Hefeweizen Help ~ Recipe

[JonGrafto]

Hey all...

I am trying to make an all grain hefeweizen recipe but I want to make sure I am going at it correctly.

I DO NOT like the Widmer Hefeweizen or Pearl Street El Hefe. To me they are not hefeweizens.

The ones I want my beer to tast like are Flying Dogs In Heat Wheat or RAM Brewing's Hefeweizen. How do I better my odds of getting my hefeweizen to be more like these and less like Widmer's.

Do I just make sure I am fermenting low?

I am planning on using Bee Cave's Hefe recipe as follows:

Bavarian Hefeweizen 5.5 Gallon

7# German Wheat
4# German Pils
.5# Rice Hulls (if needed to prevent stuck mash)

Mash for 90 minutes at 153 degrees.

.75 Hallertau @ 45
.25 Hallertau @ 15

Wyeast Weihenstephan 3068 with starter.

Ferment 10 days at 68 degrees then crash cool & keg.

 

[Nateo]

That recipe looks fine, although I'm not sure about the late hop additions.

I prefer 3333 over 3068. I also prefer a 50/50 split of wheat to pils malt. No late addition hops either. Hop at -60min or longer. I also ferment mine lower than that, more like 64*.

Speaking of In Heat Wheat, Eric Warner designed the initial recipe for that. His book on brewing German wheat beer is really good.

 

[TopherM]

I also typically do a 50/50 split for Hefes. I also typically skip the late hops addition. Here's my base Hefe recipe, and I add do alot of fruit and spice additions on top of this basic recipe to switch it up. The last two I did were this base recipe with black currants and then another with grains of paradise (lemon-peppery):

6.0 Gallons

6lbs Pilner
6lbs Wheat
1.0 oz Hallertau @ 60
Wyeast 3068 - Ferment at 63F for 2 weeks, force carb in keg for 2 weeks.

 

[Nateo]

I've also noticed a correlation between quality of the finished product and decoction mashing. I know lots of people just use single infusions. I don't really want to get into a religious argument about decoction vs no-decoction, but I'll just say that if you're using wheat malt with an SNR under 37-ish, decoction mashing may be appropriate.

 

[JonGrafto]

so do they come out more clove forward if you use 50/50 blend? I assumed it was fermenting low that gave the more clove forward taste that I tend to get when I was drinking the In Heat Wheat or do I just keep it in the mid range (66-70) to keep a balance between the bananas and clove?

I guess the only way to find out is to try it !

 

[Nateo]

Keep it low. It'll more banana dominant at 66-70*. I've found 64* to give a nice balance, with 60* being more clove heavy.

 

[TopherM]

For my fermentation chamber, which is a beverage cooler, an ambient temp of 63F typically equates to about a 68F actual fermentation temp, which gives a balance that kinda negates the banana or clove from showing up in any sort of prominent way.

The banana/clove forward doesn't have anything to do with the grain bill, as far as I know, it is all in the yeast and fermentation temp during the first 48-72 hours of fermentation.

 

[JonGrafto]

Thanks for the info..

Evened out the grain bill and got rid of the late hops additions.
Also changed ferm temp down to 60°-62°

Updated recipe:

Bavarian Hefeweizen 5.5 Gallon

5.5# German Wheat
5.5# German Pils
.5# Rice Hulls (if needed to prevent stuck mash)

Mash for 90 minutes at 153° degrees.

1 oz Hallertau @ 60 minutes

Wyeast Weihenstephan 3068 with starter.

Ferment 10 days at 60-62 degrees then crash cool & keg.