Weissbier Bee Cave Brewery Bavarian Hefeweizen

Yes, I've had hefe's before. I usually enjoy more of a citrus/summer wheat more. I understand the style is typically like that, but that flavor was strong. It had a sulfur smell to the beer (probably due to it being young). Just not a taste I'm after. Not to put the recipe down, it brewed up good, just stating an opinion based on my personal tastes.

Hey Guys,

This brew sounds amazing, but SWMBO hates a true German Hefe taste. I think it's the spicy notes you get that she doesn't like. I'm trying to figure out a way to counter that in this recipe. Anyone have an idea?

Thanks,

Mark

mbaker33 said:

Hey Guys,

This brew sounds amazing, but SWMBO hates a true German Hefe taste. I think it's the spicy notes you get that she doesn't like. I'm trying to figure out a way to counter that in this recipe. Anyone have an idea?

Thanks,

Mark

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Refrain from any late hop additions and use an American Wheat Beer Yeast

I just poured the first pint of this last night.....I may have messed something up...It tased to watered down. Did not really have that bite that other Hefe's I have tasted had. Any ideas what could have went wrong.....I brewed the all grain version, used Wyeast 3068, and fermented at 68 degrees.... My OG was a little off @ 1.043....I changed up my mashing teqnique and its throwing off my efficiency....

I just brewed this last night with light wheat instead of red wheat, hit my target of 1.052 but was just over 5.2gal into the carboy, bubbling happily 7 hours later at 68 degrees!

If I want to make this as a partial mash can I just substitute 2.5lbs Wheat DME for 5lbs of the wheat grains and leave the Pilsner alone, or should I scale both of the grains down? When I plug it into Beer Smith it looks like it should work, but does that sound right?

Wild Duk said:

I just poured the first pint of this last night.....I may have messed something up...It tased to watered down. Did not really have that bite that other Hefe's I have tasted had. Any ideas what could have went wrong.....I brewed the all grain version, used Wyeast 3068, and fermented at 68 degrees.... My OG was a little off @ 1.043....I changed up my mashing teqnique and its throwing off my efficiency....

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It sounds like an efficiency issue. If you get the same volume of finished product but with a lower gravity it won't taste as "full" as intended.

so i got a highly substituted version of this thanks to low stock at my LHBS.

7# american white wheat

4# german pils

1# bag of rice hulls

5% AA Vangard hops

and i just started a starter of WLP380 on my stirplate.

Do you think this will turn out to have any similarities?

im mostly concerned with the Am. wheat. what characteristics do you think it will impart differently from german wheat?

i plan on fermenting ~68F. i hear brews with large amount of wheat in grain bill tend to ferment violently...

this is my first wheat/hef. anything i should know before hand?

Thanks guys!

I didn't have time to go though all 29 pages of this post So I am just going to ask the question.... Is there an acceptable dry yeast to this recipe? Here's my place in this tiny little world.... I don't have time to make a starter (between work and family) and I don't wanna spend the $$$ on liquid yeast+starter ingredients.

try Fermentis Safbrew WB-06

http://www.fermentis.com/FO/pdf/HB/EN/Safbrew_WB-06_HB.pdf

morebeer said:

If I want to make this as a partial mash can I just substitute 2.5lbs Wheat DME for 5lbs of the wheat grains and leave the Pilsner alone, or should I scale both of the grains down? When I plug it into Beer Smith it looks like it should work, but does that sound right?

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I'm not a pro, and I haven't actually made it yet, but here is my planned PM 6 gallon batch:

3# Wheat DME
4.5# German Red Wheat
2.5# German Pils

Since "wheat" DME is actually only between 50-75% wheat (depending on brand), I prefer to keep the proportion of grains the same as the original batch. Note that this is a 6 gallon batch - it's the same amount of work, and I bottle two sixers and keg the rest (usually about 4.5-5 gallons). I use an 8 gallon bucket for primary so I don't need to worry too much about blowoff.

For 5 gallons it would be:
2.5# Wheat DME
3.75# German Red Wheat
2# German Pils

Since I have some #3333 German wheat yeast I collected from earlier batches of all extract, that is what I'll be using. Even tho it's getting well past summer, I love Hefes...

EdWort
Have you tried this at a lower fermentation temp? Brewing Classic Styles recommends 62. Just cerious, can't wait to brew it this weekend. Also any idea on water profile?
Thanks

I'm interested in hearing some suggestions on a no sparge version of this recipe. If no sparge "creates a maltier and fuller body", it may compenstate for the lack of time (or interest) in doing a decoction mash. A couple extra bucks in grain for a real, full Hefe would be worth it.

Maybe 8.5# of wheat and 5 or 5.5 # of Pils malt?

This is my first no sparge attempt, and I'd like some recommendations.

Would there be any increase in chance of stuck sparge with the increased grains? Increase the rice hulls to 1lb.?

Prost!

Ed,

I made a batch of your Hefeweizen and added some frozen raspberries from our garden!

