Brewing Bavarian Hef.

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daveooph131

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My first brew tomorrow and it will be a Bavarian Hef. Any suggestions and or tips?

How important is it to rack to a secondary after the first week of fermentation? (I was planning on doing this)

Also, the kit I have has some grains that must be steeped first...Is this considered a partial or is that only if mashing is involved?
 
Hefewiezens don't need to be racked to secondary. Although you could if you want. It will clear out a bit of the yeast flavor that this style is known for.

It's only partial mash if you are converting starch in the grain to sugar. Steeping is just extracting color and flavor.
 
Welcome. Yeah, you dont need to secondary a hefe. You want your hefe to look like a dirty urine sample:D.

Advice- read up on your yeast and keep your ferment temps where they need to be. I let my ferment get to warm for my hefe and it tasted like a bannana bomb. What kind of yeast do you have?
 
Ha ha I'm not sure, I'm at work and haven't opened the kit yet. I'll check it out tonight when I get home and post it.
 
Secondary + gelatin will turn your hefeweizen into a kristalweizen. Great if you want clarity, but not so great if you want that hefe yeast flavor.
 
If you're using a liquid hefe yeast:

1. Ferment on the low-end of your yeast temperature range.
2. Make a starter.

If you're using a dry yeast:

1. Don't. Use a liquid hefe yeast if you're wanting a true-to-style Bavarian hefe.

Just my 0.02. YMMV.
 
If you're using a liquid hefe yeast:

1. Ferment on the low-end of your yeast temperature range.
2. Make a starter.

If you're using a dry yeast:

1. Don't. Use a liquid hefe yeast if you're wanting a true-to-style Bavarian hefe.

Just my 0.02. YMMV.

I read that as "don't use a liquid hefe yeast."
Had me confused for a minute
:confused:
 
Completely agree about the bit with dry yeast above. This style is far too dependent on yeast flavor to just use US-05.

Presumably WB-06 or another dry wheat yeast is what people would be contemplating for a hefe (US-05 doesn't make any more sense than Wyeast 1056 would--that's a question of using the wrong style yeast, not liquid vs. dry).

IMO WB-06 is okay if you're going for something at the more subdued end of the Bavarian weizen spectrum (a la Schneider), but if you're looking for bigger clove/banana flavors like in Weihenstephaner or Paulaner then you want to go with one of the liquid versions.
 
I just did one and with Wyeast 3463 and fermented @ 72* sadly there is only one bottle left... loved the fruitiness of this one, 10 days in the primary, 10 days in the secondary, which was a mistake, not necessary, but the beer has a nice cloudy appearance after you pour, swirl and pour the rest! :)
 
This is my first go at this...so to confirm if the FG matches the recipe then it's finished fermenting correct?
 
When you get the same hydrometer reading at least two days in a row, the beer is most likely done fermenting. Don't go based on your FG in relation to the recipe, as those two numbers can differ.
 
One more thing sorry....

Any advantage / disadvantage to racking this beer? It would make it clear right? (not really true to style of a Bev. Hefe)
 
One more thing sorry....

Any advantage / disadvantage to racking this beer? It would make it clear right? (not really true to style of a Bev. Hefe)

Disadvantages: loss of yeast flavor (more important if you use liquid yeast), exposure while racking.

Advantages: loss of yeast flavor (if you don't like the yeast flavors), improved clarity, practice racking :).

.
 
Cool thanks a lot man....good tips. have you ever done a Kolsch, I would like to make that my 2nd batch.
 
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