1st time Hefe; does it need more?

[shecky]

I'm going with the most basic Hefe recipe possible:

6 lbs wheat DME, 1 oz. Hallertau for 60 mins

I plan on adding 1lb of honey at flameout. Knowing that the honey will thin the body a bit, do I need more to back it up? Some malto-dextrin or flaked wheat perhaps.

 

[damrass]

I did 6.6lbs wheat LME and 3/4oz of Perle for 60 minutes. Yours sounds good too. What kind of yeast are you going to go with?

 

[shecky]

Going with Wyeast 1010 (American wheat) because I plan on adding an orange zest tea at bottling. I don't want to mix the banana/clove flavor of a hefe yeast with the orange.

 

[damrass]

Oh, I just realized you're using DME; I used LME. (And the recipe called for 7lbs, but my HBS only carried 6.6lb containers.) So going by DME to LME conversion, you're using the equivalent of something like 8.75lbs LME.

I'm still something of a newbie myself, so I wouldn't know how much--if any--you should adjust it for the honey but if you weren't using that honey 8.75lbs equivalent of LME would make for a heavier hefe I would think. Maybe a more experienced brewer can chime in.

 

[shecky]

Yeah, it's a fairly big hefe but I think the honey will knock the body down a bit. Input from a more experienced person would be appreciated, as always.

 

[cuinrearview]

My recipe is in this thread. I modified it a bit on the second batch but it came out shagnasty!!! Just read to the end to see the modifications. Everyone that tried it stared at the glass, smiled, then looked at me and told me they liked it. This included BMC drinkers, liquor drinkers, "real beer" drinkers, and my christian friend who drinks a beer once in a blue moon.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=66537

 

[HOOTER]

Going with Wyeast 1010 (American wheat) because I plan on adding an orange zest tea at bottling. I don't want to mix the banana/clove flavor of a hefe yeast with the orange.

Just because your using wheat DME doesn't make it a hefeweizen. The yeast is crucial in a hefe, and using American wheat yeast makes it an American wheat beer, FYI. Big difference.

 

[cuinrearview]

Just because your using wheat DME doesn't make it a hefeweizen. The yeast is crucial in a hefe, and using American wheat yeast makes it an American wheat beer, FYI. Big difference.

+1 Good point, and all the more reason to check out my post. If you want to make a traditional German hefe you HAVE to use a German hefe yeast. You won't regret it.

 

[Freddy57]

Assuming that you are going to ferment about 5.5 gallons of wort, this would probably make a good beer. Your OG should be around 1.050 and assuming that it ferments to 1.010 you should have an ABV of around 5.2 or so. If you are want to lighten that up a bit just use about a pound less of the DME.

 

[shecky]

Just because your using wheat DME doesn't make it a hefeweizen. The yeast is crucial in a hefe, and using American wheat yeast makes it an American wheat beer, FYI. Big difference.

I knew I'd open myself up to that point.

Let's just call it an American hefe. Or I could just call it another wheat beer, which I'm not particularly fond of but am now moving on to my second. SWMBO apparently has more pull than I thought.

I'm guessing this will turn out fine. Thanks for the input.

 

[shecky]

Assuming that you are going to ferment about 5.5 gallons of wort, this would probably make a good beer. Your OG should be around 1.050 and assuming that it ferments to 1.010 you should have an ABV of around 5.2 or so. If you are want to lighten that up a bit just use about a pound less of the DME.

Beersmith estimates OG to be 1.052, FG at 1.012. You're right on on the ABV. Works for me. I'm not one to sit down and have a sixer at a time.