No head on my homebrew Hefe!

Happy Thursday, y'all.

I brewed a 5 gallon partial mash hefeweizen batch in January. This batch turned out pretty poorly, and I have two points that I'm looking for some help with. Here is the recipe used, which I came up with on my own using absolutely no method, haha.

1.25 lbs Rahr Whte Wheat Malt
.50 lb Weyermann Dark Wheat
.80 lb Salzgitter German Pilsner Malt
.40 Dingeman's Munich Malt
.20 lb Breiss Carapils Malt
3 lbs Breiss Bavarian Wheat DME

1oz German Hallertau hop pellets (boiled for 60 minutes)
Wyeast #3068 Weihenstephan Wheat (pitched into wort that was around 70 degrees)

No yeast nutrient used, 75 minute mash (155 degrees) and a 60 minute boil.

The brew was only in the fermentation vessel for 7 days before being bottled. Fermentation temperature was 64 degrees, and was stable for the whole week. The brew day was 1/15 and the bottling day was 1/22. I used an aeration wand/stone, as well. I added a bunch of cold water at the end to bring the total volume of my batch to 5 gallons before I pitched my yeast packet. Water used was 100% spring water, not tap.

Here are my two issues:
Firstly, there is absolutely ZERO head at all on any of these beers. Secondly, there is an extremely noticeable citrus flavor to this beer and the combination of these two things has me bummed out.

Any ideas, advice or help would rule the world. This is my twelfth batch and I've never encountered this lack of head before on any of my others. This was, however, my second SELF-DESIGNED recipe, so I'm betting I'm totally missing something.

Thanks in advance,
Matt / Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

First, you probably bottled too early, but that isn't what you asked about. Regarding the carbonation are you certain you remembered to add the priming solution? I know it sounds obvious, but the number of people who forget at one time or another is crazy.

Regarding the citrus flavor, the hefeweisen yeast should be throwing off a lot of esters, and most of them wouldn't be described as citrus usually, more fruity, bananas and sometimes cloves. Could what you're tasting be described as bananas? if so, then its definitely the yeast, and its part of the style. If its more pronounced than you want, then lowering your ferm temps would be one adjustment you could make that might help.

Yup, I certainly primed before bottling without any error.

As far as the flavor goes, it's 100% a strong citrus taste, as opposed to the banana or clove usually associated with hefeweizen.

I very well may have bottled too early, and that's something I would have done differently if I could.

Tons o' citrus here, it's extremely upsetting.

What temperature have you kept the beer since bottling? Temperature makes a big difference when it comes to the time it takes to carbonate, as is does when calculating the amount of priming sugar.

Not sure about the citrus taste, but what is your OG/FG. Just eyeballing it, looks like a pretty thin bodied beer and that could explain the lack of head. Is the carbonation OK aside from the head?

it's only been bottled for what, 2-1/2 wks? I bet the head formation & retention get better over the next week or 2.
also, for wheat beers I really doubt the carapils is necessary as they have plenty of body already & (generally speaking) have great head too.
you might try a half pound or so of flaked wheat in your mash, it helps the head stick around longer & leave that lovely lace on your glassware.

oh & I wish I could help with the citrus issue. 3068 is my hands down fav for hefeweizen, & I've never had any problems with it at all.
I will say this though.. if the citrus issue is yeast (ester) related, it should fade over time.

Aristotelian said:

Not sure about the citrus taste, but what is your OG/FG. Just eyeballing it, looks like a pretty thin bodied beer and that could explain the lack of head. Is the carbonation OK aside from the head?

Click to expand...

punching numbers into bf gives me
og 1.042
fg 1.010
ibu 12ish

XsoldoutX said:

Happy Thursday, y'all.

I brewed a 5 gallon partial mash hefeweizen batch in January. This batch turned out pretty poorly, and I have two points that I'm looking for some help with. Here is the recipe used, which I came up with on my own using absolutely no method, haha.

1.25 lbs Rahr Whte Wheat Malt
.50 lb Weyermann Dark Wheat
.80 lb Salzgitter German Pilsner Malt
.40 Dingeman's Munich Malt
.20 lb Breiss Carapils Malt
3 lbs Breiss Bavarian Wheat DME

1oz German Hallertau hop pellets (boiled for 60 minutes)
Wyeast #3068 Weihenstephan Wheat (pitched into wort that was around 70 degrees)

No yeast nutrient used, 75 minute mash (155 degrees) and a 60 minute boil.

The brew was only in the fermentation vessel for 7 days before being bottled. Fermentation temperature was 64 degrees, and was stable for the whole week. The brew day was 1/15 and the bottling day was 1/22. I used an aeration wand/stone, as well. I added a bunch of cold water at the end to bring the total volume of my batch to 5 gallons before I pitched my yeast packet. Water used was 100% spring water, not tap.

Here are my two issues:
Firstly, there is absolutely ZERO head at all on any of these beers. Secondly, there is an extremely noticeable citrus flavor to this beer and the combination of these two things has me bummed out.

Any ideas, advice or help would rule the world. This is my twelfth batch and I've never encountered this lack of head before on any of my others. This was, however, my second SELF-DESIGNED recipe, so I'm betting I'm totally missing something.

Thanks in advance,
Matt / Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Click to expand...

Hand wash your glasswares and triple rinse them. There's a good chance your glassware has a tiny bit of soap residue and that will kill the head on your beer.

meatcleaver said:

punching numbers into bf gives me
og 1.042
fg 1.010
ibu 12ish

Click to expand...

So you did not actually take gravity readings, this is just the expected numbers for the recipe?

Also what about carbonation? Is it completely flat or just no head?

No head, citrus flavour - Did you happen to use Lemon-scented Jet Dry in your dishwasher?

I'm half-joking, but seriously, rinse agents on your glassware will kill any head retention.

You mentioned no head, but how's the carbonation in general? Hefs are supposed to be highly carbed, did you use a priming sugar calculator? Is there lots of carbonation, but no head? Or low carbonation? With that many high-protein ingredients in the grist (the wheat, the Carapils), you should have plenty of head and lacing. I'd focus on the glassware.

As for the citrus, that's probably coming from the yeast. It's certainly not the grain, and the only other suspects would be the glassware (see above), or the hops. Hallertau are not citrusy, so if you're certain they weren't mis-labeled, then it's got to be the yeast. How did you prepare the yeast? Did you make a starter?

BobBailey said:

What temperature have you kept the beer since bottling? Temperature makes a big difference when it comes to the time it takes to carbonate, as is does when calculating the amount of priming sugar.

Click to expand...

It's been a consistent 66 degrees in my basement, which is where the bottles have been hanging out this whole time.

I actually didnt take any gravity readings this time, for whatever reason.

The carbonation is just fine, it's not flat at all. Just no head!

" Is there lots of carbonation, but no head?"

Yeah, this basically.

"I'm half-joking, but seriously, rinse agents on your glassware will kill any head retention."

I never really thought about this, to be honest. Washed my bottles in the dishwasher and then let 'em soak for a few minutes in some sanitizer before filling. I wonder if this is my culprit. I used "fresh scent" dishwasher tabs (not liquid detergent), as always...hmm...

Not just the bottles, but the serving glass too. My drinking glasses all go through the dishwasher, but before using one, I always give it a good rinse with some cold water from the tap. This helps rinse off any residual head-robbing agents on the glass, but also chills the glass a little.

Thanks, will do!