First time brewing a Weizenbock

[ToastedPenguin]

Been brewing for a several years but have been brewing IPAs, porter, stouts etc. Staying away from German beers until recently. Just brewed ny first weizenbock and I'm trying to decide if I should keg it like I do for most of my beers or if this style needs to be bottled. Looking for advice from anyone who is familiar with the style and has experience with both options.

Thanks
David

 

[tschoolman]

Hey Dave -

I bottle all of my brews, but made a weizenbock with a friend of mine over Christmas last year. Since he lives 3 hours away, didn't make it in time for packaging. He bottled some for himself, and then kegged the rest. Ultimately, it made it down to me (sat with the in-laws a while). I served it for my sons (plural) graduation party. Holy crap it was good -- my mom even liked the beer and I can't get her off the berry weiss or Mich Golden light (I'm so embarassed...).

I didn't get any of the bottled weizenbock, so having nothing to compare it to. But based on my experience, I would not be concerned at all about kegging it.

 

[seabass07]

There's no reason you couldn't keg a weizenbock.

 

[ToastedPenguin]

I was set to keg until I read a few descriptions on brewing weizenbocks which mentioned bottle conditioning. It wasn't until I did a search on kegging vs bottling that I had the dilemma. The issue with the lack of yeast while serving from the keg was why I was concerned. I prefer kegging unless it's a really big beer.

David

 

[seabass07]

That's preference. Just like a hefeweizen, if you want to keep with tradition/style, you swirl the bottom of the bottle to get the yeast in your glass. It depends on how important that is to you. You could always fill a few bombers and keg the rest to see whether the difference is significant to you or not.

 

[ToastedPenguin]

That's preference. Just like a hefeweizen, if you want to keep with tradition/style, you swirl the bottom of the bottle to get the yeast in your glass. It depends on how important that is to you. You could always fill a few bombers and keg the rest to see whether the difference is significant to you or not.

Good point I might prefer the lower amount of yeast in the beer. I can also bottle from the keg prior to force carbing and use a carb tab to see the differences. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Rev2010]

With both my Hefeweizens and my Weizenbock I don't swirl the bottles because enough yeast gets in from a regular pour. With store bought hefe's and Weizenbock I do swirl, I just found on a homebrew scale it's not really necessary and if I do I get too much yeast. When I pour it's crystal clear at first but near the end the yeast comes in so if it looks too clear at first don't fret. I've found this with both Wyeast 3068 and 3638.


Rev.