Hefe-Weizen advice please

I'm going to brew my first German Hefe-Weizen today and was wondering if there were any suggestions or advice on brewing this recipe:

6 lb. wheat DME
4 oz.German Munich malt
1 oz. German Hallertau Hersbrucker
Wyeast's 3056 Bavarian wheat yeast

Steep(150F) 4 oz german munich in half gallon water for 20 min.
Strain grain water into brew pot
Sparge grains with half gallon water at 150F
Add water to brew pot for 1.5 gal total volume, bring to boil and remove from heat
Add DME and hops
Add water to 2.5 gal total volume, boil 60 mins
Cool wort, transfer to fermenter, add water to 5 gal, pitch yeast at under 80F

pretty straight forward; any notes or tweaks I should consider?

sparging at 170F?
Boil a smaller amount of DME and do a late addition with the rest?

Thanks

What about aroma hops at the end?
Blow off hose vs. air lock?

thanks

No need to do a second water addition. It'll take longer to bring stuff to boil twice. No need for aroma hops in a hefe. It's all about the yeast in this style. I would add some of the DME later, at least that's what I do with lighter styles like this. In a boil this large it probably won't matter, but it won't hurt either. Your recipe looks good. Be prepared for a violent fermentation possibly requiring a blowoff.

+1 on the blow off tube

better safe than sorry

my first brew was a Hefe Weizen man did that thing make some foam

went all the way down the blow off and some into the pan of star san

+2 on the blow off tube.

I'll always use a blow off on Hef's for the first week in the future. I didnt the first time and it made a nice mess.

At 2.5 gal of water I would add 2.5 lbs of DME and boil for 45 mins., remove from flame and add the remaining DME.

Add top off water to the primary bucket and pour the wort into it. Pretty straight forward.

does the blow off container go above or below the fermenter?

Great tips on the blow off tube for Heff's. I'll take that advice as I hopefully will be brewing a Heffe this w/e also. any additional tips is greatly appreciated.

The only other tip pertains to all beers, and that is temperature control during fermentation. With the hefe yeast a few degrees will make a big difference in flavors. I've not used this Wyeast strain, but the White Labs WLP300 I used produced a big (too much for me) clove aroma and taste in the finished beer when I held it at 66 degrees. When I brewed it again I let it get warmer, between 68 and 70 degrees. The clove was quite restrained and there is a bananna/bubble gum flavor when it's fermented just a few degrees warmer.

everything went smooth. I steeped at 160 instead of 150
bolied 4.5 lb.DME instead of all 6 lb. added the last 1.5 lb after the boil. Hit my target SG and pitching temps. fermenting at 72F (recipe calls for 70-75F). Blow tube was already gurggling this morning so all is good. Thanks everyone for the help!

So I know that this yeast is known for banana flavors, but my whole damn room smells like bananas. kind crazy in there with all the noises and smells....like a jungle

How long should I leave this beer in primary? The recipe says 7-10 days then bottle. I have a hard time with that. Seems like not long enough. But, what I read is that Hefes are ready quickly. So I plan on at least two weeks. Im in no hurry; should I go for four weeks?

This is the exact recipe i will hopefully be doing Wednesday (supposed to get all my supplies tomorrow).

Hefe's are supposed to be consumed a little young but i would think that 2 weeks or so like you have planned should do it and then 2-3 weeks in bottles for carbonation and aging.

Do you guys think that two weeks is long enough in primary for this recipe?

Hoserama,
Newbie here haven't done a Heff yet but planning on this Sat as I finally got my Chiller.
But as a Heff is a Yeasty beer and all about that flavor and cloudy clarity. I'd say 10-14 days would be good.
As for aging from my readings it's drank young..3-4 weeks.
So a question for you, how do the SG readings taste? Any good?

if you really want to get those banana and glove flavors try fermenting at a warmer temperature. (like 75 degrees). Let your hydrometer tell you when fermentation is complete.

I did a hefe my 1st batch, fermented 7 days, there was alot of sediment in bottle that was chunky. I think I will wait a little longer On the next one!

This looks like the Paulaner clone from the Szamatulski Clone Brews book.
I have made this one a couple of times and it was always a crowd pleaser.

The late addition of the DME will help to lighten the color.

Both of mine were a little darker than advertised.

Cheers!

i'm drinking a homebrew hefe right now.brewed 2 weeks ago!It's delicious i couldn't wait

I'll be brewing my Hefe Oat tomorrow. I have never steeped oats before. My brewmaster told me to steep at 160F for 30 minutes. Then you have to sparge. That's where I'm a little iffy about. Do I sparge into another container with water and is the temperature the same or different?

I do secondaries even for my HWs.

Rack to the secondary after the gravity drops 75% from the OG.

By using a secondary you allow more of the yeast to fall out. 3-4 days is enough to clear some. Add only a little of the yeast back (into the bottling bucket). This way there won't be much sediment in your bottles.

