Should I decoct my hefe?

I've never decocted before but I'm planning on brewing a hefe on Saturday. I'm reading the wiki right now (haven't finished the article yet) but was wondering if there are any tips I should know....or if i should even do it in the first place.

What does a decoction add to a hefe? How much of the mash should I pull out to do it and how many (single, double, tripple) do you recommend for a hefe?

Thanks guys!

(I'll probubly have more q's about this later...)

If I was going to do a decoction I would do it for a Helles or a Bock, not a Hefe. Its controversial whether you get much that is noticable anyways but what you would be looking for is more melanoidins which isn't something you want in a Hefe.

On the other hand if you just want to do it to learn and expand your brewing tool kit it won't hurt anything.

GT

Arrrrgh.

Where are you people buying these under-modified malts?

I don't see any reason to decoct a hefe - it's not something usually done for that style. I certainly wouldn't decoct more than a gallon, to keep the flavour pure. But a decoction mash can be fun, and there's no real reason not to do it is you just want to have some fun.

Really?

I thought hefe's were traditionally decocted?

I figure it would be a fun/traditional thing to add to the brew day but maybe I won't....Lord knows I'm going to have a long enough Honey-Do list this weekend anyway...

Alamo_Beer said:

Really?

I thought hefe's were traditionally decocted?

I figure it would be a fun/traditional thing to add to the brew day but maybe I won't....Lord knows I'm going to have a long enough Honey-Do list this weekend anyway...

Click to expand...

I didn't mean to be a dick about it--it is just that--well, decoctions are highly over-used (notice I didn't say over-rated).

Hefes may very well have been decocted back in the day, but that is only because the brewers were forced to use malts that are not as highly modified as the ones we use today. They were forced to extract as much efficiency out of them as possible. Today, this is simply not the case, and not needed in most styles.

I tend to listen when folks like Greg Noonan write about this in their books. Over-modifying a malt/mash can be do more harm than good in a beer.

It is traditional to decoct a hefe, and personally it's something that I like to do. Whether it adds a ton more character to the beer that it would otherwise not have, it's hard to say - but the hefes I have made have been good, had a real nice backbone to them, and I personally really enjoy the process.

I think a general rule for decoctions is to do one if you enjoy the process, not *just* because you think the beer will be better. I'll concede with what I belive is Dude's sentiment (which is expressed in many other places as well). Much of what you can get for chracter from a decoction, you can get through changing around your grain bill (using some melanoidin malt). But, that's not WHY I'll do a decoction, I'll do it because I like it, I've got the time, and it makes me feel a connection to the old-school German brewers.

I've got my first decocted hefe in a keg right now. I'm really impressed with the results (this is my 4th hefe, but first decocted one). The malty, biscuity melanoidins are just awesome!

Also, +1 on what bird/dude said. It's as much about the process as it is the results.

The point is, you can do more harm to a beer than good by decocting for the sake of "having fun" or "brewing with tradition".

I'm curious....can you guys post some pics of oyur decocted hefes? Certainly decocting is going to change the color somewhat.

Dude said:

The point is, you can do more harm to a beer than good by decocting for the sake of "having fun" or "brewing with tradition".

I'm curious....can you guys post some pics of oyur decocted hefes? Certainly decocting is going to change the color somewhat.

Click to expand...

Wiggity wiggity wham:



The lighting isn't great (and the flash, it does nothing!), so it looks a little darker than it really is. There's probably a touch more golden color in there, but it's not terribly significant.

And yes, you can screw up your beer if you don't know what you're doing when it comes to decocting. So do yer damn research first, people!

Well, I've heard that you can overmodify, but I haven't had any issues with either body or head retention. Of course, I wasn't doing a super-long triple decoction, it was either a single or a double on the first hefe and a single on the smoked hefe. It did have an impact on color, but again, you can control that based on how long of a decoction you do. I don't have pics (I can get one of the smoked hefe), but they were both within the style guidelines; not absolutely pale, but still definately *looked* like a hefe.

EDIT: Both were significantly lighter than what Evan!'s beer looks like.

I have done a few decoction, and honestly they have been my best beer. Granted it could be in my head. But I enjoy the process and it adds some fun to my brew day. If you want to do one go for it, there are a few threads on doing them. My only advice is take out more mash that you think you need and take good notes. I have a bowl that I use to remove the grist that I have calculated how many bowl fulls I have to take out to take to raise my temp to what I need. Also you want to make sure you have full conversion before bringing the grains to a boil, also if you have a way to check PH, its not a bad idea to do so. Just remember to have fun, isn't that what brewing is all about.

I didn't decoct...I still want to but this weekend is just too busy

Thanks for your help guys!

lately, i've been using decoctions to raise my mash temp when i am accidentally low or it drops too much.

it's just convenience in this case...but it's fun and very effective!