My FIRST Hefeweizen. Supply List and Tips?

[lashack]

Hey home brewers.

I am very new to home brewing and hope you all can answer some simple recipe ingredient questions before I start the purchasing of supplies and also answer some brewing process questions. My favorite beer is a wheat beer, specifically hefeweizens, so naturally I want to brew some up. I conjured up the list of ingredients and recipe from the two links below.

http://tinyurl.com/maxflhy
and
http://tinyurl.com/kbz3vv4

Do these recipes seem to be worthy enough for a good hefe? [Extract]

Here are the ingredients I plan on purchasing (5 gallon batch):
2 X Briess Dried Malt Extract- Bavarian Wheat- 3 Lb.
1 X German or US Tettnang Hops? (What'll be the difference?)
1 X White Labs Hefeweizen IV Ale Yeast WL380

IF SO, are the items listed above the correct quantity and ingredients laid out in the recipe?

I am looking for a banana focused so what is the best temp. to ferment at for this?

Please comment and give me any tips for all you out there that have experience with brewing hefe's. I plan to tweak and perfect this batch over time to have my self a new favorite beer I can finally call my own.

Thanks, lashack

 

[Zepth]

I usually lean towards a 50/50 split between wheat and pale ale malt. The DME listed shows 65/35 for wheat and assuming lightly kilned barely. While accurate and to style it isn't what I've done in the past. I also have to fear that whole stuck sparge scenario.

I'd go for the German hops. Simply put it's a German beer, use the German hops. No thinking required. In the past I've gone for Wyeast 3068. It's the same strain so you should be good to go. I'd recommend the smack pack for ease of use. With something that doesn't have a very high OG you should be fine without a starter with it. With the 380 it's going to be highly recommended at the very least.

As far as fermentation temp goes I've always enjoyed my hefes to be a "difficult for weather to wreck" brew in the middle of summer. Pitch when ambient is 20-22C, let the yeast do their thing. Make an effort to cool the ferm room at night by opening the window, close it in the daytime. Suppose it could be easier to say "I ferment my hefes on the high side."

Happy brewing!

 

[lashack]

Thanks Zepth.

I found in the 1st link listed that a 65/35 is recommended, and even in the 2nd link a 70/30 is used for the actual Yazoo Hefe (one of my favorites).

If I did go with 50/50 over something more wheat intensive, would the taste vary dramatically or is stuck sparge be the main thing I would be trying to avoid going?

P.S. Just learned about stuck sparge

 

[RM-MN]

If you are going to brew with extract, you don't need to worry about a stuck sparge as that only happens when you are brewing all grain. With extract you will be limited to the amount of wheat as the maltsters have difficulty with wheat if it is over about 35% of the grain bill when they are making the extract. For this batch, just use the wheat malt extract. Much of the character of the hefeweizen comes from the yeast used so your choice is probably the best.

If you decide you want a hefeweizen with more wheat you'll have to go to all grain. If you do, ask again on the best way to deal with wheat. I've used as much as 60% wheat and have learned how to avoid stuck sparges and get good efficiency.

 

[Imperator85]

You're limited by how the extract is prepared, which isn't necessarily a problem in this case as you'll definitely have the wheat malt character. An extract Hefeweizen should be a fairly simple beer to brew.

As far as the hops are concerned, you only really need them for bitterness (low bitterness...anywhere from 5-20 IBU's or so). Traditionally there should be little to no hop flavor or aroma in a Hefeweizen. German noble hops would be most appropriate, but there would nothing inherently wrong with using an American version. The key is to let the wheat and yeast character shine.

Wyeast 3068/White Labs 380 is a good yeast strain for a Hefeweizen (some might say it is THE strain for Hefeweizen). It might put off some sulfur aroma during the fermentation. If that happens, do not freak out and just let the yeast do their thing. The aroma will fade away by the time you drink the beer.

 

[SDJay]

If you use the Wyeast 3068, use a blow-off tube, and make sure you have adequate headspace in the fermenter, o/w it can get messy!

 

[Fathand]

If you use the Wyeast 3068, use a blow-off tube, and make sure you have adequate headspace in the fermenter, o/w it can get messy!

I wholeheartedly agree with this suggestion. I just brewed a Hefe with 380 and it totally needed a blow off tube for the first few days.

You mentioned that you are a new brewer so if you plan to ferment in a brew bucket do a google search of "blowoff tube in a bucket" and take a look at how you can rig this up with the siphoning tubing you should already have.