OK so this Paulaner Hefe that I made has been in bottles for two weeks now. I tried one last night and it tasted weird. I can't tell if its bad or just different. It smells like bananas but has no banana flavor. I must confess though that I have never had a german hefe and for all I know thats how its supposed to taste. The only hefes Ive had are the widmers, pyramids and blue moon types. It smells like a hefe but the taste is just funky and also strong. I didn't mind it near as much toward the end, but I can tell you that if it doesnt improve I would have a real hard time drinking more than one at a time.

Any thoughts or similar experiences?

CPAle said:

OK so this Paulaner Hefe that I made has been in bottles for two weeks now. I tried one last night and it tasted weird. I can't tell if its bad or just different. It smells like bananas but has no banana flavor. I must confess though that I have never had a german hefe and for all I know thats how its supposed to taste. The only hefes Ive had are the widmers, pyramids and blue moon types. It smells like a hefe but the taste is just funky and also strong. I didn't mind it near as much toward the end, but I can tell you that if it doesnt improve I would have a real hard time drinking more than one at a time.

Any thoughts or similar experiences?

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I am in the exact same boat right now. I've been bottling conditioning for about 10 days now and it smells really bananaish but it barely has any banana taste. More of a clove taste. I have been Germany and tasted many Hefe's and they all taste slightly different. How long have you let it bottle condition?

CPAle said:

OK so this Paulaner Hefe that I made has been in bottles for two weeks now. I tried one last night and it tasted weird. I can't tell if its bad or just different. It smells like bananas but has no banana flavor. I must confess though that I have never had a german hefe and for all I know thats how its supposed to taste. The only hefes Ive had are the widmers, pyramids and blue moon types. It smells like a hefe but the taste is just funky and also strong. I didn't mind it near as much toward the end, but I can tell you that if it doesnt improve I would have a real hard time drinking more than one at a time.

Any thoughts or similar experiences?

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Go buy a Paulaner Hefe at a local beer bar.
That will give you some reference point to start from.

???

HIT_MAN said:

I am in the exact same boat right now. I've been bottling conditioning for about 10 days now and it smells really bananaish but it barely has any banana taste. More of a clove taste. I have been Germany and tasted many Hefe's and they all taste slightly different. How long have you let it bottle condition?

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its been two weeks now....

de_ronde said:

Go buy a Paulaner Hefe at a local beer bar.
That will give you some reference point to start from.

???

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Great idea, but I cant remember ever seeing a Paulaner Hefe on tap. There is a beer store near me that has about every beer that is allowed in the states. Maybe I will go hunt one down.

CPAle said:

I must confess though that I have never had a german hefe and for all I know thats how its supposed to taste. The only hefes Ive had are the widmers, pyramids and blue moon types.

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Blue Moon is a witbier (a Belgian style of beer); aside from being wheat beers, wits are not very closely related to hefeweizens. Other examples include Hoegaarden and Allagash White:
BJCP 2008 Style Guidelines - Category 16

Widmer and Pyramid are American pale wheat ales aka American hefeweizen, which is a different style from a true German hefeweizen, though related. They tend to have less of the phenolic (banana/clove) flavors than a real hefeweizen.
American wheat:
BJCP 2008 Style Guidelines - Category 06
German weizen:
BJCP 2008 Style Guidelines - Category 15

But taste descriptions aren't very useful without actually tasting a beer, IMO. Go find a Paulaner or another German hefeweizen and try it.

I've brewed several batches of this recipe variation using different yeast strains (Wyeast Hefe, WLP380, WLP300) to try and match the type of Hefe's I like. I've found best luck with the WLP300 strain at around 68 degrees. I haven't been able to match the taste until this weekend. I'm in Switzerland for work and had a Schneider-Weisse at lunch. To my surprise, it tasted exactly like my Hefe and was even a close match on color even though I thought mine was too dark for a Hefe.

jchadscud said:

I've brewed several batches of this recipe variation using different yeast strains (Wyeast Hefe, WLP380, WLP300) to try and match the type of Hefe's I like. I've found best luck with the WLP300 strain at around 68 degrees. I haven't been able to match the taste until this weekend. I'm in Switzerland for work and had a Schneider-Weisse at lunch. To my surprise, it tasted exactly like my Hefe and was even a close match on color even though I thought mine was too dark for a Hefe.

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WLP300 is Weihenstephan 68 hefe yeast, same thing as Wyeast 3068 (pure strain S. delbrueckii yeast.)

Well I had a couple of these beers last night; after a month in bottles it has improved drastically. I was worried that I brewed some bad beer for a while there, but patience pays off. Turns out, this just may be the best one Ive made so far! But, with a partial mash one week into bottle conditioning and my first all grain in primary; I have a feeling it will be short lived...

Thanks for all the help everyone

Another thing to consider is never bottle until the sulfur odor is gone.

HIT_MAN said:

I'll be brewing my Hefe Oat tomorrow. I have never steeped oats before. My brewmaster told me to steep at 160F for 30 minutes. Then you have to sparge. That's where I'm a little iffy about. Do I sparge into another container with water and is the temperature the same or different?

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You're not really sparging, you're just rinsing the grains. I would just pull the bag out, put it in a colander or a strainer or something, and pour a few cups of hot water over the grains and let it drain right back into the pot.