First Hefe-weizen recipe - comments please!

[JustcallmeMrT]

I'm brewing my first hefe, (4th brew ever - still very new to this all) and would like some feedback on my recipe. I've been playing around with hopville's beer calculus and looked at a variety of hefe recipes on this site, and this is what I've come up with:

4lbs Muntons Wheat DME
3lbs 5oz Coopers Wheat LME
4oz Belgian Aromatic
4oz German Munich

0.8oz Tettnanger whole dried hops (3.8% AA) @ 60 minutes

Safbrew WB-06 Dry yeast
5 tsp yeast nutrient

Steeping the belgian aromatic and munich malts for 30 mins in 2 gallons of water at 155F, then adding 1lbs of the DME and bring to a boil. Add hops at 60 mins and remainder of DME and LME at 10 mins, along with yeast nutrient. Chill and top up to 5 gallons.

Planning to ferment at 65F, then bottle.

Beer calculus gives me the following:

OG: 1.057
FG: 1.014
IBU: 12.8
ABV: 5.7%

What do you guys think? Any comments or suggestions would be much appreciated!

 

[stikks]

I would switch out the yeast with WLP 300.If you want the banana ester.
I think 06 is more for an American Wheat.300 is more true to the style.
just my thoughts.

cheers

 

[FowlerBlades]

1Lb seems a little light on the boil gravity.

most comments I've heard have suggested 1.040 boil gravity to optimize hops utilization.

admittedly I don't have first hand knowledge to back it up but I would probably do all the DME at 60min

 

[JustcallmeMrT]

Thanks for the advice guys! I've been wondering how much of the extract should be held back for late additions, so if my boil should be at 1.040, that answers that question too.

 

[CrookedTail]

A few things:

First your OG is a bit high. If you want to meet the BJCP guidelines for a weissebier, the OG should not exceed 1.052. That said if you want a higher gravity brew, there is nothing to stop you from making one.

Second, in a hefe I'd use DME only. I use LME in a lot of my beers, but for some reason DME produces a better hefe. At least that's my opinion. It also produces a lighter-colored one. Use late extract additions if you are doing a partial boil (2-3 at the beginning of the boil, the rest at 15-10 mins.)

Third, Munich and Aromatic malts both need to be mashed. You're using such a small amount that you could probably get away with "steeping" it at 150-155 degrees, and letting it sit for 45-60 minutes. I understand you want to add a little complexity by including these malts (I use a pound of Vienna in mine), but remember that more than anything else, it's the yeast that dictates the flavor of weizens. Which brings me to the most important issue: use liquid yeast in your weizen. I get why you want to use dry yeast. I use US-05 in most of the beers I brew. But in this type of beer go with a liquid strain. It's the one time where I noticed a major improvement in the finished product. Use Wyeast 3068 or WLP300. You won't regret it.

Going back to DME, here is the color it can produce for you in a hefe-weizen. This is 5 lbs of DME, 1lb of Vienna and half a pound of carapils, fermented with 3068. It comes out great every time:

 

[JustcallmeMrT]

Wow... that looks FANTASTIC! If I can get mine looking like that and tasting nice and fruity, I'll be in heaven! I'll see if I can pick up one of the liquid yeasts you recommended at the LHBS...

18 days left 'till brew day... can't wait!

 

[JustcallmeMrT]

Ok, so I brewed this beer on April 16, sticking with my original ingredients, but subbing in the wyeast 3068 instead of the dry I had in the recipe. I had an OG of 1.047 and pitched the yeast at 71F and kept the fermentation at those temps for a week - it was going like crazy! This weekend I brought the ferm bucket down into the basement, swirled it slightly to rouse the yeast a bit and ensure things had fermented out, and left it cool to 57F. I was hoping to bottle tomorrow, so I checked the FG tonight, and it is down to 1.012, which is right on target according to Hopville, but it seems like there is still a krausen on the top of the beer! I've never used this yeast before, and this is only my fourth brew, so I have no idea what to make of this all. I tasted the FG sample and it was great, but still lots of suspended yeast. Is fermentation done? Do I wait, or rack and bottle? What's up with my beer? Any help or comments would be great!

