6 oz carapils steeped @ 155 for 30 min
1/2 oz hallertau @ 60 min
1/2 oz hallertau @ 15

1liter starter of wyeast 3068

fermented in a 62-64 degree water bath for 14 days

crash cooled and kegged/force carbed @ room temp at 40psi for 20 min 2 days ago

Perfect!

FYI, the pic looks quite a bit lighter than the actual beer.

hefeweizen.jpg
 
suicider said:
evrytime i brew this i brew at 70 or above temps. i want more banana character out of it but they always come out more clovey. anyone ever ferment at 62 as jamil suggests in his book? it smells super banana like when fermenting but when i bottle and chill it's nowhere near as banana like. thinking i might ferment the next batch at 62 and see where that gets me. i always heard higher temps= more banana. seems that way during fermentation butnot so much in the final product, any thoughts

I've made this a couple times fermenting at 62 and had the same experience as you describe...not sure what that means
 
I've made this a couple times fermenting at 62 and had the same experience as you describe...not sure what that means

I fermented a batch at 62 last summer. Came out all clove. Not a hint of banana. It wasn't bad with an orange slice floating around in it, but not what I had hoped for.
 
I just kegged my second version of this a few days ago. Used 1 liter starter in both versions. (starter gravity 1.041) The 1st version fermented @ 68. It was a little on the banana side of the flavor profile yet still very good. I fermented the second version at 62-63, and it has the perfect balance of banana and clove. Best hefeweizen to date! This will be the temp I ferment at from now on for this beer.
 
I'm planning on making a double batch using this recipe. This will only be my 2nd all-grain batch.

So if I simply double the grains and hops, When I enter the recipe in Beersmith, should I set the "Batch Size" to 11 gallons (since the original recipe was for 5.5 gallons)? Or should I simply set it to 10?

My biggest question is about the Yeast. I believe that in a previous post from EdWort, (if I'm interpreting correctly), he said that you could use a single pack of the 3068 yeast if you made a starter in 1 liter of wort. Does that sound right? Will that be sufficient for 10 (or 11) gallons?

Thanks!
 
I'm planning on making a double batch using this recipe. This will only be my 2nd all-grain batch.

So if I simply double the grains and hops, When I enter the recipe in Beersmith, should I set the "Batch Size" to 11 gallons (since the original recipe was for 5.5 gallons)? Or should I simply set it to 10?

My biggest question is about the Yeast. I believe that in a previous post from EdWort, (if I'm interpreting correctly), he said that you could use a single pack of the 3068 yeast if you made a starter in 1 liter of wort. Does that sound right? Will that be sufficient for 10 (or 11) gallons?

Thanks!

If you are going to double the recipe then double the batch size.

As far as starters go, a 1L starter wouldn't suffice even for a 5 gallon batch.
Calculator here: http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html
 
What a beer! Without a doubt my best homebrew to date.

I pitched two vials of WLP300 (I was feeling lazy) at 75 degrees in hopes of heavy banana esters and let it self adjust to an ambient temp of 70 degrees. It fermented down to 1.004 in 48 hours, at which point I threw 3 cups of pureed watermelon into the fermentor.

I kegged it after 9 days. While racking to the keg, my wife came walking in from the other room and said, "Is that your beer? I really thought you were making banana bread."

Just 11 days after brewing, this beer is amazing. It has an incredible banana aroma and flavor with a wonderful mouthfeel. Some watermelon aroma was present at kegging, but has almost completely disappeared two days later.

With a couple of parties coming up, I expect to kick this keg in record time. I will definitely be brewing this again.
 
Has anyone ever tried a decoction mash for this recipe? I have been reading that many of the German beers are better with a decoction mash, but others say it's not necessary with today's highly modified malts.
 
Has anyone ever tried a decoction mash for this recipe? I have been reading that many of the German beers are better with a decoction mash, but others say it's not necessary with today's highly modified malts.

I have done one decoction mash (a lager) in my life and didn't think it was worth the effort. $0.02
 
Has anyone ever tried a decoction mash for this recipe? I have been reading that many of the German beers are better with a decoction mash, but others say it's not necessary with today's highly modified malts.

I almost always make it with a decoction just because "that's they way they do it in Germany" but I don't think it adds a significant amount of character or anything that I can tell. I made one last week for a party this weekend that I will be kegging tomorrow. I did not decoct this one because it would have taken too long, and I was already looking at being up until 1 am after cleanup. So far, it seems to be fine, but we will see for sure on Saturday.

If I remember, I'll try to let you know how it turns out.
 
How crucial is the crash cooling for this beer? I brewed a 10+ galolon batch and it has finished fermenting. Was planning to keg 5 gallons and bottle the rest tonight. If I skip the crash cooling and just do that tonight - will I be OK? Or should I put it in the fridge and then do the kegging\bottling on Saturday?

