Weihenstephaner Vitus Recipes Thoughts
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WLP611 did not in any way give my attempt at Vitus the same banana ester that it provided in my recent Bavarian Weiss. The "Weizenbock" wasn't a bad beer, just wasn't Vitus, just wasn't what I was aiming for.
hi i am nir from israel
i read almost all the posts about wieznbock vitos
i deicide to try the first recpie an it probably
the best beer i brew
<iframe width="100%" height="500px" src="http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/embed/383862" frameborder="0"></iframe>
i do no chill and the mash temp was 64C
kept the bottles in cold condition about 18C
THANK YOU FOR THIS GREAT RECIPE
i read almost all the posts about wieznbock vitos
i deicide to try the first recpie an it probably
the best beer i brew <iframe width="100%" height="500px" src="http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/embed/383862" frameborder="0"></iframe>
i do no chill and the mash temp was 64C
kept the bottles in cold condition about 18C
THANK YOU FOR THIS GREAT RECIPE
5 gallon, 60 min, 155F
3 lb 6 oz Light Munich (Weyermann)
14 oz Pale Wheat (Weyermann)
14 oz Pilsner (Gambrinus Organic)
6 oz Melanoidin (Weyermann)
3.3 oz Bavarian Wheat LME (Briess)
2 lb Pilsen DME (Briess)
2 lb Wheat DME (Briess)
1 oz Spalt, German (60 min)
2/3 oz Hallertau, German (15 min)
1/3 oz Hallertau, German (5 min)
Hefeweizen Ale Yeast WLP300, no starter, pitched at 78F
2 weeks primary, 3 weeks bottle
SWMBO choice, starting with @loco 's recipe above, converted to inferior lb/oz weights, converted to partial-something, tweaked for ABV/IBU and whole ounces. Ingredients were 100% from Barley & Vine, which sadly are going through their closing sale. First taste 21 January 2017.
3 lb 6 oz Light Munich (Weyermann)
14 oz Pale Wheat (Weyermann)
14 oz Pilsner (Gambrinus Organic)
6 oz Melanoidin (Weyermann)
3.3 oz Bavarian Wheat LME (Briess)
2 lb Pilsen DME (Briess)
2 lb Wheat DME (Briess)
1 oz Spalt, German (60 min)
2/3 oz Hallertau, German (15 min)
1/3 oz Hallertau, German (5 min)
Hefeweizen Ale Yeast WLP300, no starter, pitched at 78F
2 weeks primary, 3 weeks bottle
SWMBO choice, starting with @loco 's recipe above, converted to inferior lb/oz weights, converted to partial-something, tweaked for ABV/IBU and whole ounces. Ingredients were 100% from Barley & Vine, which sadly are going through their closing sale. First taste 21 January 2017.
Not a clone.
In a side by side tasting, mine is significantly darker, with more bite, some of it caramel (Melanoidin?), some of it black pepper (Spalt?).
I would replace the Melanoidin with wheat and reduce the Spalt.
OTOH, the WLP300 is nice.
That said, I like mine better.
SWMBO prefers real Vitus but likes mine, and affirms that this is a failed clone.
In a side by side tasting, mine is significantly darker, with more bite, some of it caramel (Melanoidin?), some of it black pepper (Spalt?).
I would replace the Melanoidin with wheat and reduce the Spalt.
OTOH, the WLP300 is nice.
That said, I like mine better.
SWMBO prefers real Vitus but likes mine, and affirms that this is a failed clone.
aaronm13
Well-Known Member
Brewed this a few weeks back using the recipe in the OP. Bottled last week and sampled last night. Was surprised how quickly it carbed up. Have to say even in its early stages it's really good and not a million miles away from Vitus. Colour was slightly darker but still had the cloudiness of Vitus. My yeast seemed very sluggish during fermentation for some reason so don't think I got it's full profile but definitely get hints of banana. Has a bit of a funky smell for want of a better word that I'm not happy about. Smelled like vitus in the fermenter but unfortunately this is gone. Overall I'm really happy with it and would brew again. Going to Germany rnext week so will be able to sample the real deal in the Weihenstephaner bar, just for educational purposes though.
Beerswimmer
Well-Known Member
My best success was
7lbs pils
7lbs red wheat
1/4lb Special B
1 smack pack 3068, no starter
Mash @150
ferment start @ 68F and let free rise in a 72F room.
Banana, clove, malt.
7lbs pils
7lbs red wheat
1/4lb Special B
1 smack pack 3068, no starter
Mash @150
ferment start @ 68F and let free rise in a 72F room.
Banana, clove, malt.
danbrough
Member
Vitus is one of my favorite beers. I've been making wheat beers for ages and have never been particularly happy with the banana/clove mix from 3068/WLP300. What strikes me about vitus is it's a bit Belgian, some bubblegum and orange behind the strong clove and banana.
Often the yeast packs I get are a bit old and I seem to do better batches top-cropping the first and pitching a small amount of healthy yeast with plenty of aeration and also yeast nutrient. Avoiding trub helps with the esters too. One of biggest improvements was using "speisse" to bottle condition. I reserve around 10% of the wort in the freezer till its ready to bottle. You need the fizz with hefe's and weizenbocks and sugar ruins the body and hefes are not meant to be 6% and dry tasting.
Anyhow, I havent had a vitus in 6 years as I've never seen it in NZ, till last week.
I added some wort to the dreggs, swirled and poured it into a jar. It was fizzing after a day and I topped the jar up to around 300ml and once there was some brown yeast lumps on top I grabbed those and added them to a second jar, which I then built up to pitching size.
