Widmer Hefe, other AG Hefe?

I picked up some Widmer Hefeweizen the other day while brewing. Now I know what kind of Hefe I need to make for this summer. I'm looking at doing my first AG in two weeks time and trying to find a good recipe for it. I'm thinking Widmer Hefe might be a good place to start. Has anyone ever made this before? If so, how were the results? Good recipe? I can't seem to find a clone in any of my several clone books...

If not, anyone have a good AG Hefe recipe that's not too hard for a first AG? I'm looking for something fruity like Widmer. Anyways, if you've never had it before, I whole-heartily suggest you try it!

-Ben

If you like Widmer, then you'll love a real hefeweizen.

Never had widmar, but traditional german hefe's are some of the easiest and best beers to make. 40-70% wheat malt, rest German munich and/or Pils/2 row. Add an ounce or so of hallertauer for 60 minutes then pitch some TRUE hefeweizen yeast (I recommend WLP300 White Labs).

Well I've got some background, both from their website and from HBT. It seems the big claim is that they "defined" the American Hefe style more or less. Quite a lofty claim if you ask me. However people do refer to the WL 320 as the "Widmer" yeast, so, perhaps some truth there.

As expected, it uses Pale, Munich and Wheat, and also uses some Carmel 40. Their site also lists the hops used, those being Cascade and Willamette for finishing and Alchemy for bittering.

-Ben

Maybe this isnt the best idea for a first AG brew... perhaps a second.

I'm about to do something similiar and I'm using WLP320. I came across a supposed 'Widmer clone' the other day during my research. I'll see if I can find it. It was a fairly easy recipe, IIRC.

from the White Labs website:

WLP320 American Hefeweizen Ale Yeast
This yeast is used to produce the Oregon style American Hefeweizen. Unlike WLP300, this yeast produces a very slight amount of the banana and clove notes. It produces some sulfur, but is otherwise a clean fermenting yeast, which does not flocculate well, producing a cloudy beer.
Attenuation: 70-75%
Flocculation: Low
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 65-69°F
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

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EDIT> found it!:
From the September 94 issue of All About Beer Magazine:

"Hefe-Weizen a la Widmer Brewing":

1 BBL recipe: 31 gallons/117 liters (divide by 6 to make 5 gallons)

25 lbs (11.3kg) American wheat malt
25 lbs (11.3kg) American two-row barley malt
3 lbs, 2 oz (1.4kg) Munich malt
1 lb, 3 oz (540gms) 40L carmel malt
11 oz (312gm) American Tettnanger hops
3 oz (85gm) American Cascade hops


Mash in at 120 degrees F (49C), hold 60 minutes. Raise to 158F (70C) for conversion. Boil wort about 1:30 plus; whirlpool. Ferment with a good ale yeast. Do not filter.
Original gravity: 11 plato
(SG: 1.044); 4.5 % alcohol
Terminal 2.1 plato
(SG: 1.008)
color 7 SRM

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They imply that this is Widmer's actual recipe. You'll note that no AA% is given for the hops and the yeast is a little vague! I'd go with the WLP320. I think the critical ingredients may be that yeast and the munich malt.

Well, mixing your recipe and some info I've found, I came up with this:

Grains:
4.5 lb 2-Row Pale malt
3.5 lb Wheat malt
0.5 lb Munich
.25 lb Crystal (or carmel) 40

Hops:
0.5 oz Tettnang (60)
0.5 oz Tettnang (40)
0.5 oz Tettnang (30)
0.5 oz Cascade (5)

WL 320 American Hefe

Does this look... just?

I'm a little worried doing this for my first AG. The whole... step-mash thing. Would it make sense to mash in to my mash tun at 120, let sit for 60 minutes. Then, transfer to my brewpot, heat it quickly up to 152, and transfer back to my mash tun??? Might as well jump right into AG guns blaring.
-Ben

The defeaning silence leads me to believe this isn't a great way to start out AG....

I would recommend just doing a single infusion mash for your first AG. I'm going to be brewing a wit using that technique.
If you want to do a step mash in a cooler there are two recommended methods. One mashing in with a really thick mash (.75-1 qt/#) at your first temp. Then adding boiling water to bring your temp up to your second rest. This is called a step infusion.
The second technique is after your first step, pull out a volume of thick mash (more grains than water) and bring it to a boil before adding it back into the mash. This is a decoction mash.
Until I get a good feel for AG brewing in general I will stick with single infusion.
Craig

I think I'll double it up. I'll do an IPA for my first AG this weekend and a Widmer-esque Hefe a few days later, assuming everything went well.

Will it hurt to do some transfering back and forth between my Mash tun and brewpot?

-Ben