Weissbier Bee Cave Brewery Bavarian Hefeweizen

Hmm, yeah my fermenting temps are gonna kill me. I have no idea what it's going to be like from one day to the next, really... I need to invest in a fermentation chamber soon (as soon as SWMBO forgets about all the stuff I bought to go AG).

With 75% efficiency, BeerAlchemy is saying that the OG and abv are slightly higher than BJCP guidelines. I suppose it doesn't matter, but it's interesting to play around with things to see what changes (to go for 65% efficiency, it gave me slightly over 8 lbs wheat and 4.5 lbs pilsner, so I evened it out at 8 and 4 for easy buying, which took it down somewhat)

Oh, another thing since I'm bugging you... you said that this was still good 6 months later? I thought wheats had a shorter lifespan, and would go downhill in a month or so. It's part of the reason I've been wary to try one, because I already have a decent amount of beer that I'm slowly going through. I would, however, love to try this and so if it will last me through the fall then I'm all over it.

Sigafoos said:

Hey Ed, thanks for being awesome.

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Nothing beats an existential statement of goodness for signature material, huh Ed?

I have had German Hefe's at 5.9% and mine tend to be on right on the cusp or over that. Cut back on the grain bill if you wish. I'm not brewing for BJCP, but for me.

Folks say that you need to drink Hefe's early, but if you want them to last, I recommend bottling it while the hefe is in suspension. If it sits in a keg for a month or two, you will need to rouse the yeast. The problem I have seen is I rouse too much and then have to wait a day or two because there is more yeast in suspension than I like.

Bike N Brew said:

Nothing beats an existential statement of goodness for signature material, huh Ed?

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What can I say? I need to remind SWMBO of this... :cross:

Ed.

Can you give us your thoughts on the grain bill on this?
Some places I have read (joy of homebrew) and other recipes state that the wheat should either be equal with the barley or less that the barley.

Obviously you like it with more wheat than barley. Can you give some feedback or thoughts on this?
Thanks.
T

tgrier said:

Ed.

Can you give us your thoughts on the grain bill on this?
Some places I have read (joy of homebrew) and other recipes state that the wheat should either be equal with the barley or less that the barley.

Obviously you like it with more wheat than barley. Can you give some feedback or thoughts on this?
Thanks.
T

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It's a wheat beer and a Bavarian Hefeweizen at that. German Hefe's MUST (by law) have a minimum of 50% wheat malt and some go up to 70%.

What other folks do or recommend for their wheat beers, whatever style does not matter. I want one that tastes like it is fresh off the plane from Munich which, IMHO, this beer does.

This is not for folks who don't like a Franziskanner or Paulener Hefeweizen, but if you do, this recipe will make you happy.

EdWort said:

but if you do, this recipe will make you happy.

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That's me!

Now who has the clone for Weihenstephaner?? I'll take one for Moosbacher while we're at it...

EdWort said:

This is not for folks who don't like a Franziskanner or Paulener Hefeweizen, but if you do, this recipe will make you happy.

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This is a double Negitive i think .. so If I DO like Franz and/or Paulener I SHOULD brew this beer. Correct?

Thanks ED.

I am brewing this tonight. .... T

tgrier said:

This is a double Negitive i think .. so If I DO like Franz and/or Paulener I SHOULD brew this beer. Correct?

Thanks ED.

I am brewing this tonight. .... T

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If you like a good German Hefe, brew this beer. You will be happy. Can you do 68 degrees in this heat? Controlled fermentation temps are crucial to a good Hefe.

I'll be using Tettnanger with it this year as I have couple pounds of it. I'm sure it will substitute nicely for the Hallertau.

When I put that grain bill into Beersmith I get an estimated OG of 1.057. Any thoughts on the discrepancy? Efficiency is set to 75.

slim chillingsworth said:

When I put that grain bill into Beersmith I get an estimated OG of 1.057. Any thoughts on the discrepancy? Efficiency is set to 75.

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I used a calculator from tastybrews site.

Great recipe! Before I brewed this recipe I tried 6 different commercial brands of Hefe's (due to me not have much experience with the style) and I have to say it blows them all away. Tonight I let a quasi-beer drinker who's never had a wheat beer before try a glass and they went "Wow, that's good!" and promptly asked for another glass when they were done. They also said "If this was available in the store I'd buy it no question at all."

Not much to say after that... thanks for the recipe! (PS: I used WLP300)

Has anyone tried safbrew wb-06 with this recipe?

SRTBREW said:

Has anyone tried safbrew wb-06 with this recipe?

