Hefeweizen 101

Quite the enticing title with several questions. Here is a little back ground.

I have made several successful badges of wine over the last three years but enjoy beer soooooo much more. Especially Hefeweizen from the motherland. So I decided to take the leap. I started several weeks ago with a True Brew kit. I found it so exciting, I made a second batch two weeks later using a recipe from a book.

6.6 lbs of Northwestern Extract Weizen
2 oz. of Hallertau 3.0%
Wyeast 3638 Bavarian Wheat

1 hour boil with Hops added 15 after boil was achieved.

added to remaining 3 gallons of cool water in 5 gallon carboy.

Let rest till temp reached 70 F and pitched the yeast

SG 1.047
FG 1.018 7 days later. No visible fermentation dring a 10 minute watch.

I decided to bottle at that point. Added 5 oz of priming sugar disolved in water.

After reading many posts it makes me wonder if I should not have waited an extra week to see if the FG would drop some more.

It smelled great and looke to be more of a dunkel weizen than normal but the flavor was there as well.

Any opinions? Should I have waited? What are the effects going to be on the final product.?
Way too much to learn, but so much fun!

I'm new to this, but I think most people will say that's rushing it a bit. The gerntal rule is 1-2-3. 1 week in primary. 2 weeks in secondary. 3 in bottle or conditioning and carbonation. Many just leave it in the primary and just bottle after 3 weeks

Your beer may range from just perfect to over-carbonated to bottle bombs as the final stages of fermentation are reached. Drink this one a little early and finish it before it has time to over-carb too much. You will know if it is approaching the "bottle bomb" stage if the pressure in the bottle causes it to gush out or seems to have too much pressure or even if it forms too much head. If it happens, finish drinking it soon or remove the caps and recap after a few minutes to release the pressure.

Ok, I can understand if the additional sugars (anything before priming) ferment along that a bottle bomb can be created. But is that a guaranteed end result? Kind of a silly question I guess, but if the fermentation was complete and the beer just settled out early will the sugars just sit and add flavor? Again kinda silly on my part.

Bottle bombs are never a guarantee, but then again, why risk it? Seriously, if they explode in your hand they could take your EYE. Um, suck with a capital "S"?

If you're nervous, de-cap and recap, or keep in the fridge to allow the cold beer to dissolve more gas in solution (cold liquid = more gas dissolved). I'd say don't be nervous. 1.018 is a bit high for a lot of beer types, but using extract to make a wheat beer, it's still within the realm of believability. Especially since you said it was a bit dark -- that makes me wonder if you didn't scorch some of your extract, which is known to 1) darken the color and 2) cause higher FGs.

So, don't quite relax, but don't worry, either. Definitely have a homebrew. And the bright side is: hefe's don't benefit much from extra aging, so drink 'em as young as you like.

You mention the darkening and scorching. It's like a science eperiment. I could swear it wasn't that dark when I tucked the carboy full of homebrew away in the corner of the basement. POints that I left out earlier are fermentation took place at a very stable 62-64 degrees with no light. I had it wrapped in blankets. Is the darkening effect something that can happen with time, 7 days? Bottled and sitting in the corner of the basement. I would say maybe 58 degrees.

Thanks for all the quick replys.

No, it won't darken in the fermenter under normal conditions.

The yeast in suspension can make it less translucent, which might be interpreted as darker... but usually not.

It needs to carb at higher temps than 58, if you want to drink it within the next few weeks. 70F is more typical.

Sounds fairly successful unsrbus.
One thing I would say about avoiding possible bottle bombs, or anxiety about finished fermentation, is to take two final gravity readings a few days apart, if the reading is the same over the course of three days or so fermentation is done and it is safe to add priming sugar and bottle. fwiw

Happy brewing!

ps Don't trust the bubbles! They will lie to you!

Are there ill effects of letting it carb at lower temps? Besides taking longer? It seems a lot of literature says to letting it ferment and carb at lower temps. Maybe mine is too low. Trial and error?

Thanks for all the quick responses.

1. Darker color - this was probably from your partial boil. Look up late extract addition on this site. Using this method your color would be lighter.

2. bottle bombs - If the initial fermentation is complete and you use the proper priming amount the risk of bottle bombs is low. After 7 days without consective gravity readings we don' t know if your initial fermentation was complete. CO2 produced from the priming sugar and any wort fermentation could lead to bottle bombs as some posts have suggested.

3. Fermentation time - most people would suggest a 2-4 week fermentation time. For most ales a 1wk primary -2 week secondary is fine. With a hef I don't care about clarity and so I just keep it in the primary the whole time.

Valuable lesson learned. As stated ealrier, can I just pop the cap to release and recap to salvage or should I just hope for the best? Additionally, did I just waste my time and money. It smelled so good with scents of cloves and bananas. It should still be good enough to drink?

unsrbus said:

Valuable lesson learned. As stated ealrier, can I just pop the cap to release and recap to salvage or should I just hope for the best? Additionally, did I just waste my time and money. It smelled so good with scents of cloves and bananas. It should still be good enough to drink?

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The issue of whether you have bottle bombs is a question of risk. I don't have experience with the bavarian wheat yeast, but a FG of 1.017 is pretty good. I would probably put your bottles in a bin or if their in a box on a tray. That way if a bottle explodes you won't have a mess everywhere. There is a good chance you will have no problems.

The beer itself will still be good. There are some cool threads about mistakes people have made and their beer still turned out good. This one is relatively minor. It's all part of the process.

From everything I have read, Hefe's can be an "early beer" meaning that you can usually enjoy them rather early. I would just leave them alone, BUT put all of the bottles inside say a rubbermade tote, with a lid. I use the cheaper version from walmart. I think it was like 9.00 and it holds roughly 60+ bottles. I put that in the basement, with the lid on, and a blanket thrown over it. That way, if any do explode, I have something to contain them all

Don't recap until you know you have a problem. If you do get a gusher, chill them all for a day or two before recapping.

I am no expert but I have made several batches of Joker Heffe, 7 lbs of Bavarian Wheat DME, 1 of Hallertau and the Wyeast Bavarian. It makes an incredible beer. The way I learned was 1 week primary then bottle for 2. Primary was 70* bottles at 75 and no problems, great beer.
I did have bombs once but that was because I used Honey for a priming sugar and over did it a bit. I had 11 of 30 grenade on me before I could get them chilled down. Now when I make this stuff it sits in a cooler for the 2 to 3 weeks of conditioning at 70* for safety.
This yeast LOVES this malt, it will usually start with a HUGE ferment in the beginning

You should be fine. I would probably of just left it in the primary for 2 to maybe 3 weeks, and skipped the secondary all together. Since hefe's are a cloudy beer anyway I could care less about putting it in a secondary. Letting it sit on the yeast cake a little bit longer will help eliminate off-flavors, where-as racking to a secondary is just going to make it a bit more clear. Also never worry about letting it carb at lower temps. I usually just put my bottles in my bedroom closet which averages about 70*. Also when you put your beers in the fridge be sure to let them sit in there for about 24 hours before opening your first beer. I've had issues where if I tried to hurry up and chill it in the freezer for a bit then put it in the fridge for some reason it gave me a gushers. Where if I put bottles from the same batch in the fridge and let it cool over night they came out perfect.