Hefe fermentation advice

Alright, I've finally concluded after reading a bunch of threads that I will not be going to a secondary with my recently brewed Hefe. I now plan on keeping it in the primary for 2 weeks (brew date 4.19) which has been fermenting at a constant 65F. Since I'm not planning on racking to secondary I thought I would relocate the primary to a cooler room in my basement (52F-ish) after the first week and let it "kind of" clear and condition for the second week prior to bottling. Has anyone done this or recommend this?

My current SG is at 1.029 (I have a little to go since I'm shooting for about 1.015 based on yeast attenuation --- OG 1.060 temp corrected) and tasted the wort yesterday and it is fanfrickingtastic. Want to make sure it stays on that track!

At 52F, the yeast is less likely to be active... What type of yeast are you using?
I think hefe and clearing do not match.. to me hefe has to be cloudy.... the flavor from the yeasties are what you are going after.
I think 2 weeks at 65-70F are good.... check your SG again... if it doesn't move for 3 days... bottle it. I'm making EdWort's Hefe tomorrow morning.. made my starter last night.. it is already bubbling... I don't know if I want to step it up or not.. I think 1 pint is good enough..I'm going to divide the wort into 2 carboy and do an experiment with temperature... One in 68F.. the other one in RT that flucturates.

undallas said:

At 52F, the yeast is less likely to be active... What type of yeast are you using?
I think hefe and clearing do not match.. to me hefe has to be cloudy.... the flavor from the yeasties are what you are going after.
I think 2 weeks at 65-70F are good.... check your SG again... if it doesn't move for 3 days... bottle it. I'm making EdWort's Hefe tomorrow morning.. made my starter last night.. it is already bubbling... I don't know if I want to step it up or not.. I think 1 pint is good enough..I'm going to divide the wort into 2 carboy and do an experiment with temperature... One in 68F.. the other one in RT that flucturates.

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I agree with you totally on haazy Hefe's.

I pitched White Labs 300 (Hefe yeast). The wort has been fermenting since last Sunday (4.19), at first quite vigorously but has slowed in the last 36-48 hours. I thought the 52F might be to cold but thought it might improve the fermentation. Perhaps not after all.

So I should keep on trucking with the wort in the primary for the two weeks in the room I have it in at 65F then go to bottle for 2-3 weeks, right?

52 is too cold for a Hefe Weizen.

I don't profess to be an expert but I believe you would want your hefe cloudy. I let a hefe sit for two days at basement temps this past winter, 54, and it didn't seem to hurt the flavor but it didn't look like a hefe. A lot of the yeast fell out in short time. Hefe's are my favorite beer, I found some clear hefe's in Germany that were very good. I believe they were filtered to remove the yeast. I certainly wouldn't cool down the beer if it isn't finished fermenting given the speed that my yeast fell out, you may not reach your desired fg.

I just kegged a hefe yesterday after two weeks in the primary, no secondary, no cold-crashing. I used to secondary all of my beers, including my weissbiers.

But, after some discussion and sleepless nights, I decided not to try it this time. I'm definitely happy with the outcome so far.

I would go straight to bottle in another couple of days.