Weissbier Bee Cave Brewery Bavarian Hefeweizen

[Hawaiianbrewer]

I’ve been following this thread for awhile and slowly ordering everything I need for this brew. Unfortunately, ordering German wheat malt is becoming a major headache as my LHS only carries American and American red wheat and cannot get German wheat anytime in the near future. I have the 3068 yeast, hops and German pils on hand. I may be forced to substitute with an American type wheat until German wheat is available.
Question-If I brew this using all other ingredients the same as the recipe but substitute to an American type wheat, any suggestions about how it might turn out (good, bad, not worth it?) I know it will be different, but my question is HOW different. This recipe looks phenomenal and has received such great reviews, I just don’t want to waste my ingredients on something that’s completely different. Any thoughts? Aloha

 

[ImperialLover]

Hey brother. It's a good brew either way. I know that there is a flavor variation between the german and american wheat malts; however, I don't believe it is that outrageous. They are the same style of malt and can't be vastly different. I would give it a try with american since you can get it easily and if you get a hold of some german wheat then I'd do a crash brew with it to find out if it's a flavor you'd like to add to it. Or you can make them both completely and figure out which you like the most. A lot of banana and clove flavor off of that yeast and that will probably dominate the flavor a lot more than the variance (Within the same style) of malt. Keep us posted on how it goes for you brother.

 

[Jps7117]

I'll be brewing this tomorrow!

 

[Ki-ri-n]

I just tapped another

 

[MilwaukeeBrewGuy]

i don't think mine turned out so good...yet? I have this tang to it. I know most hefe's are like this but anyone else notice this? I missed my gravity but added dme to it to boost it up. Started out good with lots of bananna which has since dropped out and left me with this tang. Brewed it on Feb. 26th or so. I think my ferm. temps were a bit too high.

 

[EdWort]

I have this tang to it.--- added dme to it to boost it up. ---- and left me with this tang.

There ya go.

 

[MilwaukeeBrewGuy]

Thanks Ed. I did boil the dme before adding it but you are right it is probably the cause for the tang even though I only used 1 pound. A few searches showed that lots of extract brewers get this tang....

Anyone know if this tang will condition out with time?


[EDIT]:Actually it has been about 7-8 weeks and i think the twang is starting to subside already. I also added an orange slice which also helped cover the twang.(shameful I know)

 

[dragonlor20]

I’ve been following this thread for awhile and slowly ordering everything I need for this brew. Unfortunately, ordering German wheat malt is becoming a major headache as my LHS only carries American and American red wheat and cannot get German wheat anytime in the near future. I have the 3068 yeast, hops and German pils on hand. I may be forced to substitute with an American type wheat until German wheat is available.
Question-If I brew this using all other ingredients the same as the recipe but substitute to an American type wheat, any suggestions about how it might turn out (good, bad, not worth it?) I know it will be different, but my question is HOW different. This recipe looks phenomenal and has received such great reviews, I just don’t want to waste my ingredients on something that’s completely different. Any thoughts? Aloha

Don't fret too much about this. I substituted American malt as I have been spoiled having a LHBS now where I didn't where I lived before, and the results are still really good. It is all about the yeast in this one, an authentic German yeast is more important than the malt in my opinion. Just get started, in 3 weeks, you will be happy you didn't wait any longer.

 

[dragonlor20]

Thanks for the great recipe Ed. Thought I would share:

I live by myself, so this will dominate my kegerator for a little while. Thanks!

 

[GRHunter]

I just brewed this up yesterday. I think I messed something up when I entered it int BeerSmith because the mash water volumes looked really weird. My OG was only 1.042 and I'm sure it was because of the mash water volumes. Next time I not going to blindly let BeerSmith tell me what to do. But I tasted the beer from my hydrometer and wow, it was pretty darn good. So even if the ABV comes out a little low, if it maintains it's flavor I'll be a happy camper.

 

[mbaker33]

I brewed this up a little more than a month ago for the second time. Both times have been huge hits.

The first time I used a German Wheat yeast, different from the Bravarian used in the recipe. This created a very mild Hefe, more in line with some of the Americanized Hefe's from Harpoon, or Widmer.

This time I kept the recipe in tact but performed a decoction. Wow, the decoction really adds a level of sweetness that is very impressive. It's a lot more time consuming, but I think it brings it more to style.

Great beer Ed, so far every recipe I have made of yours has been a big hit.

 

[craigbrew]

I haven't read the whole thread so I'm not sure if this has been answered yet. Has any one done a step mash with this? I so could you post your times and temps.

 

[Diablotastic]

Thinking about using a little bit of natural vanilla extract and natural banana extract at kegging.....thoughts?

 

[jlpred55]

I am a big weizen drinker. I've made nearly 20 batches of it in varing grain bills, none ever used this much wheat. Until now I have no idea why! Well, I've just tapped a keg of this beer last night that was brewed on 5/23. It is now 2:30 in the afternoon here and I cannot wait to get home to have my Rastal weizen glass full of it. I did change the recipe up a bit but only added 4oz of melanoidin and over shot my gravity by 7 points. The rest was the same. This is one fantastic beer and the mouthfeel is excellent. Very light and drinkable with an incredibly smooth mouthfeel. Time to re-brew as this isn't going to last too long.

Thanks for the recipe and the inspiration Ed.

 

[EdWort]

Thinking about using a little bit of natural vanilla extract and natural banana extract at kegging.....thoughts?

Sacrilege!

Follow the recipe, hit the temps, and you'll have plenty of those notes naturally.

 

[EdWort]

I had two German Weizen fans over last weekend. These two Germans went through 3/4 of a keg in a Saturday evening/Sunday afternoon.

They could not stop talking about it or drinking it. Best validation evah!

