Blood Orange Hefeweizen

[v2comp]

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.

you will be fine as long as your cleaniing practices are up to it, and as long as its fine at 10 days, 12 or 14 wont make any differrence at all.

 

[jim_reaper1066]

Thanks man, this is my first wheat beer and im really looking forward to it so I dont want to screw anything up. How much sugar should I use for a wheat beer when bottling?

 

[jangelj]

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 didn't see this question answered and was wondering the same thing: Anyone on here have any experience with washing wyeast 3068?

Also, how pronounced is the orange taste in this brew? I want to make it, but prefer only a subtle hint of orange.

 

[Slowfro]

Jim - I used approx 3/4cup of priming sugar which worked well. The beer is nicely carbonated, smooth but still a good head on the pour.

Jangel - the orange in my batch wasn't overpowering at all. I thought it might be after how strong the fermenter smelled but it's just a nice touch on the beer. I'm with you that I don't like a strong fruit presence in the beer but this turned out nicely.

 

[TheGeek]

I think i'm going to table my attempt at a Lagunitas IPA clone to try this instead. Looks tasty.

 

[Korben]

Just curious what temp did you ferment this at? I have never done a hefe. Also, i just converted a freezer into a fermentation chamber so looking to really nail down my fermentation temps.

 

[gnedge]

Wow, so happy to see so many replies to this.

We just rebrewed this. Glad to see this sparked so much inspiration in so many people.

 

[motobrewer]

my buddy's coming over and brewing this tomorrow. i'm doing ohiobrewtus' porter.

i'm pretty excited for both beers.

 

[TheGeek]

It's brewed and in the fermenter! Had to use sweet oranges as I couldn't find any blood oranges but they were incredibly ripe and sweet. I'll post when its being consumed and let you know how it is.

 

[EricCSU]

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.

Wheat beers are best drank quickly. Two months is ok, three months would really be pushing it. It will be a different beer in four months.

Eric

 

[maztec]

A wheat ale is often drank within two months. However, I have consistently kept a couple bottles of my home brewed wheat beers - mostly German and Belgian - for over a year and, if anything, they taste better. They have mellowed with age, but the variety of flavors has became increasingly complex.

However, I think that may depend on the yeast you use, more so than it being a wheat beer. Nonetheless, wheat beers are generally not known for their aging.

Keep a few bottles around, let us know how they are in 6 months. That is the only real way to find out.

 

[EricCSU]

A wheat ale is often drank within two months. However, I have consistently kept a couple bottles of my home brewed wheat beers - mostly German and Belgian - for over a year and, if anything, they taste better. They have mellowed with age, but the variety of flavors has became increasingly complex.

However, I think that may depend on the yeast you use, more so than it being a wheat beer. Nonetheless, wheat beers are generally not known for their aging.

Keep a few bottles around, let us know how they are in 6 months. That is the only real way to find out.

My experience stems mostly from Hefeweizen, Wit, and American Wheat. All have been great at 1-2 months, then fade fast. My wit was nearly undrinkable at 4 months. Imagine a with without any spice or orange...it was just very plain and boring. Like the life was sucked out of it. My experience with Hefeweizen has been similiar.

Using wheat in other recipes would probably yield different results, especially Weizenbock. The darker malts would help to preserve it better, I think.

Eric

 

[maztec]

My experience stems mostly from Hefeweizen, Wit, and American Wheat. All have been great at 1-2 months, then fade fast. My wit was nearly undrinkable at 4 months. Imagine a with without any spice or orange...it was just very plain and boring. Like the life was sucked out of it. My experience with Hefeweizen has been similiar.

Using wheat in other recipes would probably yield different results, especially Weizenbock. The darker malts would help to preserve it better, I think.

Eric

Interesting. Is this perhaps a difference between using malt extracts and going all grain? I have not gone all grain yet.

That is, the malt extracts I have used are possibly not all wheat, which would make a big difference.

 

[jim_reaper1066]

Bottled this last night. All the nice banana ester smells from the early days of fermentation had disappeared and now it smells strongly like a dark red wine. The hydrometer sample tasted like wine as well. The only change I had made was in using 3 kg of dry wheat malt, as it was only available in 1 kg bags. Any thoughts on my wine-wheat beer?

 

[v2comp]

Bottled this last night. All the nice banana ester smells from the early days of fermentation had disappeared and now it smells strongly like a dark red wine. The hydrometer sample tasted like wine as well. The only change I had made was in using 3 kg of dry wheat malt, as it was only available in 1 kg bags. Any thoughts on my wine-wheat beer?

what temps did you ferment at? sometimes at high temps, some have reported those flavor perceptions, as they will produce more fruity esters. they will probably subside in time, just check it every couple of weeks.

 

[jim_reaper1066]

During the first few days of fermentation it stayed around 22-23 due to the yeast activity. However it was around 20 degrees for the last week.
Im a little scared that some yeast from my blueberry mead may have carried over in the bucket I used, even after a intense cleaning and sanitizing.

