Hefeweizen Done to fast?

[alegi]

Hello, My german hefeweizen is at 4 days mark inte fermentation. And the OG reads 1.015. Started at 1.050.

What I read was that people mostly let it ferment for at least 12-14 days.

The fermenting temp has been 62F until 50% of fermenting was Done, Then raised to 68F.

It seems like it soon will reach FG. But it hasnt Even been a week. How long should I let it rest when the FG is reached? For cleaning and so.

Thanks!

 

[thehaze]

Most yeasts will be done fermenting at day 3 to day 5, but some yeasts will take a bit longer to reach the last FG points.

Hefes are quite explosive during fermentation and it is not unlikely that they are finished at day 5-6. I usually tend to take a gravity sample at day 10 or 15, depending on the beer at the expected ABV/FG. So if you check again in 5 days, you should get an idea where the beer is.

Hefes are meant to be drank quickly and fresh, as they are not at all good for conditioning.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Most of mine (many batches with WY3068 and a few recently with WY3638) finish within four days. Hef yeasts are quick to eat the sugars, but often produce some sulfur which needs up to a week to blow-off. I normally bottle mine (rather than keg) with spiess at day 6 to 10 (compared with my APAs which I leave for 2 to 4 weeks). It's a beer that's meant to have some yeast esters and phenols in it - don't leave it too long to clean up.

BTW, OG means 'original gravity' - the gravity you start at. Your OG was 1.050, your current gravity is 1.015. Sorry to be pedantic!

 

[RM-MN]

Hello, My german hefeweizen is at 4 days mark inte fermentation. And the OG reads 1.015. Started at 1.050.

What I read was that people mostly let it ferment for at least 12-14 days.

The fermenting temp has been 62F until 50% of fermenting was Done, Then raised to 68F.

It seems like it soon will reach FG. But it hasnt Even been a week. How long should I let it rest when the FG is reached? For cleaning and so.

Thanks!

What most people mean is that they leave the beer in the fermenter for that long. The fermentation is done long before that but there will be a lot of yeast and trub suspended in the beer and it takes time to settle out. I've bottled a beer at 7 days and got a quarter inch of sediment in my bottles. I've also bottled at 10 days and can barely see the sediment, even in a clear bottle. Use your hydrometer to confirm that the ferment is complete, then bottle when you think enough of the sediment has settled to suit you. It won't hurt the beer to sit in the fermenter longer than 10 days except that for a hefeweizen that you would expect to be cloudy with suspended yeast the yeast will settle out with time. The way around that (if you like the yeast flavor) is to lay the bottle on the counter and roll it back and forth before serving it to resuspend the yeast.

 

[Justin Archer]

Hey guys. To tag this, I have a Weizenbock going right now (that smells ridiculous coming out of the airlock). Do I also want to bottle and drink this one very fresh? Or would I want to let it calm down a bit due to the high ABV. Started at 1.071. I’m really looking forward to this one.