Oh - and when I taste tested after grabbing the gravity reading - it was amazing (even uncarbonated and at 68 degrees). I can't wait!

Thanks
 
Has anyone ever tried a decoction mash for this recipe? I have been reading that many of the German beers are better with a decoction mash, but others say it's not necessary with today's highly modified malts.

I just reciently brewed this and planned a double decoction mash, turned into a tripple decoction when I missed my step from a protien rest. I also used a few lbs of munich for the 10 G batch as well. the beer turned out pretty good but a little thin from too long of a protien rest. this is my 3rd batch and it is noticably richer than the prior, though I dont know if it was from the decoction or from the munich.
 
How crucial is the crash cooling for this beer? I brewed a 10+ galolon batch and it has finished fermenting.
Thanks

if its a hastle or doesnt meet your schedule, or even if your impatient, I wouldnt bother, my last batch I dropped the temp for a day and kegged. if you did a 10 gallon batch to keg all your yeast will drop out, perhaps a bit too much. the trick is to store the 2nd keg upside down, so when you tap you will mix the yeast back into suspension. Which is the point of this style.
 
I brewed this yesterday, brewed a 11gln batch. Starting gravity at 1.048. Fermenting at 62° as I am not a big banana fan, going for clove. The yeast is going crazy (see pic) and my garage smells amazing! I am excited to try this.
 
Brewed this yesterday & woke up to this. I've had some vigorous fermentations in the past but never any blow offs lol

ForumRunner_20120812_125749.jpg
 
I brewed a batch of this on Sunday. I missed the mash temp my a degree or two because my soaked rice hulls were cold and I should have taken that into account. I think my efficiency suffered a little bit due to that, ended up with 1.048 but pretty close to the original recipe.

Brewed with WL300 as my LHBS was out of the Wyeast 3068. Decided to go with a blowoff tube this time because I think I got lucky using an airlock the last time I brewed with 3068.
 
I ordered the ingredients from Northern Brewer yesterday. They had a few german wheat options but I went with their pale german wheat (weyerman's). That oughta be fine right?
 
Brewed this up last night with new all-grain equipment. Hit the mash temp right on the money, boil went well. Came in a hair above Target OG, though, and I'm pretty sure it's because I didn't account properly for the dead space at the bottom of my MLT, so my volume when everything was said and done was lower than necessary. Just added some more water, got the beer to the target OG (still a little under-volume tho), and pitched my yeast. Woke up today and this thing is fermenting like crazy! Used a blowoff tube and good thing! Can't wait to try this in a few weeks. Thanks for the recipe EdWort. Here's a short vid to see the bubbling in the blow-off bucket:

 
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6 days into fermentation and bubbling has stopped, took first hydro reading. Was at 1.010, and tasted great. Letting it sit for 4 more days, then bottling.
 
Just got 2nd place in category 15 at the Oregon State Homebrew Comp with this beer, with a few minor alterations:

Grain bill the same

WLP300 yeast (2nd generation)

1/4 oz perle @ 45
1/2 oz perle @ 15

First 5 days of ferm temps: 72, 75, 72, 68, 68

90 minute boil

Sat in primary for 2 weeks, then kegged and sat at 70 ambient for another 2 weeks.

I have brewed this beer 5 times now, usually only changing the hops and fermentation temperatures (no temp control), I am very impressed every time. Thanks for the recipe Ed!
 
Just tasted after 10 days in bottles (got antsy), tasted GREAT. Can't wait for it to finish up a bit. Great recipe Ed.
 
Made this with a few small gain changes. Swapped in a little bit of dark wheat and Munich malt. Very tasty thanks Ed!

392533_10151026734966478_369831497_n.jpg
 
I just did a search within this thread and couldn't find an answer, so forgive me if it was covered already...

According to Wyeast, this yeast has a max attenuation of 77%, which, if my math/methodology is correct, means this could only attenuate down to 1.12. How do the extra 3 points go away? Is it just better than Wyeast claims?

Also, I'm quite concerned with bottling this, as the style calls for about 4 volumes of carbonation. Normal bottles are only rated for 3. Does anyone have suggestions as to how to bottle this?
 
I hit 1.011 every time. It seems to be terminal gravity for this style for me. No matter what my starting gravity was. I bottle carb to about 3 volumes.... When I bottle. 4 just seems dangerous and unnecessary and almost detracts from the beer when all you get is foamy mouth from a sip.
 
I hit 1.011 every time. It seems to be terminal gravity for this style for me. No matter what my starting gravity was. I bottle carb to about 3 volumes.... When I bottle. 4 just seems dangerous and unnecessary and almost detracts from the beer when all you get is foamy mouth from a sip.

