Protein rest with hefeweizen

[Greg83]

Hello homebrewers. I'm brewing up a peaches and cream hefeweizen that won the American homebrewers association competition in 2010 for fruit beer. I bumped up the recipe and it's as followed

7 lb white wheat
5 lb pilsner
1.5 lb munich

The original recipe calls for a decoction mash but I'm not going to bother and just do a protein rest instead. I've never done one before. It says to

mash in at 112° F for 20 minutes. Infuse to raise temp to 144° F and hold for 20 minutes. Pull first decoction and bring slowly to a boil. Add back, raise temp to 152° F and hold for 60 min. Pull second decoction and add back to raise temp to 159° F and hold for 30 minutes. Infuse to mash out at 168° F Sparge to collect 7.5 gallons of wort and boil.

So would I do a protein rest at 125 for 20 min then raise it to 152 and let sit for 60 minutes then sparge? I don't really know how much water to use either. Northern brewer says about 1 quart per pound when ready to raise the temp.

Any advice would rule as I've never done a protein rest before.

Cheers!

 

[stevehardt]

For what its worth I've never done a protein rest with a hefe. Rice hulls are a good idea.

I'm far from an
expert ....just a man who loves hefes

 

[dcbc]

144 is outside of the typical protein rest range of 120--130 degrees. On my hefeweizens, I typically start low for an acid rest and raise quickly through the protein rest to the sachrification rest at 152, where I hold it until mash out. The acid rest will get you a little more clove character in the beer.

 

[VladOfTrub]

Are you assuming, since you have decided not to do a decoction as the instructions call out, you have to do a protein rest? Does the original recipe call for a 125F rest? If it doesn't, why are you doing one? Follow the temp rests as the instructions call out. Infuse hot water to reach rest temps. Take into account that a certain volume of water is going to be infused, make sure the mash tun will hold it all. A thinner mash converts quicker. A thicker mash preserves enzymes. The original process has an infused mash out. It will thin the extract and make sparging easier. Aside from this and that, a 122-125F protein rest won't hurt. Raise temp from 112 to 125F and rest 20-30 minutes. Raise temp from 125 to 144F and rest. Then go to 152F until conversion. Water will need to be heated for infusing. Why not boil mash, instead? Boiling a wheat mash has benefits. Starch stuck in husk of the pils or left by the grinder, burst. Giving enzymes more to work with. Less starch is carried into the bottle. Protein gum is reduced. Lessening the chance of a stuck sparge in a wheat mash. Also, it takes a larger volume of water than mash to reach rest temps. With the small grain bill, decoction would be easy to accomplish. Altering the original process isn't going to create the same product. The original recipe has a 144F beta rest when starch hasn't been gelatinized. The rest is for a reason and not tossed in because the brewer likes the number. Then, a beta/alpha rest at 152F and a final alpha rest at 159F is employed. Making changes and experimenting are fun. Good luck, brew on...