Hefe Recipe Advice

[Petho]

Hi,
I have been extract brewing Ale's and I would like to try a Hefeweizen.
Here is a recipe I found from the local HBS and I would appreciate any thoughts on this.
Hefeweizen

7# wheat malt extract
1 1/2 oz Liberty (3.8%) 60 min
1/2 oz Liberty 5 min
Ferment with W.L. German or American Hefeweizen yeast

I am thinking about a Whilelabs WLP320
WLP320 American Hefeweizen Ale Yeast
This yeast is used to produce the Oregon style American Hefeweizen. Unlike WLP300, this yeast produces a very slight amount of the banana and clove notes. It produces some sulfur, but is otherwise a clean fermenting yeast, which does not flocculate well, producing a cloudy beer.
Attenuation: 70-75%
Flocculation: Low
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 65-69°F
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

 

[JMSetzler]

I plugged this info into BeerSmith to see how it stacks up... If this is going to be a 5-gallon batch, the OG is going to be a little higher than the profile for a regular hefeweizen. If you drop it down to 6lbs of wheat DME you will end up on the upper end of the OG profile. I think the WLP320 is a great choice of yeast for sure. I would crank up a starter with it at least 24 hours before you brew.

 

[Edcculus]

Are you trying to make an American Wheat or a Hefeweizen?


An American Wheat has more barley malt to wheat malt. They use an American yeast like Wyeast 1056. They also tend to use American hops.

A traditional Hefeweizen usus at least 50% wheat malt and uses a special strain (Wyeast 3068) that produces an estery beer. They use traditional low AA% "noble" hops.

 

[Petho]

Thanks for the reply, I can back the recipe down a pound on the DME.

Do you have any thoughts on how much Priming Sugar I should use for bottling?

 

[homebrewer_99]

As previously stated, you should drop your DME down to 6 lbs. and specify which brew you are going to be making, American vs German.

If you are going German then your hops are wrong. I use 6 lbs DME and only 3AAs of Hallertau hops at 60 mins. German HWs do not use flavoring or aroma hops, just bittering.

Since you are planning on using 1 1/2 oz Liberty (3.8%) @ 60 min and 1/2 oz Liberty @ 5 min then I would recommend the American Wheat.

Other than that you're good to go.

 

[JMSetzler]

Generally you will use 3/4 cup of corn sugar. You will want to dissolve that in a small amount of boiling water and let it cool before you put it in the bottling bucket...

Thanks for the reply, I can back the recipe down a pound on the DME.

Do you have any thoughts on how much Priming Sugar I should use for bottling?

 

[Petho]

Thanks,
I prefer an American Hef, at least that is what I drink.

This should be good for the spring time lawn mowing duties.

Pehto

 

[Petho]

Holy Hefe Batman!

The Hefe has been in the fermenter for 7 days now and it still has mild airlock activity! I have only brewed Ales and they stop bubbling after maybe 4 days or so, this thing is still going strong.

Is this normal or do I have some sort of atomic concoction happening?

 

[neuron555]

Not to worry. I usually let things go for 10 days to 2 weeks in the primary - the bubbling rate is only a rough guideline of the fermentation anyway. Those wheat beers can be pretty active.

 

[BEER_4_BREAKFAST]

Northwest Style HefeWeizen Ingredients :: USA Microbrewery Beer Recipes :: "Replicator" Beer Recipes :: Bader Beer & Wine Supply, Inc.