Weissbier Simple Hefeweizen

ncbrewer said:

The fans won't make any noticeable difference, but if you can put the fermenter in a tub of water with some ice bottles, you can cool it. A wet towel over the fermenter helps, and then the fans would also help, but I don't like the idea of a fan running 27/7, pretty much unattended - possible fire hazard.

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Thanks, NCBrewer! I'll have to see what I can come up with ... a 10/14-day water bath sounds like a pain in the patootie ... not to mention messy.

WinterWarrior said:

Thanks, NCBrewer! I'll have to see what I can come up with ... a 10/14-day water bath sounds like a pain in the patootie ... not to mention messy.

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It's not messy, but it does take a lot of attention. You could try this insulated bag: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f41/new-product-cool-brewing-fermentation-cooler-296052/
From reading the thread, I think the insulated bag doesn't need replacement ice jugs as often.

That bag looks nice, but I was doing a bit of research and since we have an extra fridge sitting in the garage I'll be using that. It just never occurred to me ... it's all that alcohol!

I guess I missed the part about this recipe needing a blow-off tube.

I pitched my yeast (I'm a lazy brewer and pitched direct onto the wort) and I didn't have action for about 8 hours and forgot about it as friends and I were evaluating latest brews on the patio til late.

Got up this morning to convex lid and an airlock screaming for mercy.

I quickly improvised a blow-off tube using ziplock container, water & a hose. Now I have to go find out if that will be OK in the long run or if I'll need to modify it. I've never needed one before, so I was flying by the seat of my pants to prevent beer-spew on walls & floor.

Wheeeeeeee ... me likie this hefeweizen recipe!!

jmtonkin said:

Here is my brew! I added some instant lemonade to go for a more "shandy-esque" feel, and it's awesome!View attachment 203322View attachment 203323


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It's summer and a shandy sounds just about perfect right now. How many packets (of what?) and when did you add them?

Cheers !


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I added four packs of Kool-Ade lemonade (the kind that you just add sugar to). I mixed the packs in with my priming sugar when I heated it up, and then bottles as normal!

Turned out pretty swell.


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Used WLP380 on this and it turned out wonderfully. Nice balance of spice with some banana. Thanks for the great recipe!

Sorry for the newb question but sugar is not mentioned in the recipe I was reading 4 oz should be good which is 116 grams worth of priming sugar ?
Also I dont have a blow off is there a workaround for this ?

A blowoff tube is not mandatory-

The WYeast 3068 from my experience creates a very vigorous fermentation and if you are using a standard "bubbler" airlock it will probably make a big mess on the top of your fermenter.

I use a regular airlock with a 4' piece of clear vinyl hose stuck over the top of the airlock and stick the other end in a bucket.

Been a forum lurker for a while, have a fair few kit brews and diy "improved" kits under my belt and thought I'd give this recipe a try (or as close as I could get from my lhbs) as my first ever extract brew as I love hefeweizen.

Big thanks to those who give their advice and expertise to this forum, there's a wealth of experience on here that has me reading thread after thread all night sometimes!

I'm Scottish so pls excuse the metric

250g Carapils (30min steep).
50g hallertau Mittelfruh (3.3%) @60min.
3kg wheat spray malt (1kg @60min, 2kg @15min).
Wyeast 3068

Made up to 23litres, mega blow off from yeast reduced it to just over 20litres. Had to tape down my FV lid!
Fermented for 14 days at 22/23C then bottled half, half in pressure barrel. Sat at room temperature for 14 days then chilled.

Can say that it actually tastes very much like a hefeweizen and very tasty. I'm super pleased with it! 2nd batch on its way within the next week. Thanks all

Just cracked open some bottles and it tured out great. This is my second batch of this. The first time I used notty and it was very good, this second time I ised wyeast and it is even better. Thank you for a simple and tasty recipe.

n8tivebrew said:

Just cracked open some bottles and it tured out great. This is my second batch of this. The first time I used notty and it was very good, this second time I ised wyeast and it is even better. Thank you for a simple and tasty recipe.

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Notty won't produce the Bavarian Hefeweizen flavor, although it apparently produced a good beer. If you like Bavarian Hefeweizen, try tie recipe with the Danstar Munich yeast sometime.

Yea, I'll have to try that out some Danstar. Like I said the second batch I used some Wyeast 3068, so hope the Danstar is just as good.

Going to brew this up tomorrow as my second beer. Cannot wait to try it!! I am using LME so it may come out a little darker, so say the guys at my LHBS.

Sailingeric said:

Going to brew this up tomorrow as my second beer. Cannot wait to try it!! I am using LME so it may come out a little darker, so say the guys at my LHBS.

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If you boil with about 1/3 of the extract and add the rest at flameout, it shouldn't darken.

ncbrewer said:

If you boil with about 1/3 of the extract and add the rest at flameout, it shouldn't darken.

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Thanks for the help!

Made this yesterday, getting pretty excited. Couldn't resist opening the bucket this morning though. No signs of fermentation but it's only been 12 hours. When should I start to get worried? I have read quite a few posts of speedy fermentation with this recipe.

