Wanna brew a Hefe. Need Opinions.....

[bsigmon1103]

I'm brewing 2 gallon batches and the recipe is as follows:

1lb of Bavarian wheat DME
1lb of Pilsen Light DME
.25 oz of hops, but not sure what to use. Cascade?

Using WB-06 Yeast

Once the DME is dissolved I plan to boil the hops for 30 min. and pitch the yeast at 68°. Ferment for 3 weeks at around 68°, bottle and another 3 weeks.

Opinions?????

 

[Tremblay]

Opinions? 2 gallons lasts me 2 evenings. Brew more...


Other than that, i doubt 30 minutes is enough for the hops to do its job on the flavor of the beer.

 

[SittingDuck]

Remember too that wheat DME is not 100% wheat. It is a blend of wheat and barley, so adding the same amount of pilsner malt cuts your wheat percentage WAY down.

 

[gtlaw10]

since the title refers to a hefe i have to assume you're talking about the german hefeweizen and not the american wheat - my answer would be different.
you're going to want 100% wheat dme grist for the very reason outlined above that unless you specifically get pure wheat dme (it exists i believe) any wheat extract is between 45% - 75% wheat and the remainder either regular 2 row or pils malt. for a hefe you want to maintain a >50% wheat grist - easiest way is to use only wheat extract.
as for hops, hefes are traditionally made with noble varieties.
finally, i second the call for a full 60 min hop addition as hefes dont have hop flavor (which with a 30 min boil would be slightly apparent in the beer), just dissolve some of your dme for isomerization (though apparently the boat is out on whether you even need anything besides water for isomerization of the oils...) and add the rest with 5 mins to go. cool and pitch.
keep in mind that the higher the temp with wheat yeasts the more pronounced the banana phenols will be, if you want a nice balance of clove and 'nana try ~63F.
happy brewing sir.

 

[bsigmon1103]

Thanks for the help!! I'm going to pick up some noble's and hopefully some 100% wheat dme tonight. As for the 2 gallon batches. I want to get very comfortable with process before I switch to anything more.

 

[bsigmon1103]

Bought Hallertau hops and more wheat dme. Hefe here I come

 

[Sharkman20]

You may want to consider a late DME addition as well if you're shooting for a lighter color hefe. What I did was added 1/3 (roughly) of my DME for the full boil to get my hop utilization, then added the remaining 2/3 of DME in the last 15 minutes of the boil. I just racked it into secondary today and added some more orange peel (I'm doing the blood orange hefe recipe from Extreme Brewing) and I'm very happy how it came out. It's just as light as any commercial hefe I've seen. I'll be bottling it up this Saturday.

I fermented at 66-68 degrees for the duration and it has some definate bananna notes to it, but I like that in a hefe. Can't wait to get this stuff in a bottle so I can start drinking it.

 

[bsigmon1103]

Wow blood orange Hefe Sounds delicious. I will definitely do that!

 

[jimmywit]

I have done the Blood orange recipe out of extreme brewing and it came out great!! I also did the same recipe with Valencia oranges and it was pretty good as well. You can get the recipe online. The kiwi Wit is fantastic. I have done the recipe out of the book and done my own all grain recipe for it as well. I brew it every spring. It is a fantastic refreshing brew!! If you like Wheat beer you will love the Kiwi Wit.

 

[SittingDuck]

I actually took the blood orange hefe and the kiwi wit recipes and turned them into a naval orange wit. Best beer to date.

 

[malevolent]

Hefs are delicious