I took a sample as I was filling a keg, WOW this turned out amazing. I'm just a little concerned about telling SWMBO about it.... cause it won't last long!


Once it has some bubbles and drops a few degree's this beer will be epic!

Edwort -

Thanks for this recipe.

I fermented at 62F and pitched at 54F. Perfect balance of clove and banana flavors. (I wish there was a dancing clove too)

This beer tastes exactly like the Bavarain Hefes in Southern Germany - ala Rothaus, Paulaner, Franziskaner. Exactly what I was going for.

This was only my second all-grain Hefe and the first was a similar grain bill but I used the dry wheat yeast Safebrew WB-06. Never ever again will I make that mistake again.

It's ALL about the yeast.

Edwort - firstly, excuse any ignorant questions, newbie here. I've done two ales (both LME), one an american amber and the other a pumpkin spiced ale. I'm doing an all grain mocha stout, but i'd like to get a heffe going in the meantime. This recipe looks simple - which is what I'm looking for. I was wondering where you get your German Wheat from and what the numbers in front of the grain names mean. Thanks!

Anyone try this recipe with perle hop? That's all I got might be nice.

anyone else notice hat the final runnings are super clear? Even the first runnings were lighter than i expected. I was expecting more golden to the color.

Crap, it is probably due to the fact that i missed my OG by 10 pts! 1.042. I guess I cut too much off my grain bill.

So discouraged...

This was my first time with weiphen yeast.
I made a 1L starter in a 2L flask on a stirplate, with the usual aluminum foil cover.
And came home the next day to find the foil across the room and a sticky foam volcano covering the flask stirplate and counter!
No one warned me i'd need a blowoff tube for my starter

944play said:

PEEEEYEEEWW!! I'm fermenting this at 62F per Jamil, and it's kicking out loads of sulfur. I'll let it roll up to 68 when it slows down....

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Not sure if this made a difference but, I had put my blow off tune into a StarSan solution (I was going to dump it anyway) and had loads of sulfur. Switched to a water/bleach solution and the sulfur is gone.

bnmir said:

This was my first time with weiphen yeast.
I made a 1L starter in a 2L flask on a stirplate, with the usual aluminum foil cover.
And came home the next day to find the foil across the room and a sticky foam volcano covering the flask stirplate and counter!
No one warned me i'd need a blowoff tube for my starter

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At least yours stayed on the stir plate. First time using mine and I found the beaker laying on the counter

Other than that, I'm liking where this one is going

I’ve been following this thread for awhile and slowly ordering everything I need for this brew. Unfortunately, ordering German wheat malt is becoming a major headache as my LHS only carries American and American red wheat and cannot get German wheat anytime in the near future. I have the 3068 yeast, hops and German pils on hand. I may be forced to substitute with an American type wheat until German wheat is available.
Question-If I brew this using all other ingredients the same as the recipe but substitute to an American type wheat, any suggestions about how it might turn out (good, bad, not worth it?) I know it will be different, but my question is HOW different. This recipe looks phenomenal and has received such great reviews, I just don’t want to waste my ingredients on something that’s completely different. Any thoughts? Aloha

Hey brother. It's a good brew either way. I know that there is a flavor variation between the german and american wheat malts; however, I don't believe it is that outrageous. They are the same style of malt and can't be vastly different. I would give it a try with american since you can get it easily and if you get a hold of some german wheat then I'd do a crash brew with it to find out if it's a flavor you'd like to add to it. Or you can make them both completely and figure out which you like the most. A lot of banana and clove flavor off of that yeast and that will probably dominate the flavor a lot more than the variance (Within the same style) of malt. Keep us posted on how it goes for you brother.

I'll be brewing this tomorrow!

I just tapped another

i don't think mine turned out so good...yet? I have this tang to it. I know most hefe's are like this but anyone else notice this? I missed my gravity but added dme to it to boost it up. Started out good with lots of bananna which has since dropped out and left me with this tang. Brewed it on Feb. 26th or so. I think my ferm. temps were a bit too high.

MilwaukeeBrewGuy said:

I have this tang to it.--- added dme to it to boost it up. ---- and left me with this tang.

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There ya go.

Thanks Ed. I did boil the dme before adding it but you are right it is probably the cause for the tang even though I only used 1 pound. A few searches showed that lots of extract brewers get this tang....

Anyone know if this tang will condition out with time?


[EDIT]:Actually it has been about 7-8 weeks and i think the twang is starting to subside already. I also added an orange slice which also helped cover the twang.(shameful I know)

Hawaiianbrewer said:

I’ve been following this thread for awhile and slowly ordering everything I need for this brew. Unfortunately, ordering German wheat malt is becoming a major headache as my LHS only carries American and American red wheat and cannot get German wheat anytime in the near future. I have the 3068 yeast, hops and German pils on hand. I may be forced to substitute with an American type wheat until German wheat is available.
Question-If I brew this using all other ingredients the same as the recipe but substitute to an American type wheat, any suggestions about how it might turn out (good, bad, not worth it?) I know it will be different, but my question is HOW different. This recipe looks phenomenal and has received such great reviews, I just don’t want to waste my ingredients on something that’s completely different. Any thoughts? Aloha

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Don't fret too much about this. I substituted American malt as I have been spoiled having a LHBS now where I didn't where I lived before, and the results are still really good. It is all about the yeast in this one, an authentic German yeast is more important than the malt in my opinion. Just get started, in 3 weeks, you will be happy you didn't wait any longer.