 

[v2comp]

if it really was in the high 60's, it shouldnt be estery at all, what was your final gravity?
I doubt the old yeast carried over even a little if you really cleaned and sanitized properly. besides, the cleaning, your yeast should have really dominated the fermenter and choked out anything that insignificant.

you will probably find that leaving it in the bottle will clean up many of the undesirable flavors you perceive. probably would have benefitted greatly from another week in the secondary.

 

[jim_reaper1066]

I had a crazy high OG = 1.060, and FG = 1.014
not sure how much the oranges contributed to that high OG. Im hoping those flavrs will age out but I dont know if i can wait that long, I wana drink it now!

 

[v2comp]

I had a crazy high OG = 1.060, and FG = 1.014
not sure how much the oranges contributed to that high OG. Im hoping those flavrs will age out but I dont know if i can wait that long, I wana drink it now!

well that 6% abv isnt helping the flavor components in such a light beer to start with, thats for sure. im sure it will mellow some if you have the patience.

 

[ronllave]

Does anybody have suggestions on where to buy the 6.6 pounds (3kg) light liquid wheat extract (55% wheat malt and 45% barley malt) as called for in the recipe? I don't have a lbhs so I will have to order through the internet. Thanks.

 

[raveskdr]

Does anybody have suggestions on where to buy the 6.6 pounds (3kg) light liquid wheat extract (55% wheat malt and 45% barley malt) as called for in the recipe? I don't have a lbhs so I will have to order through the internet. Thanks.

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/munton-and-fison-uk-wheat-3-3-lb.html

 

[thetang]

Spent an hour or so reading through this thread and I'm really interested in trying this out. The flavors sound amazing! I had a question about the ingredients though...

My LHBS is the MoreBeer out in Concord and it looks like they only have Bavarian Wheat DME (65% Malted Wheat / 35% Malted Barley). Would this work instead of the light wheat extract suggested in the recipe? It also doesn't look like they have Hallertau hops, so is there anything I can substitute with that will add similar bitterness/aroma? I read that Mt. Hood and Liberty are supposed to be good substitutes... anyone tried?

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: Found a shop nearby that sells Hallertau pellets. They also have a Wheat LME (60% Malted Wheat/40% Malted Barley). Its cheaper than the Bavarian Wheat, but it better to have a higher or lower wheat content?

 

[maztec]

Hefeweizen = Higher typically. But that should be close enough, will just taste a bit different.

 

[bovineblitz]

Just brewed the all grain version as my first foray into all grain! It went quite swimmingly all around, I got an efficiency of 85.6% which I'm thrilled about. My mash temp was a little high to start so I left the top off which of course made it a little low, but adding a touch of hot water fixed it and it was at about 52ish from ~10min in til the 60min mark.

I used 6 clementines instead of 4 blood oranges due to availability. Clementines are a pain, they're so small and there's a lot of pith relative to fruit... but I had plenty of time to clean them up during the boil so no biggie.

I'm really excited to see how it turns out

 

[nspaldi0]

Two weeks in the bottle and this is a great beer...I would brew this again for sure. Anyone compared the blood orange version versus the Valencia or other orange substitute?

 

[Scut_Monkey]

I brewed it with navel oranges 1.5 weeks ago. Still letting it sit down in the primary but should keg it here within a week or so. Haven't tasted any yet.

 

[joeldp144]

Someone asked for the all-grain version...Beersmith converts it as follows:

Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 5.88 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00

Ingredients

5.09 lb Pale Malt (3.0 SRM) Grain 61.46 %
3.19 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 38.54 %
0.50 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 10.1 IBU
0.50 oz Saaz [4.30 %] (20 min) Hops 3.2 IBU
0.50 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [4.50 %] (10 min) Hops 2.0 IBU
4.00 items Blood Orange (Secondary 10.0 days) Misc
1 Pkgs Weihenstephan Weizen (Wyeast Labs #3068) Yeast-Wheat


Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.011 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.56 %
Bitterness: 15.3 IBU Calories: 43 cal/pint
Est Color: 4.1 SRM

I am a newb, so please bear with me. If wheat extract is generally 60% wheat and 40% barley, then why does Beersmith convert the all grain composition to 60% pale malt and 40% wheat? I am confused.

 

[raveskdr]

I just brewed this recipe last night. Of course, blood oranges are out of season. I did find a very interested alternative though: Honey Tangerines. They are a bit deeper in color than regular oranges and not very acidic. I'll know in a few weeks how this ended up turning out.

If the beer tastes half as good as the fermenter smelled before I put the top on, I don't see how this couldn't be a success.

 

[b33risGOOD]

I just made this yesterday, was able to actually find blood oranges as well. I had to use Danstar wheat yeast instead tho. looking ok so far

 

[motobrewer]

Of course, blood oranges are out of season.

blood oranges are in season. this is the season. well, may's about the end of the season.