Weissbier Bee Cave Brewery Bavarian Hefeweizen

[CidahMastah]

Ed -

Just curious - any preference to mittlefruh or Hersbuecker hallertau for this recipe? I have both.

Thanks!

Edit: Well I went with mittlefruh and my ferment for the first few hours was 71-73 but with some work I got it down to 68-70. Now it is bubbling at 67-68F

Looking forward to this one!

 

[gophilliesgo]

Just wanted to send thanks to you, Ed, for sharing this recipe. Simple. Perfect.

I ferment at 62F and sub Tettnanger for the hops are my only personal tweaks.

It was my first BCJP entry ever, and it won first place in the 2nd Annual Greg Noonan Homebrew Competition in Burlington, VT in the wheat/rye beer style category.

Danke Schon.

 

[mcbethenstein]

Ok, now that it took me 3 hours to read this thread... I still have a question. Lol.

I'm planning on making a very close version of this tonight using WLP300 and I'm still uncertain where to ferment it. This past winter and spring I fermented in our pantry, but it's getting warmer. The ambient air temp can vary from 67-72 degrees. My other option is in our basement with an ambient temp of 60-61, up now from 55 this winter. So my question... Which option is best? I want a good balance of clove/banana. But would prefer a bit more clove than banana. Other info that may be needed. Primary is a plastic bucket. And I usually chill to 65 before pitching.

 

[JMass]

One option would be the basement through high Krausen then bring it upstairs for the slower part of the fermentation. I'm not an expert but my understanding is that the initial fermentation creates heat more than the later part.

 

[VAShooter]

Ok, now that it took me 3 hours to read this thread... I still have a question. Lol.

I'm planning on making a very close version of this tonight using WLP300 and I'm still uncertain where to ferment it. This past winter and spring I fermented in our pantry, but it's getting warmer. The ambient air temp can vary from 67-72 degrees. My other option is in our basement with an ambient temp of 60-61, up now from 55 this winter. So my question... Which option is best? I want a good balance of clove/banana. But would prefer a bit more clove than banana. Other info that may be needed. Primary is a plastic bucket. And I usually chill to 65 before pitching.

Basement. Your bucket temps will be 7-10 degrees higher than the air temps. I used WLP 300 with a starter and this thing went CRAZY for 4 straight days. My krausen finally started dropping after day 6 or 7. (Use a blow off tube). I used a swamp cooler and kept the wort temps around 66-68for the 10 days.

 

[elproducto]

Kicked my keg over the weekend. It cleared up way to quickly in the keg.. was basically a Krystalweizen. I agitated the keg everytime I poured, but didn't seem to matter. Should I avoid cold crashing a hefe next time?

 

[Mayday99]

How big a starter for this do you think? I am brewing a double batch this weekend and have 2 packs of fairly fresh 3068.

I think I am at about 11 IBUs right now, wonder how that compares to something like Paulaner or Franziskaner

I would think you want to stress the yeast a bit more for this style than you would with others.

I am contemplating not using a starter and just going 1 pack per 5 gallons.

So I guess the options are
2 packs, no starter
2 packs, ~1L starter each (This is about what Mr Malty reccommends with intermittent shaking)

 

[Mayday99]

Ended up going without the starter and both batches still took off fairly quickly and were blowing yeast through the blowoff after about 15 hours (ferment in 6 gallon BB) Have them in a swamp cooler keeping temp around 65-67

My numbers were very close to what Ed had in the original recipe, I hit 1.051 OG, which is perfect for the style but a little lower than what I expected. This equals about 67% efficiency. Guess it is time to get my own mill. I think the wheat and the barley probably need to be milled at different settings do to the different grain size.

 

[mcbethenstein]

One option would be the basement through high Krausen then bring it upstairs for the slower part of the fermentation. I'm not an expert but my understanding is that the initial fermentation creates heat more than the later part.

So I ended up keeping it upstairs until I saw airlock activity then it went down stairs.. It slowed down majorly! It got down to 60 or 62 (bucket temp), so it came back upstairs after 4 days downstairs. Took off again yesterday. So my basement is still a little too cold yet. I don't think it will get too much warmer for the summer. But upstairs we will not turn the ac on until 78 or 80 to save money. I guess I'm going to have to figure out what to do about fermentations over the summer.