Thanks for the great recipe Ed. Thought I would share:



I live by myself, so this will dominate my kegerator for a little while. Thanks!

I just brewed this up yesterday. I think I messed something up when I entered it int BeerSmith because the mash water volumes looked really weird. My OG was only 1.042 and I'm sure it was because of the mash water volumes. Next time I not going to blindly let BeerSmith tell me what to do. But I tasted the beer from my hydrometer and wow, it was pretty darn good. So even if the ABV comes out a little low, if it maintains it's flavor I'll be a happy camper.

I brewed this up a little more than a month ago for the second time. Both times have been huge hits.

The first time I used a German Wheat yeast, different from the Bravarian used in the recipe. This created a very mild Hefe, more in line with some of the Americanized Hefe's from Harpoon, or Widmer.

This time I kept the recipe in tact but performed a decoction. Wow, the decoction really adds a level of sweetness that is very impressive. It's a lot more time consuming, but I think it brings it more to style.

Great beer Ed, so far every recipe I have made of yours has been a big hit.

I haven't read the whole thread so I'm not sure if this has been answered yet. Has any one done a step mash with this? I so could you post your times and temps.

Thinking about using a little bit of natural vanilla extract and natural banana extract at kegging.....thoughts?

I am a big weizen drinker. I've made nearly 20 batches of it in varing grain bills, none ever used this much wheat. Until now I have no idea why! Well, I've just tapped a keg of this beer last night that was brewed on 5/23. It is now 2:30 in the afternoon here and I cannot wait to get home to have my Rastal weizen glass full of it. I did change the recipe up a bit but only added 4oz of melanoidin and over shot my gravity by 7 points. The rest was the same. This is one fantastic beer and the mouthfeel is excellent. Very light and drinkable with an incredibly smooth mouthfeel. Time to re-brew as this isn't going to last too long.

Thanks for the recipe and the inspiration Ed.

Diablotastic said:

Thinking about using a little bit of natural vanilla extract and natural banana extract at kegging.....thoughts?

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Sacrilege!

Follow the recipe, hit the temps, and you'll have plenty of those notes naturally.

I had two German Weizen fans over last weekend. These two Germans went through 3/4 of a keg in a Saturday evening/Sunday afternoon.

They could not stop talking about it or drinking it. Best validation evah!

EdWort said:

Best validation evah!

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I love moments like that. A friend of mine can't drink Paulaner (his favorite beer) anymore after going through a six pack of my hefe. The difference between a fresh, well-homebrewed hefe and the big commercial versions is pretty stark. The latter is just a shadow of the former.

Hi EdWort Weizen fans. I'm ready for round 2. I went to my HBS and picked up some ingredients yesterday. Unfortunately, I have no fresh hops for this one, but I have some Hallertau pellets kicking around the freezer and if they aren't enough, I'll add some of my homegrown Sterling.

This one was a big hit last time around - no surprise based on the other entries above. I got addicted to the combination of drinking this beer and eating cherries.

I'm just getting into water chemistry and have soft water. I'm thinking of adding some Ca and Mg to get up to suggested ranges for this brew.

After a little googling here is what I came up with:

Starting Water (ppm):
Ca: 3
Mg: 1.4
Na: 10
Cl: 11
SO4: 8
CaCO3: 5

Mash / Sparge Vol (gal): 2.2 / 6
Dilution Rate: 0%

Adjustments (grams) Mash / Boil Kettle:
CaCO3: 0 / 0
CaSO4: 0 / 2
CaCl2: 2 / 2
MgSO4: 1 / 2
NaHCO3: 0 / 0
NaCl: 1 / 0
HCL Acid: 0 / 0
Lactic Acid: 0 / 0

Mash Water / Total water (ppm):
Ca: 68 / 53
Mg: 13 / 10
Na: 57 / 23
Cl: 200 / 93
SO4: 55 / 82
CaCO3: 5 / 5

RA (mash only): -51 (1 to 6 SRM)
Cl to SO4 (total water): 1.14 (Balanced)

This was my first water adjustment brew. From memory I used 1 tsp chalk, 1/2 tsp. CaCl2 and 1/2 tsp of Epson salts.

I use a plastic fermenter and had a few overflows. I'll need to hose off the lid at some point. Even the overflow tastes pretty good - banana milkshake?. I'm probably a little over 68F for ferment, so I'm guessing this'll be a little more banana tasting than my last batch. The wort before I pitched tasted terrible, sickly sweet, so I threw that out, but I guess the yeast did and is doing its majic.