Thanks! :mug:
 
I am new to brewing completely. This will be my first brew ever. I'm completely skipping extract. This may not be the best idea but I'm willing to take the risk. I really like hefe's and I can't wait to brew this. I'm still in the process of building my equipment and will probably brew this a week from Sunday. Thanks for the recipe and this awesome and informative thread.
 
japhillips87 said:
I am new to brewing completely. This will be my first brew ever. I'm completely skipping extract. This may not be the best idea but I'm willing to take the risk. I really like hefe's and I can't wait to brew this. I'm still in the process of building my equipment and will probably brew this a week from Sunday. Thanks for the recipe and this awesome and informative thread.

I have made dozens of batches and still struggle with this recipe from time to time because of the amount of wheat. You really should do at least a handful of extract or at least partial mash kits before jumping into this. The simpler kits allow you to refine your process before jumping to all grain which has too many variables to count.

Whatever you decide, good luck!
 
Brewed this on Saturday. The color looked pretty dark coming from the mash tun and stayed dark into the fermenter. Hopefully the yeast will clean it up. Will post a photo when it's done.
 
This was my first AG batch, I've done dozens of extract brews and several hefe's using extract and the wyeast 3068 but never had one smell like this. It was in the primary for 10 days, last Wednesday I transferred to a keg, then chilled it for a night and then started carbonation. I noticed at the time I transferred it, it smelled horrible but I could detect the wonderful aroma of a good hefe as well so I figured I should stick to the plan and continued w/kegging. A few days ago a pulled a few ounces to get a taste and see how the carbonation level was and it has a very distinctive sulfur rotten egg smell...and taste.
Any advice on what I can do? Should I let it sit cold in the keezer or should I bring it up to room temp and let it condition a few weeks?
Seems like with this recipe and according to the hundreds of posts here this one should be ready to drink pretty quick.

Or since it taste bad, do I toss it out? If there is hope I'll let it sit, but else I'm tempted to toss and move on.
 
Brewed this on Saturday. The color looked pretty dark coming from the mash tun and stayed dark into the fermenter. Hopefully the yeast will clean it up. Will post a photo when it's done.

Did you snap any pictures before you started fermenting? I don't remember my wort being all that dark, but it did have an off color to it which I mostly attributed to the fact that I didn't use a straining bag for my hops (lost it). It came out a perfect color after 10 days though.

Or since it taste bad, do I toss it out? If there is hope I'll let it sit, but else I'm tempted to toss and move on.

What temperature did you ferment at? A few of the others might be able to chime in, but I would give it a little while to rest in the keg before calling it a bad batch. Mine definitely gave off some funky odors when fermenting...bring tears to your eyes sort of stuff when sticking your head in the fermentation chamber. But it never had any off flavors to it.

PS...I had to use WL300 instead of the Wyeast as my local shop was out of the Wyeast. Supposedly the same strain though.
 
What temperature did you ferment at? A few of the others might be able to chime in, but I would give it a little while to rest in the keg before calling it a bad batch. Mine definitely gave off some funky odors when fermenting...bring tears to your eyes sort of stuff when sticking your head in the fermentation chamber. But it never had any off flavors to it.

PS...I had to use WL300 instead of the Wyeast as my local shop was out of the Wyeast. Supposedly the same strain though.

I fermented around 66-68 according to my ferment thermometer (taped to bucket). I used the Wyeast 3068 (I think it was the last one at my local shop, which judging by your location is probably the same as your local shop!)
 
Ha, I didn't even see you were in Omaha! Small world!

You are in the range for the 3068, might have produced a little more banana than clove flavors but nothing that would make it taste funky. You could have an infection if the taste doesn't clear up. I know there is probably a cause behind rotten egg taste (ie. bandaid taste is usually from chlorine) but I couldn't tell you what it is.

PS...all of the yeast I have got from the local Omaha shops haven't been all that fresh so I would make a starter for them if you haven't been. Good practice even with really fresh yeast. I prefer to order all my ingredients online but sometimes if you are in a rush the local shops are the only option.
 
Got it boiling now. Pretty much hit mash temps (153 for first half hour. Stirred and had to add hot water to get back to 151-152). Waiting for the sample to cool to see pre-boil gravity. Overall a pretty smooth first brew.
 
Brew day is over. Pre-boil gravity 1.042. OG of 1.051. Can't wait to finally taste it. This is my first time brewing and I don't think things could have gone any smoother. Thanks Ed and everyone that has contributed to this thread. It really helped a lot.
Josh
 
Drinking my version of this today, pretty decent! I think next time I may underpitch the yeast though, stress those little f**kers into some more esters. Stupid yeasts.

Thanks Mr. Wort.
 

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