 

[JustcallmeMrT]

Actually, on closer inspection, it has the colour and clarity of the beer posted by CrookedTail, so perhaps the amount of yeast in suspension is still typical of this strain.

 

[angrybits]

I would switch out the yeast with WLP 300.If you want the banana ester.
I think 06 is more for an American Wheat.300 is more true to the style.
just my thoughts.

cheers

I don't agree with this, i think WB06 makes a great ester profile if you ferment in the 70's, and you won't have to dork with a starter.

 

[JustcallmeMrT]

Any suggestions on whether to bottle while that second Krausen is hanging around?

 

[kaconga]

Hefe yeast doesn't floc well so it might take longer for it to fall completely. I let mine sit for 3 weeks from the time I pitched it and it was pretty normal looking at the end of that time. Might check your gravity over a few days and if its stable then it should be safe to bottle.

 

[CrookedTail]

Any suggestions on whether to bottle while that second Krausen is hanging around?

I just let it sit for 3 weeks in the primary, then take a gravity reading.

 

[BandonBrewingCo]

I did a very similar beer to this recently and i left it ferment at a bit too high a temp and it was as way over the mark with the banana and bubblegum esters. I was devestated, ready to chuck the whole lot down the drain... my first step up to from kits gone to ruin

But after some great advice i left the beer in a dark closet and now John Paulaner can go and lick my sweaty ballsack because my hefe is way way better

Anyway, looks like a great beer, let the krausen sink back in before racking, up to 5-6 weeks in the primary won't do your beer any harm.

 

[duboman]

IMO if I brewed on the 16th I would not consider bottling it until the 6th of May, about 3 weeks, This yeast takes forever to floculate and still won't completely. Just be patient and you will be rewarded handsomely.

 

[JustcallmeMrT]

Noooo! Ok, looks like I should have checked back sooner, as I bottled yesterday! I did a bunch of other searches, and most recommended bottling this type of beer young. I kept my daily hydrometer readings and it was steady for 3 days running, so I skimmed what was left of the foam from the surface and bottled. Well, best case scenario I get beer, worst case I get bottle bombs... fingers crossed, will let you know how it turns out.

 

[discooby]

I don't agree with this, i think WB06 makes a great ester profile if you ferment in the 70's, and you won't have to dork with a starter.

+1 for WLP300!
Never used WB06; For a hefe I would only use WLP 300! I turn my nose on the rest!

Whats this about dorking and bonking a starter?!? I’ve never heard such things! And I’m shocked! But, I did see how preparing WB06 reads like a novel…

But after some great advice i left the beer in a dark closet and now John Paulaner can go and lick my sweaty ballsack because my hefe is way way better

attaboy!

 

[angrybits]

I did see how preparing WB06 reads like a novel…

I am not sure how their rehydrating procedure managed to confuse you, but they offer this as well:

"Progressively sprinkle the dry yeast into the wort ensuring the yeast covers all the surface of wort available in order to avoid clumps. Leave for 30 minutes and then mix the wort e.g. using aeration."

So you prefer a starter (mini wort, flask boil/cool, stir plate) to that? Cool story, bro.

Anyway, to the OP, don't get too sucked up into the religion. See what works for you by trying different things -- you will likely be quite surprised by what you'll find when you do. I used 300 and 380 for my first two hefes and they made good beer, egg farts notwithstanding. I have a wheat in a keg right now that I fermented with WB-06 at 73F ambient that tastes absolutely wonderful and smelled like banana bread the whole time it was in the bucket. Dry yeast is freakin bulletproof, and you can definitely make great beer with it. In fact, it will make superior beer if you can't get fresh, properly handled liquid or are not willing to properly handle it yourself.