Matt_man said:

Made this yesterday, getting pretty excited. Couldn't resist opening the bucket this morning though. No signs of fermentation but it's only been 12 hours. When should I start to get worried? I have read quite a few posts of speedy fermentation with this recipe.

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Sorry, I forgot to mention I used the Munich like the original recipe. 24 hours and still dead as a door nail.

Matt_man said:

Sorry, I forgot to mention I used the Munich like the original recipe. 24 hours and still dead as a door nail.

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I've had it take a little over 24 hours with Danstar Munich, and then go on to a normal fermentation. If it doesn't start by 48 hours, I'd panic.

I opened 12 oz bottle to check carbonation, yeah that was why , and it is damn good, nice clove sweet flavor, good color. For sure will be making again.

ncbrewer said:

I've had it take a little over 24 hours with Danstar Munich, and then go on to a normal fermentation. If it doesn't start by 48 hours, I'd panic.

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Thanks for the heads up! Somewhere between 24 and 36 hours it finally started to show signs. Now it's going ahead full steam. Can't wait to try it!

Still one of the easiest extract hefeweizens to brew. I changed it just a hair though....

I went with the recipe as stated except I used Wyeast 3068. Pitched it in at 75 and just let it roll. I have ways of controlling the temps but, I love the crazy amount of banana produced at high temps. Give it a month in primary, 2 weeks in the bottle, and 1 week in the fridge and its a work of art.

Thanks for the recipe!

Thanks for the recipe, looking forward to brewing this tonight.

So I'm relatively new to brewing (have only 2 extract kits under my belt) and was wondering if I need to compensate for the boil off by adding water to the wort in the carboy to reach 5 gallons (like I've done with the kits so far)?

Thanks!

masaou said:

Thanks for the recipe, looking forward to brewing this tonight.

So I'm relatively new to brewing (have only 2 extract kits under my belt) and was wondering if I need to compensate for the boil off by adding water to the wort in the carboy to reach 5 gallons (like I've done with the kits so far)?

Thanks!

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The recipe posted is for a full volume boil, I believe. So whatever your boil off rate, you want to end up finally with 5 gallons at the end of the boil.

If you can't do a full volume boil, then yeah - just boil what you can (let's say like 3 gallons), then top off in the fermenter with water to reach 5 gallons.

You'll get a little lower IBU because of less hop utilization, but it'll still be pretty close. 12IBU for a 3 gallon boil, from what I got from BrewersFriend:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/98679/simple-hefeweizen

You can bump that to 14IBU by adding a 5g more hops above the 1oz called for in the recipe.

Does anyone else get terrible efficiency with using ~50%+ wheat? I just got 56% on my hefe today

So it's literally just 8oz of carahell, 1oz tettnang hops, 5lbs wheat dme and Munich yeast?!

I've brewed this many times - one of my favorites. In my latest batch I reduced the bitterness a little - used OG 1.045, 11.3 IBU's, for a BU:GU ratio of 0.25. I thought the lower bitterness balanced it just right for a hefe. Has anyone else tried this?

I wanted to thank Hooter for posting this recipe. I brewed this over winter with some minor tweaks and I was left with a simple and delicious Hefeweizen to enjoy this summer. My OG was a bit lower than target, but the beer is great tasting. I can live with 4.5% on a summer day. I can always have another.

I kept this one in the fermentation bucket for quite a while and it resulted in a crystal clear beer. Clear pour into glass from 2/3 the bottle, stir the bottle, pour remaining 1/3 into glass. Classic Hefezeizen color, taste, ease of drinking and great in this recipe.

Will definitely brew this again. It was very easy.

Kegged this a week ago and it turned out excellent. Simple recipe with great results. Will brew again.

For such a simple recipe, this hefe is top notch. I plan to never run out of this one. I think on my next go around, I'm going to try a Citra hopped Hefe :fro:

I tried this recipe and when i brewed it, as I was cooling it down with my wort chiller, it become darker. During the boil, the color looked like a hefeweizen but now seems darker. Will the color lighten up?

Just took a gravity reading after about four days in fermenting and it was at 1.020 so it's plugging away nicely. Tasted great already.

Did an attempt at an all grain version of this today. Smelling great so far. Using ale yeast instead, so it's more of an american wheat ale, because it was already in the rotation.

I brewed this again on Sunday but with a couple tweaks:

1.) I subbed in WLP300
2.) I changed the hopping schedule to EdWort's Bavarian Hefe recipe -- 21g Hallertau @ 45 minutes and the remaining 7g @ 15 minutes.
3.) did not use the specialty grains


I guess at this point it's a different recipe, but I still credit HOOTER with making me try this in the first place. Would never have thought to keep it so simple on my own. I tend to over-think and over-complicate things.

I did this recipe a few weeks ago, upped the DME to 6lbs to get a little more bang per bottle. Popped a few after a week in the bottle and they're awesome. Definitely going into the rotation. I'll continue to play with the ABV on it, perhaps move toward a mini-mash from all the extract and will likely carb higher next time. Only did it around 3 volumes b/c I was scared of bottle bombs.