Authentic Bavarian Hefeweizen

[harrymanback92]

Just got done bottling this beer and it will be carbonated in about 4 weeks. The samples I've pulled are delicious. I can already tell all of the flavors I wanted are there. I will post pictures and detailed tasting notes in about 4 weeks.

About this beer: I went to Germany earlier this year and was blown away by how delicious a fresh, properly served Hefeweizen could be. I'm on the West Coast so at the time I was use to only drinking hop bombs and double IPA's. Sipping a refreshing, quenching, sweet, spicy, clove-y, creamy beer changed my perception on what a wheat beer should be. I came home and started trying more and more wheat beers, only to find that a lot of the American Hefeweizen's I was drink were nothing like an authentic Hefe. I did my research and refused to brew a Hefe until I could use all German ingredients, and make the most authentic Hefe that I could. I have to say, at least from the samples, I certainly succeeded at that.


Malts:

7lbs Wheat Malt
3.5lbs German Pilsner Malt
.15 Carapils
.15 Crystal 15
1lb Rice Hulls(for sparge)

Hops:

Hallertau Mittlefruh 3.2%AA
German Magnum 14.1%AA

Mash schedule:
1.5qt water to 1lb grain.
Struck grains at 110F, and slowly brought to 122F over about 15min. Rested at 122F for 20min. Raised to 149F, mashed for 30min. Raised to 156F for 30min. Mashed out at 169F. Vorlaufed for 20min, added in the FWH's(.15oz Magnum, .2oz Hallertau). Sparged with 171F for 45min. Collected all the liquid and brought to a boil.

Hop Schedule:
Boiled for 70min. Added .3oz Hallertau at 60min. Added .3oz Hallertau 30min. 1 pin sized drop of olive oil once wort is cooled. Dry hopped with .15oz Hallertau for 8days.

Yeast:

Made a 1qt starter of WLP300 and wheat dme, w/yeast nutrients(OG of 1.031). Pitched entire starter, liquid and yeast, at 52F. I don't have the best temperature control, but living in the San Francisco Bay Area, our ambient temp is usually around 72-55F. I cooled down my fermenting room at night, down to 55F, and the temp would raise to about 62-64F during the day. I kept it at this temperature range for the entire 10 days it took to ferment.

Bottling:

Add two cups of water, and 1.3 cups of Wheat DME(this may not be necessary to all, but my hefe finished out at 1.010, I was hoping for 1.012-1.014 so I wanted to just add a little bit of body to the beer, hence the DME. Also, I think DME is superior for carbing light beers, but that's purely my opinion-if sugar works for you, do it. If you add sugar though, you would technically be breaking the German Purity Laws. I'm shooting for a carb level of 3 volumbes. A traditionl Hefe should be higher around 3.6, I just don't trust my standard American bottles to hold up to pressure higher than 3 volumes.) I added in a vial of WLP380-Hefeweizen IV yeast. To my surprise, the WLP300 flocculated out more than I was hoping for. I also wanted to intensify the clove-yness, and attempt to get a slight note of apricot.

I know the carapils/crystal15 don't usually get used in a hefe but I had a small amount leftover from another batch and the two were mixed together so I added it. I think crystal15 gives a nice sweetness to beers, but you could probably do without and it would be fine.

The next time I make this I will be adding in 1lb of Munich malt, and I'll be doing a decoction mash. I'll post pictures as soon as the beer is carbonated! I'm very excited about this beer. It's, at least from the samples, the best beer I've made so far.

 

[FuelshopMcgee]

That's a hell of a temperature swing you should really invest in a temp control setup it's really nice to dial in and ferment at exactly the temp you want..

 

[harrymanback92]

Eventually I will be upgrading to fermentation temp control, but do to space and money I can't justify the expense right now. I was able to keep it in the 60-64F range for enough of the fermentation that I created all of the flavors I wanted while keeping the banana in check.

 

[TAK]

What's the olive oil for?