I could smell that it was the Vitus yeast!
My first hefe I've made with this yeast has almost finished and its a very different yeast than 3068.
I didn't get a big krausen, though there is plenty of yeast on top.
I'm fermenting at 22c and I've never come across that amount of phenols using other german wheat beer yeasts, nor banana.
Its got a strong banana nose, plenty of clove underneath but also vanilla and some cinnamon spice and orange.
Its definitely Vitus.
According to the stats, Vitus is 7.7% ABV, 17 IBU, 5 SRM? and 16.5% gravity by weight, I assume this is same as brix which equates with 1.067 OG.
So to get 7.7% you need to finish at 1.009 which is a whopping 86% attenuation. (3068 is 73 - 77%).
I often use the split mash technique to increase the attenuation of my wheat beers.
1: Take half the grain and mash at 63c in a thick mash for half an hour to generate the maltose.
2: Mix with the rest of the grain and lots of cold water for a mash at around 4L/kg at 39c, to produce dextrose. 1 hour.
3: Proceed from there.
I usually raise it all to 65c, pull a thick decoction to 70c for 10m, boil 15 mins, mix and raise it all up to 70c till converted.
For getting a clean low trub wort, I'll often then drain the mash from the tun and boil the wort for 20 mins and then add it back to the mash tun
before recirculation. (Leaving lots of break material behind in the mash).
My understanding of the logic behind that is that the enzymes that convert maltose to glucose/dextrose get denatured at high temps,
so you produce the maltose using half the mash and then rest all of it back down at 39c to produce glucose/dextrose.
More glucose results in more attenuation and also banana. The rests at 70c provide enough dextrins to maintain the body.
My plan for a Vitus clone would be 60% wheat and 20% Vienna and Pilsner. Maybe a large first wort addition of something noble, like hallertau and a single 10 min addition, but the hops arent that important as long as they are in the background.
Good luck!
Often the yeast packs I get are a bit old and I seem to do better batches top-cropping the first and pitching a small amount of healthy yeast with plenty of aeration and also yeast nutrient. Avoiding trub helps with the esters too. One of biggest improvements was using "speisse" to bottle condition. I reserve around 10% of the wort in the freezer till its ready to bottle. You need the fizz with hefe's and weizenbocks and sugar ruins the body and hefes are not meant to be 6% and dry tasting.
Anyhow, I havent had a vitus in 6 years as I've never seen it in NZ, till last week.
I added some wort to the dreggs, swirled and poured it into a jar. It was fizzing after a day and I topped the jar up to around 300ml and once there was some brown yeast lumps on top I grabbed those and added them to a second jar, which I then built up to pitching size.
I could smell that it was the Vitus yeast!
My first hefe I've made with this yeast has almost finished and its a very different yeast than 3068.
I didn't get a big krausen, though there is plenty of yeast on top.
I'm fermenting at 22c and I've never come across that amount of phenols using other german wheat beer yeasts, nor banana.
Its got a strong banana nose, plenty of clove underneath but also vanilla and some cinnamon spice and orange.
Its definitely Vitus.
According to the stats, Vitus is 7.7% ABV, 17 IBU, 5 SRM? and 16.5% gravity by weight, I assume this is same as brix which equates with 1.067 OG.
So to get 7.7% you need to finish at 1.009 which is a whopping 86% attenuation. (3068 is 73 - 77%).
I often use the split mash technique to increase the attenuation of my wheat beers.
1: Take half the grain and mash at 63c in a thick mash for half an hour to generate the maltose.
2: Mix with the rest of the grain and lots of cold water for a mash at around 4L/kg at 39c, to produce dextrose. 1 hour.
3: Proceed from there.
I usually raise it all to 65c, pull a thick decoction to 70c for 10m, boil 15 mins, mix and raise it all up to 70c till converted.
For getting a clean low trub wort, I'll often then drain the mash from the tun and boil the wort for 20 mins and then add it back to the mash tun
before recirculation. (Leaving lots of break material behind in the mash).
My understanding of the logic behind that is that the enzymes that convert maltose to glucose/dextrose get denatured at high temps,
so you produce the maltose using half the mash and then rest all of it back down at 39c to produce glucose/dextrose.
More glucose results in more attenuation and also banana. The rests at 70c provide enough dextrins to maintain the body.
My plan for a Vitus clone would be 60% wheat and 20% Vienna and Pilsner. Maybe a large first wort addition of something noble, like hallertau and a single 10 min addition, but the hops arent that important as long as they are in the background.
Good luck!
danbrough
Member
As a follow up. I made a weizenbock with the Vitus yeast (and also a hefe).
I followed my plan as posted previously but went with 50% wheat, 30% Pilsner and 20% Vienna.
Very happy with it. The vitus yeast was easy to use and though it's quite young, my weizenbock is tasting great with no noticeable off-flavours.
Much higher attenuation than 3068/WLP300. No sulphur either. Flocculateswell.
Unfortunately I couldn't get a Vitus to compare it too, but it smells and tastes like the real thing (from memory).
I followed my plan as posted previously but went with 50% wheat, 30% Pilsner and 20% Vienna.
Very happy with it. The vitus yeast was easy to use and though it's quite young, my weizenbock is tasting great with no noticeable off-flavours.
Much higher attenuation than 3068/WLP300. No sulphur either. Flocculateswell.
Unfortunately I couldn't get a Vitus to compare it too, but it smells and tastes like the real thing (from memory).
