Weissbier Bee Cave Brewery Bavarian Hefeweizen

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Brewing this now. Dropped the .75 of hops shortly after the boil started and will add the .25 at 15 out. We will see how it turns out.
 
I've made this a few times, or close variants of it, and really like it. The last time I did it, I tried a ferulic acid rest at 113F and it made a big difference in the amount of clove. I've always used 3068 or "Stefon" from Imperial, which appear to be the same strain.

When comparing this beer to Weihenstephaner or Paulaner hefeweizens, the imports both have a more orange color and a slightly maltier flavor. In truth I like the less malty homebrew a little better, but I want to know what is different about the imports' recipes. Anyone have an idea? Is this maybe due a decoction step or use of melanoidin malt? I've seen both referred to many times in hefeweizen discussions.
 
Holy crap. whoever suggested going straight with a blow off tube? Thanks haha. It managed to fill my 2L soda bottle... had to swap it out to my 5g carboy jeeeesus. Its going like a champ though.
 
WhoDatDad78 said:
Wow that is impressive. Should have posted some beer porn.
Click to expand...

oh I got pics lol.. ill post up here in a second. only downside of 3068 is it smells like ass fermenting.

went over to my parents for a few hours.... and it had surpassed the top of the bottle (mild cleanup ensued).
HOGQibR.jpg


gross...
9rgkRiL.jpg
 
Yup, mine blew it's load even though it was a 5.5 gallon batch in a 7.9 gallon Speidel.
 
stever1000 said:
Do you maintain the 71 throughout? pitch lower, and raise it to 71?
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I have a ferm chamber and keep it at 71 if I want the banana to predominate. Sometimes I am going for a little more clove and ferment it at 68. At either temp the vigor of the ferment is impressive. Largest blowoff tube you can find is in order.
 
Tried the FG sample right before tossing it into the keg. Holy mother of banana's batman. This thing is awesome even warm and flat. Wow.

Was a little off on my fg 1.012 instead of 1.010, but I dont care really ~4.99% abv is fine. I can see this one going FAST.

0ls3QM8.jpg
 
Last time I made this I did a ferulic acid rest at 113F and it definitely produced more clove character. Since then I have read that 109F may be better. Note that I left out the mash phosphoric acid until after this step, since it supposedly works better at higher pH. I would encourage anyone wanting more clove to give it a try.

Right now I am fermenting a variation on this recipe, with 1 lb honey malt, 0.75 oz Hull Melon at 10 minutes, and 1 oz Hull Melon for a 30 min whirlpool. The hope is... honeydew hefeweizen. I omitted the ferulic acid rest as I didn't think the clove would help. Not sure how banana and melon aroma will go together, but we'll see soon. If nothing else this will give me a good idea what honey malt does, I have never used it before.
 
SDJay said:
I have a ferm chamber and keep it at 71 if I want the banana to predominate. Sometimes I am going for a little more clove and ferment it at 68. At either temp the vigor of the ferment is impressive. Largest blowoff tube you can find is in order.
Click to expand...

Excellent information - I can't wait to brew this one!
 
Has anyone tried this recipe with some strawberrys thrown in post fermentation? Also had a question about the wheat. I can only get Great Western white wheat or Briess red wheat. Would either work well for this? Thanks for any help in advance.
 
Horseflesh said:
I've made this a few times, or close variants of it, and really like it. The last time I did it, I tried a ferulic acid rest at 113F and it made a big difference in the amount of clove. I've always used 3068 or "Stefon" from Imperial, which appear to be the same strain.

When comparing this beer to Weihenstephaner or Paulaner hefeweizens, the imports both have a more orange color and a slightly maltier flavor. In truth I like the less malty homebrew a little better, but I want to know what is different about the imports' recipes. Anyone have an idea? Is this maybe due a decoction step or use of melanoidin malt? I've seen both referred to many times in hefeweizen discussions.
Click to expand...

I haven't done a back to back blind test, but I *feel* like a 10 minute decoction to mashout gives a little more malty flavor to mine. I also use a lb or so of munich and/or vienna malt in place of some of the pilsner. I haven't tried melanoidin yet, but I may.

I did do a blind test of my beers against spaten and some other munich brand, and the main difference I could tell is my beer was a bit fresher. I lived just outside of munich for 6 years and developed a real taste for authentic bavarian hefeweizen, so i've been making small tweaks to the recipe to match my memory.

In my experience, it is key to do a 111 degree rest, and also key to ferment at 62-64.
 
Greg83 said:
Has anyone tried this recipe with some strawberrys thrown in post fermentation? Also had a question about the wheat. I can only get Great Western white wheat or Briess red wheat. Would either work well for this? Thanks for any help in advance.
Click to expand...

Not sure about strawberries, but my last 10 gal batch, I added a can of raspberry puree to half of it, and it was a big hit! We're brewing it again this weekend and going to add the puree to the entire batch this time. Should be a panty dropper!!!

With regard to grain, I prefer to keep it authentic with only German wheat and Pilsen, but it will still make a great beer with whatever grains you use. There's really not much color difference between red and white wheat. My preference would be the red.
 
Did you add the puree to the mash, boil, or fermenter?

If you remember the brand you used that would be great. There could be differences in added sugars, etc. Never seen it in a can before... but I never looked either.
 
Horseflesh said:
Did you add the puree to the mash, boil, or fermenter?

