German Wheat Beer Review

So, in addition to the stout I brew this weekend, I came up with this recipe:

6lbs Liquid Wheat Extract
1lbs Liquid Light Malt Extract
4oz Munich Malt

1oz Hallertau at 60
1oz Hallertau at 30
.5oz Hallertau at 5

16.3 IBU w/5.3%ABV
Safbrew WB-06 Dry Yeast

How does this fit with the style?

Looks good to me!

Pretty close to my current hefe. Mine is all grain, and has a pound of Munich, but it was an 8 gallon batch. Going to brew a 10 gallon batch of it in a few weeks.

I just do the initial addition of Hallertau, no flavor or aroma hop additions, I let the yeast handle the flavor and aroma. I use Wyeast 3068, but for the upcoming 10 gallon batch, plan to use 3068 on 5 gallons and 3638 on 5 gallons, to see what the difference will be.

This is really a question for someone who knows more than I do about steeping grains, but I'll raise it: Do you get anything out of Munich if you steep it? I was under the impression it was strictly base malt material. It might be worth switching that to caramunich or caravienne (or some other such steepable grain)....just my $0.02. This should yield a good wheat beer either way though.

snailsongs said:

This is really a question for someone who knows more than I do about steeping grains, but I'll raise it: Do you get anything out of Munich if you steep it? I was under the impression it was strictly base malt material. It might be worth switching that to caramunich or caravienne (or some other such steepable grain)....just my $0.02. This should yield a good wheat beer either way though.

Click to expand...

Munich provides extra malt flavor and aroma. With a Hefe, you don't want a ton of malt forward (like you would with a Dunkelweiss), but a little makes it very nice.

Steep it at 148-160F. It will convert and add to the OG.--a mini-mash.

Use a better yeast like WLP300. WLP380 or Wy3068.

They didn't have WY3068 =(

As someone who's been drinking German HWs since 1975 and brewing them since 1994 I have a few comments about your recipe.

Using LME will make your brew darker than you probably expect it to be. It'll look more like a dunkleweizen than a helles HW.

HWs usually only use 1 bettering hop, not 3 additions like your recipe.

I recommend you use only genuine liquid German HW yeast, not dry.

I realize you stated they didn't have any German yeast, but when brewers don't use the right ingredients they (somehow) don't understand why the brew doesn't resemble what they expected the end product to be.


What's the size of your boil?

3 gallon boil. Fermenting at 62-63 degrees.
We did two Imperial Stouts and figured we'd do another beer to finish the day.


I guess I'm not expecting a Hefe now, but this is more why I posted. I wanted to put things into perspective on what to expect as to not be dissapointed. I read the other forums and realized that this yeast wasn't what the LHBS guy told me it was. I originally was looking for the Wyeast, and he told me they were out and this was a replacement. Annoying. However, I like Dunkleweizens, too

I've been using Papazian's The Complete Joy of Homebrewing as a guide since 1994 when I first started brewing.

He recommends using 1 gal of water to 1 gal of malt.

I use this even to today with small boils. I will do a 45 min boil then remove the pot from the heat and add the remaining malt and steep for 15 mins.

I even do all grain, but this has always worked for me.