German Hefe Help

[BrewByBerg]

Hey guys,

I'm looking to brew a classic german hefe with nice banana clove flavors. With a nice citrus note as well. It would be an extract recipe with specialty grains. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to hop this beer? And should I dry hop this beer? I plan on using wlp300 German ale yeast.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Ravenor]

Hi,
in a classic german Hefeweizen you wouldn`t find any citrus flavors (so that would mean a no go for most american hops which impart those flavors).
I would suggest using traditional german hops.
I myself latetly brewed an all-grain Hefeweizen using saphir hop from the Hallertauer.
But those are just my 2 cent.
Cheers

 

[podz]

Just a note, the word "hefe" is an ambiguous term when referring to german bier:

"Hefe" is the german word for yeast. When referring to bier, e.g. "hefebier", it only refers to biers where the yeast is left in suspension, i.e. the bier is cloudy.

"Weizen" is the german word for wheat. Weizenbier, by law, must be made with a minimum of 50% wheat malt.

Thus, hefeweizen (yeast wheat) is wheat bier with the yeast left in. Kristallweizen (krystal clear wheat) is wheat bier where the yeast has been filtered out, or otherwise cleared.

"bierhefe" only means "bier yeast" in general, not specifically yeast that is meant for fermenting wheat biers.

Summary: there are German biers that are "hefe" that cannot legally be called "weizen" or "weissbier".

 

[sjskeels]

I have had really good results with Saf WB06 wheat yeast. Nice clove flavours and no to little banana. Does well holding this flavour even at higher temps (high 60s to 70ish).

 

[Ravenor]

"Hefe" is the german word for yeast.

That is correct, but if one goes into a pub/bar in Germany (at least in Northern Germany) and orders a "Hefe" one will get a "Hefeweizen", because "Hefe" in relation to ordering a beer is short for "Hefeweizen".

But as podz mentioned, in order to brew a "Hefeweizen" you have to use at least 50% wheat malt.

Edit:
Here is the recepie I was using (It is all grain, so somebody might have to convert it into extract):

IBU: 18
Gravity: 13P
Color: 16,6 EBC

Wheat Malt light 55,6%
Munich Malt 40%
Pilsner Malt 4,4%
Oatflakes: 220g

Hops: Saphir 4,9% Alpha
70% at 70 Min.
30% at 10 Min.

Mash in at: 45 degrees C
Rest at 45 degrees C for 15
Rest at 63 degrees C for 50
Rest at 72 degrees C for 40
Mash out at 78 degrees

Cooking time 90 Min.

 

[JackRussel]

Wheat Malt light 55,6%
Munich Malt 40%
Pilsner Malt 4,4%
Oatflakes: 220g

Did you by chance get the Munich and Pilsner percentages backwards? Most of the recipes I've seen were around 60% Wheat and 40% Pilsner.


Edit: Nevermind, I see from the EBC that it's definitely not 40% Pilsner. Would this be considered a Weizenbock?

 

[peterj]

Hey guys,

I'm looking to brew a classic german hefe with nice banana clove flavors. With a nice citrus note as well. It would be an extract recipe with specialty grains. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to hop this beer? And should I dry hop this beer? I plan on using wlp300 German ale yeast.

Thanks for the help!

A classic german hefeweizen has little to no hop flavor and aroma. It would traditionally use a noble hop variety (e.g. Hallertau, Saaz, Tettnang) with only a small 60 minute addition. No late addition and no dry hop. But if you wanted more of an American wheat you could use American hops (which can lend a citrussy hop character depending on the variety you choose) and add more hop flavor and aroma with a late addition and possibly a dry hop. I still wouldn't go crazy with the late addition and dry hop though.

IBU: 18
Gravity: 13P
Color: 16,6 EBC

Wheat Malt light 55,6%
Munich Malt 40%
Pilsner Malt 4,4%
Oatflakes: 220g

Wow, that's a lot of Munich! Did you switch the Munich and Pilsner malts?

 

[Ravenor]

@JackRussel and peterj: Nope. I just rechecked my records and I brewed it this way. It tasted delicious (not only to me but my friends said so either, mind I didn`t even drank most of it ).

 

[JackRussel]

@JackRussel and peterj: Nope. I just rechecked my records and I brewed it this way. It tasted delicious (not only to me but my friends said so either, mind I didn`t even drank most of it ).

I'm curious to hear the difference in taste compared to something like a Paulaner or Hacker Pschorr Hefe. Any chance you could describe the differences? Also, which type of Munich did you use?

 

[Ravenor]

I used Belgian Malt called "Chateau Munich" 22-27 EBC (8.8-10.7 Lovibond) of Castle Malting (castlemalting.com).
Unfortunatly I can`t describe the difference to a Hacker of Paulaner since I didn`t have them side by side.
If I don`t forget I might be able to pick up some and then taste them side by side. But that might take until next week.
Also I try to take some pictures.

 

[JackRussel]

Thanks for the info Ravenor. I don't want you to go to any trouble. My next planned brew is a Hefe and I may just give your recipe a shot using the Munich 2 I have on hand. Cheers.

 

[zachattack]

I don't think I'd use any specialty grains in an extract hefe. Try to shoot for about 50/50 wheat and the lightest barley extract you can find, and make sure you keep in mind that most wheat extract is already 40-60% barley. You can use a little bit of Munich extract if you want as well.

Give it a small bittering charge with something noble (Hallertauer works well) and pitch the proper amount of yeast. I've gotten a nice balance of flavors fermenting at 62, others like it warmer.

I'd also recommend you do most of the extract as a late addition to keep the color down and fermentability up

 

[Ravenor]

@JackRussel: I compared my Hefe to a Paulaner last night (I had to drink both beers, its a hard life but somebody has to do it ) and took two pictures. The first two pictures show the Paulaner (first without flashlight, second with flashlight) and the third and fourth picture show my own brew (first without flashlight, second with flashlight).

Comparing the taste I made the following notes:

Paulaner: smooth creamy mouthfeel, distinct clove smell and a nice head retention.
My own: I overexagerated the carbonisation and I have to work on the smooth creamy mouthfeel and the head retention.

All in all I don`t think they are really comparable at this stage mainly due to the fact of too much carbonisation. When I shook a little of the my beer in the glass to get the carbonisation out of it and then tasted it, it became more creamy but not as creamy as the Paulaner.

I hope that helps.

 

[JackRussel]

Thanks for the comparison. They seem closer in color than I would have expected.

 

[JackRussel]

To the OP. A lot of Wheat extracts are already mixed with a Barley extract. Briess Wheat extract is 65% wheat and 35% Barley, so its already at or around the proper proportions for a German style Hefe.

http://www.brewingwithbriess.com/Assets/PDFs/Briess_PISB_CBWBavarianWheatDME.pdf

I have brewed a few Hefe extract batches and used Wheat extract (Briess) exclusively. They all turned out nicely.