Hefeweizen Help!

[Sebmc86]

I am using RO water to brew a Hefeweizen. The recipe goes like this.

6# German Wheat
4.5# German Pils
.5# Munich

.5 oz Perle 60 min
.5 oz Tettnang 15 min

WLP300, fermented @ 62 for 10 days.

Does this look good? How should I treat my water? I feel like I should add some calcium chloride and maybe other additives to get the best flavor. Please let me know how to make this a good example of the style.

 

[gwapogorilla]

I just brewed my first Hefe a couple of months back. I fermented at 65*...absolutely NO banana flavor what so ever!

I asked on the forum what I did wrong. It seems that my full sized yeast starter was a bad move...as was my ferm temp.

Members advised me to make a small starter next time, as the yeast will strain themselves more, thus making more banana esters. Raising the fer temp to 72 or 73* will also help.

Other than that, the grain bill looks okay to me. The Perle might add a touch of spiciness to it.

Going to add orange peel to it?

 

[tally350z]

Are you using 100% RO water? I did one with close to 100% RO water and added some gypsum and calcium chloride. Gwapogorilla is right. Under pitch and higher temp for more banana. Pitch proper amount and cooler for more clove flavor. I would say just pitch the vial or smackpack, whichever you have..

 

[Sebmc86]

I was thinking about leaving this one the way it is. I did a american wheat last week that I added lemon zest to. I am going to split the batch next week and have half lemon wheat, and half lemon raspberry. What size starter was recommended to you? I usually do a 1.5L starter. I have also read a lot of posts stating that 62-64 is the ideal temperature to get a balanced banana/clove profile. I went to the LHBS to look around and they only have WLP380 and no Perle. So I think I will be doing the 380 and Hallertau hops instead of what was originally planned.

 

[Sebmc86]

100% RO water for now. The local water supply seems to be heavily chlorinated and sometimes has a metallic taste. I will be adding some gypsum to the mash and sparge water. I also may add some calcium chloride. Don't know if I need both or not. I still have to do the calculations.

 

[JordanKnudson]

If your local water is chlorinated, you could either let it sit out overnight to evaporate, or boil for 15-20 minutes to make sure to get all of it out. If your water is treated with chloramines, treat with campden tablets (for chloramine removal, 1 tablet will treat 20 gallons).

Since you're going to use RO, if you're interested in planning your mineral additions more carefully than just adding "some" gypsum and "a little" epsom salt, etc, definitely download and use Brunwater. It's free, and freaking excellent for planning your water additions and estimating your mash pH. Here's the link to the site:

https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/

Also, the creator is a member here on the forum, and he is a very helpful source of information, so if you ever see him posting on a thread (or maybe he'll even weigh in here, who knows), definitely read what he has to say.

 

[Sebmc86]

Thank you. I will look at that. I have been using other calculators online, but have had trouble figuring out what type of water profile I need for a Hefeweizen.

 

[JordanKnudson]

Thank you. I will look at that. I have been using other calculators online, but have had trouble figuring out what type of water profile I need for a Hefeweizen.

Bru'n Water gives you a bunch of historical/regional profile options, but you'll likely want to choose "yellow balanced" or "yellow malty" as your profile guidelines for a hefe, depending on what you like. It's a scary thing to look at at first glance, but once you tinker with it once, you'll get the hang of it instantly.

 

[Sebmc86]

So I just downloaded it while doing my homework and it does look a bit overwhelming. Do you know if there is any good discussions on here about the program or should I just read the first section of directions and go for it? Thanks for the advice. I will probably go with the "yellow malty". I feel like that is what I prefer, but to be honest it has been awhile since I have had a really good hefeweizen.

 

[JordanKnudson]

Definitely read the first sections, as they are full of good info. But, for RO/distilled water, you can skip directly to tab #3, Water Adjustment. Set your "Desired water profile" to yellow malty, set the "Dilution water profile" to RO or distilled, then change the "Dilution percentage" to 100.

You will see your "Target water adjustment," and just below, "Actual water adjustment." Just tinker with the mineral quantities in the table underneath until you've got yourself in the green!

 

[Sebmc86]

Sounds great! Thank you so much. I really want to brew this one Sunday, but I think I am going to have to wait an extra week. I am also thinking about changing the Munich malt in the recipe to unmalted wheat to get more mouth feel and body. Any suggestions?

 

[JordanKnudson]

I think if I were going to add unmalted wheat, I'd replace some of the actual malted wheat with it (since it's already more than half the grist, you won't miss a little). Witbiers, which I've made more often than hefes, often include about 5% flaked oats (with ~45% wheat and ~50% barley, though that's not a hard and fast rule) to increase mouthfeel. I would probably just aim for a similar percentage with your unmalted wheat.

 

[Sebmc86]

I already have the unmalted wheat so I thought I would just throw it in. I have plenty of time to decide before brew day. When I finish my work I am going to revise the recipe and post it on here. Hopefully I can get a rough estimate of the water treatment and can also post that. What yeast do you prefer for your hefeweizens?

