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Blood Orange Hefeweizen

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i just did a variation with three 0.5oz cascade additions instead. i just bought two lbs of cascade so i figured why not. the blood oranges i got weren't the best. and i added in 6 oranges, all zest and meat. juiced two of them. i was trying to balance out the extra bitterness i added. also, decent white labs hefe starter. anyone have any idea how this one might turn out? fermenting like crazy and smelling grreat!
 
I have been wanting to do a Honey Orange Hefeweizen for a while now and came across this recipe and all the great reviews. How do you think it would turn out if I added 1/2 - 1lbs of honey malt? Or would I be better off just adding regular honey? Would I have to add more hops to counter this?

I love the light orange color everyone is getting. Would my honey addition screw with the color at all do you think?

Thanks!
 
I have been wanting to do a Honey Orange Hefeweizen for a while now and came across this recipe and all the great reviews. How do you think it would turn out if I added 1/2 - 1lbs of honey malt? Or would I be better off just adding regular honey? Would I have to add more hops to counter this?

I love the light orange color everyone is getting. Would my honey addition screw with the color at all do you think?

Thanks!

My suggestion would be to steep 1/4 lb. of honey malt (possibly less) and leave the hopping regiment alone. When I made it the first time it wasn't overly sweet and I don't think a 1/4 of HM would push it over the edge.

It's better to use less than more and go from there.
 
My suggestion would be to steep 1/4 lb. of honey malt (possibly less) and leave the hopping regiment alone. When I made it the first time it wasn't overly sweet and I don't think a 1/4 of HM would push it over the edge.

It's better to use less than more and go from there.

would the honey malt addition change the color that much? Id hate for it to lose that rich orange color?

If it wasnt too sweet before would it be a good idea to also add some regular honey do you think?
 
what would adding a additional 1/2 oz of sazz hops at 0 minutes do to this beer? any thoughts?

I can't imagine that it would be a bad thing. It might just take the nose of the beer out of style, no big deal. (I know how you feel, I have .5oz os Saaz sitting in my refrigerator now) :)

Curt
 
Just brewed this to tonight!!! Pretty excited about it!!! I think mine will be darker than gnedge's...don't know how he got that bright orange color...when I steeped my blood oranges and zest it was darker...anyone else have the same results? Everything else went well and hit the sg right on at 1.050!
 
While I don't remember my actual gravity readings for this brew, I know mine turned out a little lighter and a little high on the alcohol side as I used 7 lbs of wheat LME, instead of 6.6 lbs of LME. It's tasty and can be drank one of two ways, the traditional homebrew way which leaves the yeast in the bottle (and makes the beer a little more tart) OR my favorite, the way a HEFE was supposed to be drank; pour most of the beer into a glass and then swirl up the yeast and add that to the beer. MMMMMMMM....
 
I used 7 lbs on mine as well and yes mine was a lot darker than his. Much more of an dark orange color.
 
I was going to make this next weekend. Curious about the peels as well. Also, it looks like you used a grain bag for your rinds and pulp. How long did you leave it in the primary?
 
what's the shelf life of this beer once you've got it in the bottle? blood oranges are in season now, but I was planning on keeping most of this for a relaxing summer beer, like July.
 
Brewed mine back in March, fermentation was done after 10 days (OG 1.050, FG 1.010). I didn't use a grain bag at all, just had the zest from the oranges and the fruit in primary. Didn't use secondary, just bottled after fermentation was finished. Just make sure you don't get fruit in the bottle. Drinking the first one now...delicious!
 
Just took my first gravity reading of this beer...brewed it 8 days ago and it was at 1.014...sample tasted great...still had a thick krausen on the top...is this normal for this to still be there?
 
I haven't made this recipe, but I did make a hefeweizen recently. They do tend to keep their krausens for a long time because of all the protein in the wheat. That's a good thing. That's why wheat beers have thick heads.:mug:
 
Finally got around to putting this on. unfortunately blood oranges are just out of season up here so I was stuck using naval oranges. I zested the rind of 2 of them and man, its a pretty potent aroma, I hope its not going to be overwhelming.
At the end of the boil I hooked up the wort chiller and started to clean up. After about a minute blam! the efferent hose slipped off the copper tubing and started shooting 90 degree water all over the place! I quickly tried to turn the water off, but turned it on full blast instead. Haha, what a mess, I probably added a half liter to my wort from that little slip up.
 