 

[PVH]

Best validation evah!

I love moments like that. A friend of mine can't drink Paulaner (his favorite beer) anymore after going through a six pack of my hefe. The difference between a fresh, well-homebrewed hefe and the big commercial versions is pretty stark. The latter is just a shadow of the former.

 

[JMass]

Hi EdWort Weizen fans. I'm ready for round 2. I went to my HBS and picked up some ingredients yesterday. Unfortunately, I have no fresh hops for this one, but I have some Hallertau pellets kicking around the freezer and if they aren't enough, I'll add some of my homegrown Sterling.

This one was a big hit last time around - no surprise based on the other entries above. I got addicted to the combination of drinking this beer and eating cherries.

I'm just getting into water chemistry and have soft water. I'm thinking of adding some Ca and Mg to get up to suggested ranges for this brew.

 

[JMass]

After a little googling here is what I came up with:

Starting Water (ppm):
Ca: 3
Mg: 1.4
Na: 10
Cl: 11
SO4: 8
CaCO3: 5

Mash / Sparge Vol (gal): 2.2 / 6
Dilution Rate: 0%

Adjustments (grams) Mash / Boil Kettle:
CaCO3: 0 / 0
CaSO4: 0 / 2
CaCl2: 2 / 2
MgSO4: 1 / 2
NaHCO3: 0 / 0
NaCl: 1 / 0
HCL Acid: 0 / 0
Lactic Acid: 0 / 0

Mash Water / Total water (ppm):
Ca: 68 / 53
Mg: 13 / 10
Na: 57 / 23
Cl: 200 / 93
SO4: 55 / 82
CaCO3: 5 / 5

RA (mash only): -51 (1 to 6 SRM)
Cl to SO4 (total water): 1.14 (Balanced)

 

[JMass]

This was my first water adjustment brew. From memory I used 1 tsp chalk, 1/2 tsp. CaCl2 and 1/2 tsp of Epson salts.

I use a plastic fermenter and had a few overflows. I'll need to hose off the lid at some point. Even the overflow tastes pretty good - banana milkshake?. I'm probably a little over 68F for ferment, so I'm guessing this'll be a little more banana tasting than my last batch. The wort before I pitched tasted terrible, sickly sweet, so I threw that out, but I guess the yeast did and is doing its majic.

 

[ekjohns]

I was wondering if Ed or someone else could give me a breif description of the red wheat. There is no much online about it and i was just wondering what the difference in taste is between red and white. All the wheats i have dont are very crisp and a little bitter using white and was wondering if red might give me the slight malty sweetness im looking for

 

[EdWort]

I was wondering if Ed or someone else could give me a breif description of the red wheat. There is no much online about it and i was just wondering what the difference in taste is between red and white. All the wheats i have dont are very crisp and a little bitter using white and was wondering if red might give me the slight malty sweetness im looking for

I found this online.

Some Background: Hard Red Wheat vs Hard White Wheat
Hard white wheat was developed from hard red wheat by eliminating the genes for bran color while preserving other desireable characteristics of red wheat. Depending on variety, red wheat has from one to three genes that give the bran its red cast; in contrast, white wheat has no major genes for bran color. The elimination of these genes results in fewer phenolic compounds and tannins in the bran, significantly reducing the bitter taste that some people experience in flour milled from red wheat. Nutritional composition is the same for red and white wheat.
Spring wheat is planted in April to May, makes a continuous growth and is harvested in August to early September. Winter wheat is planted in the fall. It makes a partial growth, becomes dormant during the cold winter months, resumes growth as the weather warms and is harvested in the early summer (June and July).
Flour from hard red winter wheat is often preferred for artisan breads.

I've also made fine Hefeweizens using Canadian Pils and Wheat, but do not know what Canada Malt's wheat is (red or white), but the last batch went very quick and German Hefe fans loved it.

 

[ekjohns]

so would that mean a red wheat beer would be more sharp and bitter than a white wheat? Have you noticed that in your brews?

 

[jlpred55]

Red and white wheat are interchangable IMO. I've used both and not noticed a difference. It is not sharp or bitter. I use the red variety more often as it is a staple in my house American Wheat.

 

[hinke]

Brewing this tomorrow.

Was it a bad idea to make the yeast starter with light DME instead of wheat DME?

Thanks.

 

[EdWort]

Brewing this tomorrow.

Was it a bad idea to make the yeast starter with light DME instead of wheat DME?

Thanks.

Shouldn't be a problem as long as you don't have a gallon of it.

I use wheat DME though myself. Got a starter going right now to split between three 5 gallon ferementers tomorrow.

 

[hinke]

Thanks.

I used a 750ml starter. It has blown out of the carboy Luckily I only had foil over the neck of the carboy. My chest freezer now has some beer in the bottom...

 

[EdWort]

Thanks.

I used a 750ml starter. It has blown out of the carboy Luckily I only had foil over the neck of the carboy. My chest freezer now has some beer in the bottom...

Me too. I have three buckets fermenters with only solid lids resting on top.

All three foamed over. Oh well. Happened last time too.

Nothing some hot water and a shop vac can't clean up.

 

[JMass]

I use a bucket fermenter and had about 3 overflows. Fortunately it only overflows to the top of the bucket lid. This still looked bubbly after 11 days and there was a lot of floating stuff, so I racked this to a carboy last night. The OG was about 1.056. Before I racked, 1.013. After I racked there was still some activity going on.

 

[hinke]

We hit 1.051 in OG. I have not taken any reading since then.

I am really hoping this will be done in 10 days, since I will be leaving for vacation for 2 weeks and wants to keg it before I leave.

It's been in my carboy for 6 days now, and I just increased the temp to about 72.