Will I ever drink mit hefe again?

[Zymurgrafi]

Ah, warmth at last. All the talk of summer brews especially hefeweizens got me thinking. I used to really enjoy a good hefeweizen. I even brewed one that was pretty decent. The thought of one now though leaves a bad taste in my mouth after my recent slew of unintentional yeasty brews. It seems like a great beer for summer, I just can not bring myself to brew one though.

While on the topic of yeasty brews... Maybe I do not like them period? Maybe the hefe's I have had were not truly such and that is why I did like them? The reason I wonder is because I have never had a wit beer I enjoyed. Some of them tasted of, oh, dry cleaning fluid??? Really unpleasant yeast flavor anyways. The 3 or 4 I have tried were generally from some U.S. micro so maybe they were not very good? I have seen Ommegang wit, which I know is from the U.S. also, but I have enjoyed their other belgian beers, but I have disliked the other wits I have tried so completely I do not want to shell out the $6 or so bucks to try it.

I cannot recall the names of the Hefe's I have liked at the moment, it was usually in a restaurant and on tap but I believe they were German imports.

Anyway, what is my point? uh, or question... Uh not sure. I guess I want to like hefe's again? Or maybe I never really did? uh, yeah, something or other.

 

[Ó Flannagáin]

Dude, you either do or ya don't. I love hefes, traditional hefes. They are quite yeasty though and if you don't like that ... well, you probably don't like hefes. Hefe=Yeast in German. Hefeweizen is litterly yeast wheat.

If you don't like them, ya don't. Plenty of good lighter beers out there for the summer. Brew up a nice pale ale, those tend to go down well on a hot day.

 

[Zymurgrafi]

yeah I know hefe means yeast, thus "mit Hefe" (with yeast) in my title.

I thought I liked them. The one I brewed was pretty decent I thought. I would roll the bottle to suspend the yeast before pouring. I thought the yeast in it contributed a rather lemony flavor and I liked it. It is my unintentional yeast beers that have put me off. For instance, a yeasty Irish red brewed with irish ale yeast? Should not be yeasty and does not taste good.

I am just not sure how to get over the bad yeasty brews I have been drinking.

 

[Ó Flannagáin]

ahhhhhhhh... damn man, you can do it!! a yeasty irish red sounds horrible... gotta be carful on your pour with those!!!!. When I pour my hefes I leave about 1/4 inch of beer in, twirl it around real good, then pour that in.

 

[zoebisch01]

*shrug*

Not sure what is going on in your case. I think the 'yeasty-ness' in unintentional brews will dissipate over time for the most part. I had one brew that tasted yeasty in the first few weeks after bottling, but given time it came around. Try one of your Wheat's decanted, er uhm plus, from what I have gathered you liked your first HefeWeizen so uh? I guess I am confused lol.

Are you saying that you are afraid to brew another Hefe because you had some bad Ales (not wheats but Barley Ales)? I would give yourself some time if that were the case. If you have a Lager-ator make some Pils for summer.

 

[Cheesefood]

Sounds like you're either not letting them ferment all the way, not using a secondary, or both.

 

[Zymurgrafi]

well, I wasn't intending to revisit my problem beers but suffice it to say I determined the problem with the unintentional yeasty ales (and one lager) was a question of an off brand of yeast and yes not enough fermentation time. Although I thinkmost folks would agree that 2-3 months for an ale SHOULD be overkill for fermentation time but with the brand of yeast I was using it took that long to get one to sediment out properly so that it tasted half way decent. The others were done for more "normal" times and tasted awful and yeasty.

I guess what it comes down to is I did enjoy pretty much any style of beer that I have had which is many, and I do not want to "limit myself based on a bad experience...

Any suggestions for some good hefeweizens to get me back on track? I mean really good. I guess I do not want to go and get a half-assed one and then have that convince me to never drink one again. Hopefully I can actually find any recomendations folks have "up here" though it may not happen.

Who knows. Maybe I will even give wits a try again someday with a good suggestion...

Thanks folks.

 

[DeathBrewer]

I love me a good wheat beer. would much prefer and german style than an american. has a bit of yeasty flavor, but i like it. hell, i usually drink all my yeast anyway, sometimes i'll poor brews for my friends and i know they don't like yeast and i'll drink the remainder of the bottle. yummy

btw, Hefe-weisse is "yeast-white" and Hefe-weizen is "yeast-wheat". they're all wheat beers, tho. most beers imported from germany are weisse-bier (white-beer.) interesting stuff, eh?