If you remember the brand you used that would be great. There could be differences in added sugars, etc. Never seen it in a can before... but I never looked either.
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http://www.northernbrewer.com/orego...4kD3VtSq6A3Rx8BTaRovhSoRXkro1d0cykaAmYR8P8HAQ

This is what I used. All the LHBSs I use in Houston carry it. It's a 3 pound can. May be a bit too much for a 5 gallon recipe. I had some people ask me if the beer was a sour. LOL. We're cutting back about 20% in our next batch. We racked 5 gallons of a 10 gallon batch onto the puree in a secondary last time. This time the entire batch is going to get the raspberries, so we'll just add it to the fermenter after primary fermentation is mostly complete. Probably about 6 days in.

I'm pretty sure you can also get strawberry puree in this same brand. I just haven't looked for it.
 
Thank you for the details. I'm definitely going to try this, light on the puree and maybe with some honey malt. I too find my fruit beers are always more tart than I expect or want.
 
So if I only have 5 gallon carboys and a 2 3 gallon carboys, seems I should use 2x3 to maximize headspace for a 5 gallon batch. Or I need to scale down to below 4 gal. Think I'm gonna brew this next weekend.
 
Tommydee said:
So if I only have 5 gallon carboys and a 2 3 gallon carboys, seems I should use 2x3 to maximize headspace for a 5 gallon batch. Or I need to scale down to below 4 gal. Think I'm gonna brew this next weekend.
Click to expand...

This thing if you use the Whesteph yeast needs a TON of head space or a blow off tube setup.
 
Will flaked barley work in this recipe...I like a big fluffy head! How much is too much? Or flaked oats? Or flaked wheat?
 
I don't have any German Wheat or German Pils, but I do have some American White Wheat and Belgian Pils. Any reason not to try with those grains?
 
babaganuj said:
That will be perfectly fine. Happy brewing! :beer:
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Excellent. This will be my first attempt at a Hefe, I'm looking forward to it. :mug:

Just got back from the homebrew store. I grabbed the last package of 3068 they had, and was surprised to see it was manufactured 9 days ago!

We also have a local maltster now producing, among other things, a German style Pils. I plan on trying some when I run out of my Belgian.
 
Ferment is at29 hours. I can hear the blowoff from the next room! I know this recipe is a few years old, is everyone kegging/ bottling at 10 days? Or will another week help this one?
 
I brewed this in December or so and am pretty sure I bottled at the end of 10 days or maybe I took it 11. My 5 year old ran off with my little note book from that brew.
 
theowlman16 said:
Ferment is at29 hours. I can hear the blowoff from the next room! I know this recipe is a few years old, is everyone kegging/ bottling at 10 days? Or will another week help this one?
Click to expand...

I did 10 days just as stated, went spectacularly well.
 
I did 11 days and had a sulfur bomb on my hands. Never did clear up. Drank(forced down) 3 or so gallons of it and dumped the rest. Not sure what went wrong. I'm wondering if the yeast was funky as few others had similar outcomes around the same time.
 
I've made this a few times and the sulfur has always cleared up. The last few times I used G01 Stefon which is supposed to be the same strain, and it does seem like it. If you have access to Imperial yeast, maybe give it a try next time. (It felt weird not to use WL or Wyeast but it was fine!)
 
I used WLP300, maybe it will turn out better than 3068? I'm at 4 days, gonna wait until full 10 to check gravity.
 
Brewed this on the 11th, over shot it a bit and OG was 1.060. Went off crazy but has been slow but still active these last few days. 0.020 on the 19th, 0.017 on the 22nd, and 0.016 tonight the 25th.

Question is, should I let it keep slowly working or push it to the keg for conditioning, as it will be served at a friends party on March 12th?
 
I plan on brewing this in 2 weeks, just before going on vacation, so it might sit in primary for about 4 weeks. Is that possibly too long? Hefes are apparently better fresh?
 
What volume of water should be used for mash and sparge on this recipe for 5.5 gallons? I know I have to account for losses and such.

Horseflesh said:
I find the banana aroma does fade quickly, but... You'll still have good beer when you return. I wouldn't worry about it.
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wingnut037 said:
Brewed this on the 11th, over shot it a bit and OG was 1.060. Went off crazy but has been slow but still active these last few days. 0.020 on the 19th, 0.017 on the 22nd, and 0.016 tonight the 25th.

Question is, should I let it keep slowly working or push it to the keg for conditioning, as it will be served at a friends party on March 12th?
Click to expand...
 
WhoDatDad78 said:
What volume of water should be used for mash and sparge on this recipe for 5.5 gallons? I know I have to account for losses and such.
Click to expand...

I usually mash at around 1.5qt/lb.

As for how much water you need is largely dependent on your brewing setup. No one can really answer your question with what little information you provided.
 
I decided to try something different this time, and added 12 oz of frozen raspberries to a chilled, carbed keg of this hefe. After just 8 hours the raspberry flavor was PERFECT and I pulled the berries out. If you like fruit beers, you gotta try this.

I broke the rules, of course... Opened a keg to let oxygen in, and added fermentable sugars. But I bet I will finish this off before any of that matters!
 
I made a batch of this, over boiled and ended up at 1.060 OG. I wanted to get all kind of phenol and esther profiles so I only pitched 1 smack pack of the 3068. Now it has been 10 days and I'm at 1.028. I shook my carboy and back to the fermenter it went at 68°F. Should I be considering a second pitch?
 

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