There is a local homebrew club German beer contest coming up at the end of July. In your expert opinion will a hefe like this be good yet then? I brewed Tuesday so if I don't brew again for the contest it will be 10 1/2 weeks from brew day. Opinions much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[fisher1]

Took this on the annual fishing trip to Kentucky Lake with my buddies. It was a big hit. Delicious.

Empty keg:

 

[fisher1]

A glass from the keg at home:

 

[bergman1118]

Just have to say that I followed this recipe to a "T" and ended up getting 3rd place in the Weizen category at a local homebrew competition! The only negative comment from the judges was that it was a little lacking in body - I found out later that my thermometer was reading too high by about 2* F, so I mashed slightly lower than the target. Also, I would highly recommend a protein rest. I think if I had a little higher mash temp and had done a protein rest, this would have taken 1st.

Still, add that to the wealth of proof that this is a great, simple recipe! Thanks Ed!

 

[CidahMastah]

My batch was a hit as well with the guys this memorial day weekend. one keg down, dent in the second. It was great, I would get us a pitcher of the stuff off the tap with orange in it and we all just relaxed on the deck. Bottomless glass.

I ahve one very picky friend in particular who I thought would go back to his standard.... He met the hefe head on.

 

[duffman2]

Let us know how it tastes. I'm not surprised that it will ferment, but what kind of flavor is it going to produce? I haven't gotten great flavor from washed hefe yeast.

I've been holding my breath for a long time. Finally kegged it last week, and now the results are in.................

And it is damn good! Very bavarian, very smooth, great hefe flavor. I was scared but it's turned out great! Only negative is piss poor head retention. But really, who cares?

Thanks Ed!

 

[CidahMastah]

I've been holding my breath for a long time. Finally kegged it last week, and now the results are in.................

And it is damn good! Very bavarian, very smooth, great hefe flavor. I was scared but it's turned out great! Only negative is piss poor head retention. But really, who cares?

Thanks Ed!

That's enough for me to know to give it a try! Thanks for posting back

When I put an orange slice in - the head disappears anyway

 

[duffman2]

Yeah I was really worried about my year old hefe yeast, but it worked out just fine. The smell is slightly funky but I'm pretty sure that's totally in style with this. And once again, it goes down real smooth.

The only beer I've done with this was an American wheat last year so this is different and maybe the yeast might be better off fresh, but it fermented great and like I said, the proof is in the beer and the beer tastes great

 

[CidahMastah]

Yeah I was really worried about my year old hefe yeast, but it worked out just fine. The smell is slightly funky but I'm pretty sure that's totally in style with this. And once again, it goes down real smooth.

The only beer I've done with this was an American wheat last year so this is different and maybe the yeast might be better off fresh, but it fermented great and like I said, the proof is in the beer and the beer tastes great

I did this hefe with new yeast and met the proper ferment temps 68-71 ish - it still had a slightly sulfur smell that went away. This was my second hefe, first was an american hefe. Each one initially had a sulfur smell so I think that is part of the yeast struggling to break down the wheat sugars.

But I could just be talking out my....

 

[duffman2]

Cool. I don't remember that being the case with my american wheat last year but it's been a whole year so who knows.

But I did have to tell my guinea pig (brother) to hold back on the sniffing part of the beer because I thought that it throws you off as to how good it tastes. He asked me why and I told him that I thought the smell was all part of the yeast's style.

But I thought I was pretty much talking out my.........

So, I hope it goes away soon. I have a group of friends coming by this weekend for samples

 

[idigg]

I made this with red wheat, and I cannot drink it. Does red wheat taste totally different than regular wheat? I am thinking about dumping this batch, I obviously did something wrong

 

[bmason1623]

Made a Centennial Blonde today. I just increased the Vienna malt from 1/2# to 1#. We'll see how that comes out. It's probably a negligible change but you never know. Bottled my Pink Elephant clone last night.

 

[CidahMastah]

I made this with red wheat, and I cannot drink it. Does red wheat taste totally different than regular wheat? I am thinking about dumping this batch, I obviously did something wrong

I read somewhere in here that ed uses red wheat. How old is your brew? Don;t dump it just yet! Describe the flavors that you don't like.

