AHS - Bavarian Wheat, instructions call for secondary?

I've got the AHS Bavarian Wheat fermenting away right now after yesterday's brew day and I'm re-reading the instructions. I notice it calls for a secondary until the beer clears. I know I'm new to this, but these directions do not sound right to me and I absolutely do not want a clear hefe.

Has anybody else brewed this beer? Can you tell me what you did? Maybe AHS would like to chime in?

My inclination is to let it stay in primary for 7 days after fermentation is complete (~2 weeks total), then go to bottling.

Did you pitch a hefe yeast? Lately I've been skipping the secondary and just leaving in the primary for 2-3 weeks. Beers come out great.

I used WLP300 hefe yeast.

The reason why I ask is that in the Karankawa pale Ale thread Forrest was pretty adamant about following the directions in the kit. However, this is the first kit I've ever purchased from AHS and it's the first time I've seen it recommended to put a hefe in secondary. I'm just wondering about the benefit of the secondary and is there really a desire to clear this beer?

I've made maybe 10 AHB clone recipes, and every single one so far advocates one week primary, one week secondary, 2+ weeks in bottle. Seems to be a standard fermentation clause in all their recipes.

Do you want to clear your Hefe?!?

I just brewed this (mini-mash) 5 weeks ago. I followed the instructions, fermeted at 68F, and did the secondary. Came out smelling and tasting great, though a little on the thin side (still not sure why). It was ready after 2 weeks in the bottle.

It is not what I would call "clear" even after doing the secondary. As is customary for hefe's, I pour about 3/4 of the beer into a glass, then swirl the bottle to mix up the sediment, and pour it all into the glass. Classic hefe look, although a shade darker that normal, probably from the patial boil.

Cheers!

I definitely don't want a clear hefe. Thanks for the replies. I'll do the secondary, although I'm a bit nervous. Hefe is SWMBO's favorite, so if I screw it up there will be hell to pay!

that was the last batch i made which i'm drinking now. i love hefe's and i just left it in the primary for 3 weeks and kegged. Now its nice and cloudy like it should be. I think secondary for this type of beer is a no no. just my opinion though

I brewed that beer a couple of months ago. It was one of my favorite extract brews. I didn't secondary it. Primary for 3 weeks then kegged.
All of Austin Homebrew recipe directions say the same thing. I think it is a form sheet that they insert the different ingredients. Although, Forrest did say in another thread a while back that he does still believes in using a secondary.

That yeast will only take about 10 days anyway, I see no reason to interrupt it by moving it around.

Making beer is making beer no matter what kit it comes from. Last time I ordered from AHS the instructions were very generic, probably use the same "form" for every kit. I would suggest skipping the secondary, especially if you are nervous about it. Hefeweizen are beers that should be consumed young. So unless there was some weird problem in your fermentation, you don't need the beer sitting around for an extra 2 weeks in a secondary. Just my $0.02.

Beerrific said:

Making beer is making beer no matter what kit it comes from. Last time I ordered from AHS the instructions were very generic, probably use the same "form" for every kit. I would suggest skipping the secondary, especially if you are nervous about it. Hefeweizen are beers that should be consumed young. So unless there was some weird problem in your fermentation, you don't need the beer sitting around for an extra 2 weeks in a secondary. Just my $0.02.

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This is the same reasoning I have been thinking as I try to decide whether or not to secondary. However, having brewed my own beer for less than a year I was wondering if perhaps I hadn't misunderstood the general rule of "don't use a secondary with your hefe." Aside from the spectacular amount of blowoff, the fermentation has gone fine so far.

It's sitting in the dark at about 69 degrees, and now that I'm a week into it the bubbling has slowed to a crawl. I think I'm going to leave it alone one more week and if the gravity is good I'll go ahead and bottle.

As someone who's been drinking HW's since first living in Bavaria (Feb 1975) and lived there twice for a total 9 years, I secondary all my HWs.

If the brew does clear all you have to do is suck up some of the yeast from the secondary. Not a lot of it. Just enough to get the brew cloudy again.

IMO, the brew tastes cleaner with less yeast in it.

Fishin-Jay said:

It's sitting in the dark at about 69 degrees, and now that I'm a week into it the bubbling has slowed to a crawl. I think I'm going to leave it alone one more week and if the gravity is good I'll go ahead and bottle.

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Sounds perfect. There are a lot of opinions around lately about not using a secondary in general so I certainly wouldn't, and don't for Hefe. I make them regularly and they tend to clear after 2-3 weeks on draft anyway. For a hefe IMO, let 'em go for 2 weeks in the fermenter and then keg/bottle. Even for other styles, I don't get why people worry so much about wort/beer exposure to the sediment. Anyone who has a simple understanding of geology knows that only the top layer is exposed anyway (i.e.- even if there's a two inch layer of trub under a 1/8 inch layer of yeast, the beer is only exposed to the top layer of yeast). You end up with an 1/8th inch layer in the secondary anyway. Please please correct me if I'm wrong on this.

I secondary my hefeweizens