1st hefe-weizen attempt, feedback or suggestions welcomed

[KrausenBoy]

Hi guys,
here’s my first attempt at brewing a hefe-weizen.
Any suggestions on ways to improve it ?

Boil Volume: 5.3 gal (20L)
OG: 1.044
FG: 1.012
ABV: 4.2%
Color: 3.4 SRM (7.7 EBC)
IBU: 13.1

Extracts
Muntons Wheat DME (60/40): 4.4 lb (2 Kg)
Muntons Extra Light DME: 0.55 lb (0.25 Kg)

Grains
Flaked Wheat: 1.1 lb (0.5 Kg) (steeped till boiling)

Hops
Hersbruker 4%: 0.49 oz (14 g) 60min
Hersbruker 4%: 0.25 oz (7 g) 10min
Hersbruker 4%: 0.25 oz (7 g) 5min

Yeast
Wyeast 3068: 1 pkg

Priming
Sucrose: 3.53 oz (100 g)

Procedure
steep the flakes in 1 gal (4L) of water and bring to boil
remove from heat, add malt extracts and stir in
return to boil and boil for 60 min
add 0.49 oz (14g) Hersbruker for 60 min
add 0.25 oz (7g) Hersbruker for 10 min
add 0.25 oz (7g) Hersbruker for 5 min

chill the wort and top off to 5.3 gal (20 l)

Primary for 7 days at 70F (21C)
add 3.53 oz (100 g) sucrose for priming
3 weeks in bottle

 

[CadillacAndy]

Flaked grains need to be mashed in order to convert their starches to sugars. You could skip the extra light DME and get 2lbs of Pilsner malt and do a mini mash with the flaked wheat.

I'd also probably keep your hop addition to a single 60 min addition. The style really only needs some bitterness and doesn't benefit from hop flavor and aroma.

Which yeast are you using? With a normal Hefe strain, the sweet spot is at 62F I've found. I've gone higher (68F, 72F and 78F) and found that the higher you go the more banana/bubble gum flavor you get. Generally the idea is to get a balance of clove and banana and keeping it cool helps that.

 

[KrausenBoy]

Hi CadillacAndy,
thank you for your quick response.

I know that flakes need to be mashed, I goning to add them just for the body and to improve head retention. Does this seem correct to you?

I will follow your advice about hops and I'll use only one 60 min addition. Speaking of which, I just find out that my LHBS Hersbruker hops has 2.2% and not 4% of AA as previously reported, it is correct to double the amount (i.e. from 0.49 oz to 1 oz)?

I'll use 1 tube of Wyeast 3068 and I'll try to lower the temperature as musch as I can.

It could be difficult for me to find the Pils malt at the moment, do you think that the Extra Light DME is totally ut of style?

thank you

kb

 

[CadillacAndy]

Adding a pound of flaked wheat will just add a whole bunch of starch to your beer. Mashing them adds sugar, as well as other proteins, etc that add to body and head retention. I would really advise against just steeping them.

You would just about double the bittering addition if the % aa is 1/2, so that is correct.

That's the yeast I would recommend for this style. I prefer it over White Lab's hefe strain. Using the extra light is fine, I was saying to use the Pilsner malt in it's place so you could do a mini mash with the flaked wheat. It's really just a matter of using 1 quart per pound of grain and keeping it at about 150F for 30 mins or so. It will make a significant difference when using flaked grain.

Let me know if that doesn't make sense. Happy to provide additional information.

 

[KrausenBoy]

Hi CaddilacAndy,
thank you again for your feedback.

Following your suggestion, I’m going to skip the extra light dme and using pils in its place for a mini-mash.

I'll also use only one 60 min hop addition doubling its amount, everything else stays the same.

Just to get this straight, 1 quart is about 2 lb, isn’t it? (I live in the metric half of the world)

I'll let you know how it goes.

Cheers

 

[KrausenBoy]

Hi,
after two weeks in fermenter and other 2 weeks of bottle conditioning here is my 1st hefe-weizen attempt and, moreover, my 1st partial mash.

The beer is very drinkable with a good wheat aroma and a noticeable, but not annoying, banana aftertaste. It has a good head which, I don't know why, is more persistent in the bottle than in the glass.

The only drawback is that it is not so hazy as commercial hefe-weizen beers. It seems that all the yeast and proteins have settled out soon after I racked the beer and all the bottles have now half an inch of sludge at the bottom. I don't care too much about the low haziness of my beer but I'll try to add more flaked wheat next time.

Thank you for your advises CadillacAndy.

Cheers