Franziskaner Hefe Kit Suggestions

The wife wants me to try to make a Franziskaner Hefe. I see NB has a popular Hefe kit and I see Austins has a Franzi kit. Anyone else have a recommendation as to what kit I should try?

No input?

German Hefeweizen is really a yeast driven beer. The kits are probably similar just make sure you're using wlp300 or wyeast 3068. Fermentation temp is a debatable topic but usually lower = more clove phenols and higher = banana esters. 62F is mentioned as the best temp, but I personally prefer more like 68F.

PGHcableguy said:

The wife wants me to try to make a Franziskaner Hefe. I see NB has a popular Hefe kit and I see Austins has a Franzi kit. Anyone else have a recommendation as to what kit I should try?

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Brewer's Best "German Weizen" kit is a solid one, but I find if you brew according to their guide the LME caramelizes a little too long, leading to a roasted, caramel flavor. While great, not a typical Hefe flavor profile. I've also brewed Adventures In Homebrewing's Hefe kit (www.homebrewing.org), which uses steeping grains in conjunction with a LME, and it was tasty. For a full-extract Hefeweizen, I would recommend either of the above with either White Labs 300 or WYeast 3068. I pitched both at about 74°, and they fermented around that temp for two or three days. If you're looking for a lighter-colored Hefeweizen, I'd probably recommend using a DME recipe, and adding it shortly before flameout, making sure it stays over 160° just long enough to pasteurize. This will avoid any excess malt caramelization. For hops, stick to Hallertau or Tettnang for your Hefe.

Greetings from Pittsburgh! Either seem to be good. I would just search more on adding any of the malts because my experiences have shown that they tend to darken the beer if going by the instructions. Prime example, my hefe from MW turned dark brown. Oh well, it was tasty, but the color put me off.