 

[duffman2]

I have a group of friends coming by this weekend for samples

Well, my "group of friends" came by late Friday night and we had a couple before bed. Then on Saturday we smoked ribs all day while we had a few more. Then one of the girls came out and with a very sad look on her face she told me that it was all gone.

This was the first keg that we have ever kicked that fast! It was a big hit and is already being "requested" for a wedding next fall.

Amazing

 

[CidahMastah]

Just thought I would offer this up. In my quest with the hefe style I went back and found the dunkelweizen episode from the brewing network. One notable difference I found there was the ferment temp.

According to Jamil 62F is the money spot for the ferment temp to get both clove and banana in the right amount for hefe's and dunkelweizen. He also says that you should pitch the correct amount of yeast.

Has anyone tried this recipe at 62F?

 

[rack04]

Just thought I would offer this up. In my quest with the hefe style I went back and found the dunkelweizen episode from the brewing network. One notable difference I found there was the ferment temp.

According to Jamil 62F is the money spot for the ferment temp to get both clove and banana in the right amount for hefe's and dunkelweizen. He also says that you should pitch the correct amount of yeast.

Has anyone tried this recipe at 62F?

I am fermenting a very similar recipe right now at 62. I pitched at hybrid rates using mr malty calculator.

 

[CidahMastah]

I am fermenting a very similar recipe right now at 62. I pitched at hybrid rates using mr malty calculator.

Would you mind posting back, or PMing me your results?

I liked this hefe recipe, so don't get me wrong. But mine came out crisp with some light almost acidity/dryness and really no clove or banana - which I thought was what the style shot for. I was dead on with ferment temps at like 68-69F for the duration. Still a bready hefe, great with an orange. However I didn't feel I hit the style on the nose, like something was lacking.

I would be really interested to see the difference. Either way I will have to try it myself at some point.

 

[mistercameron]

I liked this hefe recipe, so don't But mine came out crisp with some light almost acidity/dryness and really no clove or banana - which I thought was what the style shot for. I was dead on with ferment temps at like 68-69F for the duration. Still a bready hefe, great with an orange. However I didn't feel I hit the style on the nose, like something was lacking.

Could that flavor profile be the type of yeast you are using?

 

[CidahMastah]

Could that flavor profile be the type of yeast you are using?

I don't think so, I used wyeast 3068 (the recc yeast).

"The classic and most popular German wheat beer strain used worldwide. This yeast strain produces a beautiful and delicate balance of banana esters and clove phenolics. The balance can be manipulated towards ester production through increasing the fermentation temperature, increasing the wort density, and decreasing the pitch rate. Over pitching can result in a near complete loss of banana character. Decreasing the ester level will allow a higher clove character to be perceived. Sulfur is commonly produced, but will dissipate with conditioning. This strain is very powdery and will remain in suspension for an extended amount of time following attenuation. This is true top cropping yeast and requires fermenter headspace of 33%. "

I did a 10G batch and used either a 2 cup cup starter or a single package (have to check my notes).

I should say, I got some light clove and light banana - but the crisp dryness or acidity wins out. I feel putting in an orange slice is pretty much a requirement. That said my batch is not quite 4 weeks old. I am wondering if this will be similar to my blood orange hefe that I really started to like at about 4-6 weeks.

 

[mistercameron]

I have this one still in primary with White Labs WLP300. LHBS doesn't carry Wyeast and I went with WLP300 over 380 to get more banana than just clove. I don't have the best temp control - stick it in the closet - but the carboy temp has help pretty consistently at 72° for the last 5 days. That's still in range for the yeast, albeit on the high end. OG came out to 1.055.

I'll let you know how it comes out once I start taking readings for FG. I'm pretty optimistic.

 

[mcbethenstein]

So I just cracked open my version of this beer. Its AMAZING! By far the best beer I've made to date! And that's after only 5 days carbing. My grain bill was slightly different and I used WLP300, but I followed the hop schedule. I also did a multi-step mash with a protein rest. I am so excited... I've only had one and I am already plotting to brew this exact recipe again... But try open fermenting for that extra touch of authenticity. This one is a winner!

 

[ennis2000000000]

How fast from grain to glass?