Hefeweizen Taste Concern

[woodwaybrewz]

Hello: I have brewed a grand total of two batches. My first was a Hefeweizen. I followed the instructions and ended up only doing 7 days primary and 7 days secondary. After reading this forum for a couple of weeks I now know the secondary was probably unnecessary and the beer could have used an extra week in the carboy.

It has been 3 weeks since I bottled and I taste tested one of my beers. It was pretty good, but I am tasting a little sour aftertaste. With this being a Hefeweizen, will leaving the bottles sitting for another couple of weeks help?

 

[Ultrazord]

3 weeks is typically the min for bottles. It should taste decent but give it another few weeks and it should be better. I typically go 2primary/2secondary/2-3bottles or 3/3 for single stage. I basically aim for 6 weeks before testing. More doesn't hurt it usually

 

[microbusbrewery]

Hello: I have brewed a grand total of two batches. My first was a Hefeweizen. I followed the instructions and ended up only doing 7 days primary and 7 days secondary. After reading this forum for a couple of weeks I now know the secondary was probably unnecessary and the beer could have used an extra week in the carboy.

It has been 3 weeks since I bottled and I taste tested one of my beers. It was pretty good, but I am tasting a little sour aftertaste. With this being a Hefeweizen, will leaving the bottles sitting for another couple of weeks help?

That's really not too bad of a timeline based on my experience with hefe's. Mine usually ferment pretty quickly and this style is meant to be served young. Keep in mind this style is supposed to have a lot of yeast in suspension. Tartness from yeast is appropriate for the style.

 

[Grinder12000]

To actually answer your question. Maybe.

Off taste can come from many things including your water. The aftertaste MIGHT get better. I've had totally unsinkable brews taste awesome 8 weeks later.

So it's a MAYBE.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

Everybody has a process. Mine is 4 weeks primary, 4 weeks bottle conditioning and 24-48 hrs fridge.

 

[HopHeadGrady]

Sounds like a little more conditioning is needed. I think my next batch may be a Hefe.

 

[Cpt_Kirks]

OT: Why in the world would you secondary a Hefeweissen?



We really need to kill the "secondary myth". It causes a lot of extra work, infections and bad beer to be brewed by new brewers.

 

[TopherM]

I am tasting a little sour aftertaste

What temp did you ferment at? I would bet you fermented at a higher temp (70F+), and just have some off flavors that you will need to condition out. Let the bottles sit at room temp for 3-4 more weeks and that sour taste will mellow and you'll have a much better beer.

 

[woodwaybrewz]

Thanks for the comments. After about 4.5 weeks in the bottle, I tried another of these Hefe's tonight and it was great! The mantra that so many experienced brewers here have advocated, "Give it time to clean up", has really been spot on.

I had a pyramid haywire hefe after drinking my beer and I was shocked how much better my homebrew tasted.

 

[Pezman1]

Glad it got better!

My routine for Hefes:

2 weeks primary at 68 degrees with Weihenstephan yeast.
6-7 oz priming sugar (5 gallon batch)
3 weeks in the bottle.
Pez.