How much zest? (AG Hefe)

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modernlifeisANDY

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I formulated my first original recipe hefeweizen, and I'd like to add some orange zest to the boil for a bit of subtle fruit flavor. I'm not sure how much to add, however. Here is the recipe (comments are welcome on that as well):

5.5g batch (6.5g boil)

4lb. White Wheat
4lb. German Pilsner
.5lb. Munich
.5lb. Crystal 60

.8oz Hallertau @45min
.25oz Hallertau @20min

WLP300 Hefeweizen yeast

Mash @ 153*

I want to add the zest at flameout for some subtle flavor.
 
If you're making a German Hefe Weizen the answer is NONE.

You also don't need:

the crystal
the Munich
a second hop addition...bittering only.

+1 on this; zest is in place in an American wheat, many of which are labeled as "hefeweizens" even though they aren't in that style--Widmer Hefeweizen, Harpoon's UFO Hefeweizen, and Pyramid Hefeweizen are examples of American wheat beers that aren't actually hefeweizens.

Hefes, incidentally, aren't traditionally served with a slice of fruit in them either Germany (kristalweizens occasionally are, but even that is unusual).

That's not to say that you can't go out of style if that's what your taste is. That's part of the joy of homebrewing: you can make whatever tastes good to you. To me personally, hefeweizen is a yeast-centric beer that gets a ton of flavor from there, and citrus zest is going to clash with the banana/clove notes that the hefe yeast imparts.

Munich malt is going to push it toward the dunkelweizen style, which has noticeable malt presence; hefe don't generally have that. Crystal's unusual in both of those.

Do you have an example of a beer or two similar to what you're trying to make? That might help pin down what you want. Or, if you're familiar with German hefes and really want to add some zest, go ahead with it (maybe taking a cue from some AmWheat recipes on the amount).
 
I'm just now getting more into hefeweizens and lighter wheat beers, so I'm not as familiar with the style.

What about just holding onto my WLP300 in the fridge and swapping out for some WLP400 (the Belgian wit strain), ditching the Munich and Crystal, keeping the zest, and shooting for a witbier style instead?
 
I've been bucking the traditional wheat/pils/bittering hops/yeast hefe idea this summer and my experiments have turned out great so far....I personally think I may always use cascade/amarillo for hefes from now on precisely because I like the citrus/mango notes play with the banana clove notes of the bavarian yeast (and I'm talking flavor/aroma additions). Point being, there's no need to adhere to tradition...

....as for the crystal, I would get rid of that too.....you will get plenty of flavor without adding caramel malts here....1/2 lb of munich won't hurt it though. any more and it would "heavy it up" too much, but a small amount is fine.
 
i'm drinking a bavarian hefeweizen now.
12 lbs wheat
9 lbs pilsner
2.5 oz hersbrucker
wyeast 3068 yeast with a 2l starter
good for 11 gallons
 
I've been bucking the traditional wheat/pils/bittering hops/yeast hefe idea this summer and my experiments have turned out great so far....I personally think I may always use cascade/amarillo for hefes from now on precisely because I like the citrus/mango notes play with the banana clove notes of the bavarian yeast (and I'm talking flavor/aroma additions). Point being, there's no need to adhere to tradition...

I can agree with you on most points, but when you do not adhere to a traditional German-style Hefe Weizen it is no longer a Hefe Weizen...and calling it one really irks me...:D;)

I am certain if the Germans allowed Widmer Hefe Weizen into their country they would make them change the label to Widmer American Wheat Beer. ;)
 
I've used the zest of three oranges and one lemon along with bottle priming with triple sec. This was in a wheat beer with corriander and honey so not really a hefe but if you are looking to get that orange flavor the triple sec can make a great flavor addition and because it has a lot of sugar can be used as your priming sugar. Unless you are kegging than you wouldn't want to use the triple sec. I've only made six or seven brews but this has been my favorite so far.
 
I can agree with you on most points, but when you do not adhere to a traditional German-style Hefe Weizen it is no longer a Hefe Weizen...and calling it one really irks me...:D;)

I am certain if the Germans allowed Widmer Hefe Weizen into their country they would make them change the label to Widmer American Wheat Beer. ;)

What would you call it if you're still using traditional hefeweizen yeast?

I ended up mashing the pils, wheat, and munich.

Smells amazing.
 
What would you call it if you're still using traditional hefeweizen yeast?

I ended up mashing the pils, wheat, and munich.

Smells amazing.
Not to offend, but I call it ignorance of style and content...;)

Look at it this way...would you ever brew a Belgian Wit and leave out the orange and coriander? Is it still a Wit with half it's important ingredients missing? No, it becomes a Begian-style Wheat beer. "Wit", means "white", not "wheat". As in German, "weizen" means "wheat" and "weiss" means "white".

I look at these types of recipe changes in the same light as someone who complains that their beer didn't turn out like they expected when they only used 1 (out of 4) of the proper ingredients. Of course it's not going to. DUH!! ;)

I really don't care one way or the other what anyone brews with or without, but I do care when someone tries to pass it off as a particular style when it isn't. (It's one of my brewing peeves).
 
So it's a German style wheat beer then. That's fine. As I've explained before, I'm just now really learning the style. I based my recipe off of various recipes I have seen floating around these boards. That doesn't make me ignorant, that makes me unclear. There's a big difference there.
 
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