 

[poguemahone]

As far as hefes go I've always thought of Paulaner as a standard.

 

[Ó Flannagáin]

Paulaner, Schöfferhofer or Franziskaner.... take your pick.

 

[Cheesefood]

As far as hefes go I've always thought of Paulaner as a standard.

Weiheinstephan is the standard, IMHO.

 

[poguemahone]

I'll definitely need to try that then. Hefes are one of the few styles both me and my wife can enjoy together.

 

[BierMuncher]

Maybe it's the weizen you want and not the hefe.

Sounds like you might just want an American style wheat.

 

[Zymurgrafi]

Weiheinstephan is the standard, IMHO.

ah, that sounds familiar. I think that is one that I have enjoyed a few of... on a sunny day, out on the deck of a local cafe. hmmm, to the Beer store!


Yeah, I enjoy american wheats too, but Hefe's I have also enjoyed.

Hefe-weisse? hmmm, I do not think I have ever had one. Is it similar to a belgian wit?

 

[EdWort]

Maybe it's the weizen you want and not the hefe.

Sounds like you might just want an American style wheat.

To me, it sounds like he cannot stand American brewed Wheat beers. I'm the same way.

Once you love a Bavarian Hefeweizen, it's very hard to taste anything else because of your level of expectation. I tasted an East End Brewery Belgian Wit last week and it was good. I was expecting something like a wit.

When I taste an American Hefe, my tastebuds are waiting for something like a Paulaner, Tucher, Franziskanner, Erdinger, Weihenstephaner, etc, but most taste funky like he mentioned. The best domestic hefe I've ever tried, is Pyramid, but my own Bavarian Hefeweizen blows it away.

Stick with German Hefe's when ordering at a restaurant or bar and you can't go wrong.

 

[DeathBrewer]

Paulaner, Schöfferhofer or Franziskaner.... take your pick.

yummy yummy and yummy

 

[LouT]

I double what Ed said. Personally I recommend Franziskaner hefe. Also, the recipe (posted on this board somewhere) for the Franziskaner clone out of Beer Captured is very good! My first try I perfectly matched the bottled Franzi on color and carbonation and head texture/density/retention. I think I was a bit too lightly hopped, though, my boil time was too short by 15 minutes (I screwed up and didn't realize that I deviated from the recipe). The WLP300 yeast from White Labs has been giving the right flavor and aroma, and I have fermented on the lower end (64F). Good luck, hope you decide to go back to drinking "mit hefe"!

 

[DeathBrewer]

i think fermenting on the lower end would be ideal. mine was a little higher (68-70) and turned out with a bit too much banana. it's not really done yet, and i still think it will be good, but i dont think it's gonna turn into a franziskaner.

 

[Ever]

Gotta say, I love Shiner Hefeweizen. May not be up to par of some of the other brews, but it is just a good kick back beer.

Anyone know of a recipe for it?

 

[zoebisch01]

Stick with German Hefe's when ordering at a restaurant or bar and you can't go wrong.

I second the motion


Just bought a case of Franziskaner last night. I love those bottles, they are returns so thick and long lasting. Perfect for storing my wheats.

 

[Cheesefood]

To me, it sounds like he cannot stand American brewed Wheat beers. I'm the same way.

Once you love a Bavarian Hefeweizen, it's very hard to taste anything else because of your level of expectation. I tasted an East End Brewery Belgian Wit last week and it was good. I was expecting something like a wit.

When I taste an American Hefe, my tastebuds are waiting for something like a Paulaner, Tucher, Franziskanner, Erdinger, Weihenstephaner, etc, but most taste funky like he mentioned. The best domestic hefe I've ever tried, is Pyramid, but my own Bavarian Hefeweizen blows it away.

Stick with German Hefe's when ordering at a restaurant or bar and you can't go wrong.

True that. I love Hefe, I tolerate American Wheat. It's really not fair to compare the two simply because they have a similar upbringing.

 

[DeathBrewer]

one derived from the other. and was utterly destroyed with lemon and hops.