 

[harrymanback92]

http://www.brewcrazy.com/hull-olive-oil-thesis.pdf

This is an interesting paper discussing the use of olive oil. Basically, the olive oil does the aeration for you. I can't get into all the specifics as well as the paper does but it reduces the chances of a beer becoming oxidized, as well as slowing down the rate of fermentation, creating a beer with more esters. Basically,(to my understanding) it creates a beer with more of a flavor profile from the yeast; which seems fitting for a hefe. You need a really really small amount, like less than a pin drop of olive oil. I can see this brew clearly fermented slower and had a ton of flavor. Wether or not that's due to olive oil can be debated, but I'll probably continue to add one of the tiniest drops of oil for this beer.

 

[harrymanback92]

Here's my first pics for you guys. It turned out delicious. Extremely refreshing, full of flavor notes of apricot, clove, citrus, bready goodness, and a delicious creamy mouthfeel. This beer's a 9 out of 10. If I had proper bottles and could carbonate to the 3.4 a traditional Hefe would be, it would be a 10. That is literally my only complaint.


EDIT:
I should mention that it doesn't have the lasting head I would have wanted. I think I'm going to try to add some torriffied wheat and flaked wheat next time. Though, it may well have been the glass I was drinking from-we rinse with detergent. It's just easier to stick a glass in the dish washer.

 

[CharlieB59]

So you pitched with the starter of WLP300... And added the hefeweizen IV when?

 

[harrymanback92]

I added the second yeast at bottling, primarily because the first yeast had flocculated out by the time I bottled.

 

[Halbrust]

How much cloudiness do you think the yeast addition at priming/bottling gave you?
I want a seriously hazy beer and was thinking about doing this as well.

 

[harrymanback92]

It was pretty damn hazy. I also primed with wheat DME so I think that helped.

Now that it's fall and cooling down I'll be brewing this again soon. I don't think I'll be doing as rigorous of a step mash this time around. The beer could have had a fuller mouthfeel than it did, and I suspect that it's due to the step mash. I'll also add flaked wheat and carbonate to a higher volume as I now have some really thick glass.

 

[hopfool]

Old post I realize but the recipe looked very promising and I was curious if it was ever attempted again? I've been searching for a clone of Theo DeGroen's wheat that he brewed back in the day at Baltimore Brewing. This far no joy, but he was supposedly a stickler for maintaining authentic German standards so this looked like a possible good starting point. Used to enjoy his fresh from the brewery, and at the brewery, and everything I've tried since has been a serious disappointment.

 

[harrymanback92]

I realize this is an old thread, I took a hiatus from brewing (moved, new career, got a puppy blah blah blah). I'm back into it!

I will be trying this brew in mid-September/October. I still live in Northern California and have a place in the basement that maintains an average cool temp of 60F (yay! no need for ferm controll) in the fall, so I will be attempting this beer again soon.

Traveling in Germany, I developed a taste for a traditional hefeweizen and have recently read Hops, Yeast and Malt (all three books) and have some wonderful ideas for this brew.

Stay tuned

 

[RodrigoEick]

This recipe looks delicious. Maybe it will be my next hefe, since the first one I did was not so good.

So, the problem you mentioned about the head not lasting, it was the dirty glass or not?

Maybe I will add a pinch of melanoidin to simulate the deccoction effect.

 

[TxBigHops]

I realize this is an old thread, I took a hiatus from brewing (moved, new career, got a puppy blah blah blah). I'm back into it!

I will be trying this brew in mid-September/October. I still live in Northern California and have a place in the basement that maintains an average cool temp of 60F (yay! no need for ferm controll) in the fall, so I will be attempting this beer again soon.

Traveling in Germany, I developed a taste for a traditional hefeweizen and have recently read Hops, Yeast and Malt (all three books) and have some wonderful ideas for this brew.

Stay tuned

Still staying tuned... Any update? LOL!

One note about your fermentation. Even though you may have a steady ambient temp, I wouldn't say you don't need any temp control. Air is not too good at heat transfer, and during high krausen your beer could still rise to 6 - 10 degrees above ambient. But you should be able to easily keep that in check with a swamp cooler. Water is a much better insulator than air. But I'm still jealous that you have a basement with 60 degree ambient. Temp control in Houston is a B!

 

[daggers_nz]

sorry to be a dick, but I'm not sure about "authentic", as the German styles are wheat and pilsner only

By German law, at least 50% of the grist must be malted wheat, although some versions use up to 70%; the remainder is Pilsner malt.

https://www.wyeastlab.com/com_b_styledetails.cfm?ID=170