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I don't recommend using wb-06 OR the Danstar Munich. Both dry yeasts will NOT make a Bavarian Hefeweizen. If you want to use a different yeast, the try White Labs WLP300, which is the same Weihenstephaner strain.

What do you think about using Sorachi Ace instead of Hallertauer?

Mustangj said:

What do you think about using Sorachi Ace instead of Hallertauer?

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NO, please use a German noble hop if you want an authentic Bavarian Hefe. I used Tettanger last weekend since I did not have hallertau hops.

I do have some Hallertauer but I have a lot more of Ace.

Alright i'll stick with the recipe.

Everything went real good.
Edwort.
Was your OG 1.052 or is that the suggested OG? I hit 1.045.

That's suggested at 75% efficiency. Yours will be fine and easy drinking!

with the hop shortage I wasnt able to get a hold of hallertau but I do have crystal which I think is a relative of hallertau and listed as a possible substitute. if I use crystal will it still be in the hefe style or should I wait till I can get a hold of the right hops?

Sure, keep an eye on the IBUs and you will be fine.

I followed the recipe and this stuff rocks..:rockin:

Edwort, do you happen to have more detailed instructions fow a first time AG brewer for this recipe? I should have the ingredients at my door sometime today for this recipe and your pale ale. They will be my first and second AG brews and I'm nervous as hell. I'm still trying to decide which one would be easier so I can get the starter started.

nyer said:

Edwort, do you happen to have more detailed instructions fow a first time AG brewer for this recipe? I should have the ingredients at my door sometime today for this recipe and your pale ale. They will be my first and second AG brews and I'm nervous as hell. I'm still trying to decide which one would be easier so I can get the starter started.

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It depends on your brew method and equipment. Make the Haus Ale first as it uses a dry yeast and is easier than the Hefe.

Start a new thread in the All Grain section asking for help and list your equipment so folks can see what we have to work with.

Thank you master, the pale ale it is.

Last glass.

That looks good. I got my starter going to today, I'm planning to brew this Friday morning. I can't wait.

Good stuff. It went real fast.

Mustangj said:

Good stuff. It went real fast.

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Great! Time to brew another. Summer is still here. It's the quickest beer in my lineup to drinkability.

EdWort said:

Great! Time to brew another. Summer is still here. It's the quickest beer in my lineup to drinkability.

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What do think the shelf life is?

Mustangj said:

What do think the shelf life is?

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Kept kegged and refrigerated, a few months. After a while you might want to bump the keg to stir up some yeast that had settled. It will clear after a couple months. Give it a few bumps, then check to see who much was stirred back into solution. If too much, then let it sit a day before pouring.

I made this Saturday morning, I only got 1.045 on the gravity but thats better than my first AG so I'm happy. I can't wait to try it.

How does this beer compare to Erdinger Hefeweizen ? I was looking for a clone recipe, and I noticed that this recipe was simple as well as popular.

Very similar, very tasty, very Bavarian.

Edwort-
I did this one as a PM- but I cultured Brewery Ommegang's wit for the yeast. It rocked! It was a Big PM- only 2lbs of WDME(And the OG way higher than I expected.)- and now that I have gathered everything for a first AG- I'm gonna go back to this one. You did batch sparge, right? I'm nervous about using wheat for the first AG- but think I'm going for it anyway.

Yep, I batch sparged. If you want an authentic Bavarian Hefe, you will need to use WLP300 or Wyeast 3068 (The Weihenstephner strain).

Good to go- thanks! I like the added step of culturing a yeast- I feel that much more involved. I'm going to be buying the grain- but the hops and yeast will be free (if you ignore the fact that we paid for the rhizomes and original bottle of beer in the first place). I'm getting a kick out of that at the moment.
Even though I at times don't follow verbatim, I use a lot of your posted recipes. I've had tons of outstanding success with them.

edwort, you list crash cooling, I am not exactly sure what my keg fridge temp is, but does this just mean to stick the carboy in the fridge when it is done fermenting?

kjones said:

edwort, you list crash cooling, I am not exactly sure what my keg fridge temp is, but does this just mean to stick the carboy in the fridge when it is done fermenting?

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That will work fine.

did you do any type of protein rest with this? i just brewed your recipe as my first wheat and my efficiency sucked....Can't figure out why. I missed my temp and it took me a while to get set when i doughed in but i still gave it a full 90 minutes. Ended up with 1.040 starting gravity at the end?....i was told later my efficiency sucked because of missing a protein rest with wheat but i dont know. Ive never had this problem on any other recipes and i usually get around 75%.