 

[Sebmc86]

Do you have a good Wit recipe you would be willing to share? That is the next style I want to try. I really like St. Bernardus Wit

 

[JordanKnudson]

I already have the unmalted wheat so I thought I would just throw it in. I have plenty of time to decide before brew day. When I finish my work I am going to revise the recipe and post it on here. Hopefully I can get a rough estimate of the water treatment and can also post that. What yeast do you prefer for your hefeweizens?

I like Wyeast 3068 for hefes. I would shoot to underpitch by just a hair, then once it gets going ferment around 66-68F. But this is a yeast that you can play with a lot, so feel free to go with your own parameters too! The only thing is, some people find this strain to be tart, and very hard to work with when trying to achieve something very specific. It's sensitive, and I think that's what makes it interesting.

Do you have a good Wit recipe you would be willing to share? That is the next style I want to try. I really like St. Bernardus Wit

I have one that I really like, though I don't know how similar it will be to St. Bernardus. Anyway, when I have a chance to look through my recipes, I'll post it for you.

 

[Sebmc86]

That would be awesome. I have heard great things about that yeast but they never have it at any of the local stores. There are three places that I frequent and have never been able to get it. I will order some when I get a chance but for now I can use WLP300 which I have been told is the same yeast strain, or WLP380 which is similar but more on the clove side.

I was playing with Bru'n Water and according to the spreadsheets I should add 3 grams of calcium chloride to my mash water and another three grams to the sparge water. I also am going to add 0.3 lbs acid malt to get the mash pH in range. Thank you for all of your help and the advice about Bru'n Water. It looks like a great program.

 

[JordanKnudson]

Oh, so I just found that I have my recipes stashed on this computer too! Here's a very nice, fairly simple witbier that will give you a good starting point. It's not 100% traditional, but it's pretty close.

50% Pilsner Malt
45% Wheat Malt (if you want to go more traditional, go unmalted or torrified and shift the percentage just a bit higher)
5% Flaked Oats

Styrian Goldings - add a bittering addition to get you to around 12-13 IBUs, then I like to throw in the rest of the packet with the spices.

Coriander - I go ~1 - 1.5oz for 5 gal in the boil at 5 min, then some more in secondary
Bitter Orange Peel - boil 5 min. Choose your quantity based on the flavor balance you want against your coriander.
Sweet Orange Peel - I use this in secondary, maybe an ounce or so, because I really like the aroma. I'd steep this and the coriander (for secondary) in hot, sterile water until they give up their flavors, then add the whole mixture into the secondary fermentor. This isn't strictly necessary, but it really boosts the spicy & citrus aroma.

Yeast: Okay, I really like wlp410, but since that's a seasonal strain (late spring, early summer), you could go wlp400, or maybe wyeast forbidden fruit. There are several good choices for witbiers.

I don't have my notes on hand for the mash, but I've done this a couple ways. If I remember correctly, my favorite was actually a decoction mash with rests at (hopefully these are the right numbers) 131, 147, and 156. However, I don't think you'd be wrong to save some time and just do a plain old single infusion.

 

[Sebmc86]

That looks good. I also like the coriander/orange flavors and aroma. I will have to try this recipe as soon as I have the time. I will let you know how it turns out.

Thanks again

 

[JordanKnudson]

No problem! I hope you enjoy it. You can tweak this recipe to your tastes, too.

BTW, I forgot to mention, I shoot for an OG of about 1.046, which should leave you with something around 5% ABV.

 

[Sebmc86]

Here is the final recipe after working with Bru'n Water.

5# German Wheat
5# German Pilsner
.5# Unmalted Wheat
.3# Acid Malt

1 oz Hallertauer 45 min
1 oz Hallertauer 10 min

WLP 380 at 64 degrees for 10 days

Condition water with

6 g calcium chloride.


Thanks for the advice about Bru'n Water. It really helps keep everything straight.

 

[JordanKnudson]

Looks great! I'd love to hear how it turns out.

 

[Sebmc86]

I brewed last week and everything went really well. The only problem I had was that my efficiency was much higher than expected, so my original gravity is higher than expected. It smells great in the fermentor and will hopefully bottle it in two weeks.

 

[Sebmc86]

I have been letting this sit in the keg for awhile now and it does not seem to be carbonating completely and the beer is very sweet. I assume this is from the high OG and poor attenuation. Could I add some mild ale yeast to possible consume more of the sugar?

 

[tally350z]

What did it finish at?

 

[Smellyglove]

I just brewed my first Hefe a couple of months back. I fermented at 65*...absolutely NO banana flavor what so ever!


Going to add orange peel to it?

Which yeast did you use?

This recipe http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?t=40751 says not to raise the temp over 63F. The yeast 380.

I'll be making my first hefe with this recipe, and will be using 300. I definitely want some banana in there and was thinking about fermenting it at 68, maybe a rise after 48 hrs from 64.

 

[Sebmc86]

Original gravity was 1.063 and it finished at 1.020. I fermented with WLP380 at 62 degrees for 3 weeks. The beer has a good flavor and aroma, but is very sweet in my opinion. I believe it could be fermented further but I am not sure how to do it.