 

[lashack]

Traditionally there should be little to no hop flavor or aroma in a Hefeweizen.

So this means to only steep the hops for a short period of time during the boil of the Wheat/Barley DME, correct?

 

[lashack]

I wholeheartedly agree with this suggestion. I just brewed a Hefe with 380 and it totally needed a blow off tube for the first few days.

You mentioned that you are a new brewer so if you plan to ferment in a brew bucket do a google search of "blowoff tube in a bucket" and take a look at how you can rig this up with the siphoning tubing you should already have.

Glad to know this. I currently have two fermentors, blow off and airlock. I will be sure and use the blow off tube during my Hefe brew process.

 

[peterj]

So this means to only steep the hops for a short period of time during the boil of the Wheat/Barley DME, correct?

When people say "hop character" they are usually talking about flavor and aroma. The longer you boil hops the more flavor and aroma you boil off. But also, the longer you boil them the more bitterness they will provide. So for a hefeweizen which has low bitterness and low flavor/aroma you would want to boil a small amount of hops for around 60 minutes.

 

[Zepth]

So this means to only steep the hops for a short period of time during the boil of the Wheat/Barley DME, correct?

Nope. It means the exact opposite. The longer hops are in the boil for the less flavour and aroma you end up with in the final product. These are caused by volatile compounds that break down and boil away. You also increase bitterness from having a longer boil with the same amount of hops.

IE: 1oz hops @ 15 minutes = low IBU, high aroma
1oz hops @ 60 = Higher IBU, less aroma

Before dedicated brew software I liked using Brewer's Friend for all my calculation needs.

 

[bembel]

This is an EXCELLENT write on all things Weizen and has both extract and AG recipes as well as tips and explanations.

https://byo.com/grains/item/2265-german-hefeweizen-style-profile

Worth the 10 minutes, you will learn a lot.

My 2 cents, (unless you don't mind a darker beer), you will never get the light, ethereal quality of a true German Weizen using extract and the flavors will never come close. (DME or LME has already been boiled once, you are boiling it twice),

Why is this bad?

Well, think about a cup of freshly brewed coffee vs. a cup of instant, yes, they are both coffee but instant tastes, well, like instant, (even the highest quality instant) since it has already been cooked once, and then processed. I used to work in Hamburg for an instant coffee manufacturer, and they make the best of the best, but you will never come close to fresh since its already been cooked. Every time you add heat to a food or process it away from its original state you are changing and denuding some of its essential flavors.

Extracts (at least for Weizen) are the instant coffee of beer IMO. They are convenient and save time, and come close but will never give you a finished product like AG will.

A 2.5 gallon batch of AG using BIAB and a single step mash will only add an extra 90 minutes to your brew-day but you will be amazed at the result.

 

[dand]

I have made and enjoyed a few extract wheat beers and will give you my very non expert opinion/tips on my experience so far.

What do you normally like to drink for wheats? Try to find out what yeast strain they use or what commercially available comes close. Everyone talks about wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan as THE wheat beer yeast, but i didn't care for it, i liked what i made with the safbrew WB-06 better, and am trying my latest round with Wyeast 3942, Belgian Wheat.
You might want to do one boil, and seperate it into 2 or 3 smaller batches or do a smaller 2.5 gallon batch and try a few different yeast strains so if you find you don't care for the yeast you used you're not stuck with 5 gallons of beer that you don't enjoy.

Much of the beer and homebrewing info talk about aging your beer, and that patience is a virtue and that months have to go by before it really hits its peak (other than IPA's of course). I found this was not true for most of the wheats i have done. Give it a few weeks to finish fermenting, then a few in the bottle to carb up and start enjoying it right away, don't let it sit too long waiting for it to get better.

Fermenting warm can be good if it's a specific temperature to get a desired flavour, but too warm can be a bad thing. Whatever yeast you decide to use look it up and see what flavours it gives at certain temps as they can very quite a bit.

 

[flatlanderHQ]

You can brew an excellent hefe with either all extract or partial mash methods. I have done both numerous times and they are more or less indistinguishable. If you use the freshest extract available, pitch enough healthy yeast, and control fermentation temps, you will produce a great hefe. With 3068 I like to ferment at 62, as this produces a nice balance between esters and phenols. Warmer temps will boosts the banana note, but don't go overboard.

Note: If you are using older extract, adding 6-8 oz of sugar to the boil will increase its fermentability.

To keep the colour level right, add 50 - 75 % of your extract at flameout. This will produce a beautiful pale gold beer.


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