Just put this into the bottles tonight...smelled great and samples tasted great...now to decide what's going to fill this empty fermenter!
 
Jim, the aroma from the zest and fruit will be strong but it won't have an overpowering effect on the beer (especially since you added the extra water during cooling, haha!). I used the zest from 3 large naval oranges and mine turned out with just a hint of orange.

One of my friends is going to try this, but he's going to mix it up with the oranges and toss in a grapefruit or 2. Anyone have any thoughts on that?
 
Wow, put this on 2 days ago and now my whole brew room smells like bananas and fruit, so delicious. I plan on washing this yeast once done, but have read that some people advise against it, stating the sensitive weizen yeasts lose their aromatic properties. Anyone on here have any experience with washing wyeast 3068?
 
I'm curious how "Active" everyone's fermentation was? I got my ingredients today, but I'm realizing all I have free is a standard 5.5gal carboy. Would that be enough headspace?

Also I plan on adding about 8oz of some older wheat malt I have kicking around, increase some mouth feel and such (plus going from partial back to straight extract feels like a step back for me)
 
I'm curious how "Active" everyone's fermentation was? I got my ingredients today, but I'm realizing all I have free is a standard 5.5gal carboy. Would that be enough headspace?

Also I plan on adding about 8oz of some older wheat malt I have kicking around, increase some mouth feel and such (plus going from partial back to straight extract feels like a step back for me)


I used 7 lbs of bulk wheat LME from my LHBS, as it was cheaper than two 3.3 lb cans. And what's .4 lbs extra LME? Well, I had 5.25 gallons in a 6 gallon carboy and, well, It was ACTIVE! I used WLP300 Hefeweizen Ale Yeast...

You will need a blow off tube of some sort. I would go HUGE on the blowoff!
 
I agree on the blowoff tube...while this was only my third brew, it was the first time I used a blowoff and I'm sure glad I did...very active fermentation...I used wyeast 3068...by the way, this has been in the bottles a week and I'm thinking about testing one to see how carbing is coming along!
 
I am purchasing the ingredients for this one today. Really looking forward to it.

I use buckets, so no blowoff tube for me. Hope the lid doesn't pop off :-/


Question: Has anyone used DME and LME? Not in the same batch, but in different. What will the difference be, taste wise? Also, I would probably be using more DME than LME, so that would just affect mouthfeel right?
 
Very tasty! I tested a bottle tonight and it was great. I'll let it sit for another week or two and see how it progresses!
 
I just read this entire thread and will make an AG version of this myself this weekend, I am going to use a more neutral yeast WB-06 and ferment around 64 deg.
one thing I am going to change (because I am looking for as much Orange flavor and tartness as I can get) is to add the steeped fruit into a cold secondary (45F) for an extra week. I will let you guys know how it goes.

Here's the recipe: 5 gallon Batch
4 lbs Wheat malt
4 lbs Weyerman Pilsner malt
1 lb Flaked Wheat
Mash @ 122 deg. for 10 minutes (1.25 qts water per lb)
Raise to 154 for 80 minutes
Raise to 168 and hold for 10 minutes
Sparge for 45 minutes with 173 deg. water
Collect 6.2 gallons of wort
Boil for 1 hour
1 oz Hallertau hops @ 60 minutes
chill to 65 deg.
add 2 pkgs of WB-06 dry yeast packets (rehydrated)
Primary for 7 days @ 64 deg., letting it rise normally for 2 days to 72 deg
Secondary for 10 days @ 45 degrees with fruit and zest of 4 Blood oranges
see how it goes.......
 
how long can I get away leaving this in the bucket after the 10 day mark. Im going to have company this weekend and wont be able to bottle until next week, somewhere around 12-14 days in the fermenter.
 
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