Weissbier Honey Orange Hefeweizen

[thx997303]

I'm not sure that I have that ability yet. Just bought a cube cooler for the purpose, but haven't tested it yet, no thermometer either.

In the extract version, what do you do with the crystal? I had assumed you would steep it, as I said above.

And as far as partial mash, I would, but I have the extract ingredients on hand already.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

I'm not sure that I have that ability yet.

But you mentioned needing to steep the crystal at 154 for 60 minutes. How were you doing that before without the cooler?

 

[thx997303]

Well, that was what I assumed you would need to do, based on what you've written in this recipe. And I haven't been doing that, this will only be my 5th brew.

How would you go about using the crystal in the extract version without steeping?

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Well, that was what I assumed you would need to do, based on what you've written in this recipe. And I haven't been doing that, this will only be my 5th brew.

How would you go about using the crystal in the extract version without steeping?

If you're not mashing then the only other way you can get the sugar out of the crystal is to steep it.

I'm sorry if my answers aren't helping, I'm not exactly sure on what you're asking. Are you confusing steeping with BIAB (brew in a bag) mashing?

 

[thx997303]

I'm sure my noobishness is what is causing the confusion.

So, let's assume I know nothing at all (not far from the truth.)

I am brewing the extract version of this recipe.

How do you steep the crystal?

 

[Reno_eNVy]

To steep the crystal simply take the amount of water you intend to boil and keep it ~120-150... it's not terribly vital that you keep it constant. Add the crystal in a muslin or grain bag and let it steep for 30 minutes or so, every now and then giving it a dunk and a jiggle.... like a big cup of tea.

After 30 minutes or so, pick the bag out and let it drain either by hanging it or letting it rest on a strainer over the pot. Don't squeeze it as you can release harsh tannins (highly debated.) At this point you boil as normal (add your hops, extract, etc)

Hope that helps. Don't be afraid to ask more questions.

 

[captainoverspray]

brewed this one up today. Kind of bastardized it with orange peel, coriander, and Weihenstephan Weizen 3068 yeast. Also my eff dropped to an all time low on this to 59.3% according to beersmith. I think I need to get my own mill and crush my own grains. LHBS has two mills and the one I used for this also netted me a lower eff on my other beer I ran through the same day as usual.

I might have run into a problem with using torrified wheat instead of the white wheat. either way it smells like a blue moon when I put it to bed tonight with a healthy starter.

 

[captainoverspray]

just looked back and looks like last brew was a Surley bender clone and it was also in the 60% brew house eff range. my pale ale before these two was 70%.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Well I think using torrified wheat was your issue. The wheat malt has mash enzymes while torrified does not.

But I'm sure it'll still be tasty. The yeast was a good choice.

 

[thx997303]

How much corriander did you use in your recipe overspray?

 

[captainoverspray]

How much corriander did you use in your recipe overspray?

I did .5 oz and one oz of bitter orange. I was going to do a full oz of corriander but that seemed to much.

 

[wittmania]

I have never brewed with pilsner before, but everything I've read leads me to think that a 90 min. boil is necessary to avoid DMS formation. You list 60 minutes in your recipe. Have you ever had a problem with DMS in this brew?

 

[Reno_eNVy]

No DMS issues. Living at high elevation and getting a hard rolling boil allows me to do 60

 

[thx997303]

Well, I'm going to brew this as an extract and partial boil.

figure to do .5 oz corriander and 1 oz bitter orange as the other guy did.

I wonder though, is a 2 gallon boil going to be sufficient? That's the biggest pot I have and I worry about it boiling over as it is.

 

[wittmania]

That's an awfully small boil. Can't you go buy an enamel canning pot for around $20 and at least get closer to 3.5?

 

[thx997303]

I may be able to. Just haven't found a big enough one locally. I would much rather buy a bigger pot for full boils though.

I'll look into it before I brew this.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

There are 8 gallon aluminums at walmart for $25. I use it with my high-pressure propane burner.

 

[thx997303]

What? Where have they been hiding these 8 gallon aluminums? I have never seen one.

I did just pick up a 21 quart canner, needed one anyway. This ought to let me do a 3.5 gallon boil.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Yeah you'll be good to go. Just keep a squirt bottle with cold water handy to keep boil-overs at bay.

 

[thx997303]

Brewed this up. Extract version with orange peel and corriander.

Hit 1.040 OG so pretty close I figure. Used danstar Munich yeast because apparently I bought that instead of the other. Also seems like I burnt some of the extract. Hopefully I won't get a bad flavor from that.


You think around 65 f ambient temp will do this beer justice?

 

[Reno_eNVy]

That sounds like a great temperature.

 

[captainoverspray]

Well, I'm going to brew this as an extract and partial boil.

figure to do .5 oz corriander and 1 oz bitter orange as the other guy did.

I wonder though, is a 2 gallon boil going to be sufficient? That's the biggest pot I have and I worry about it boiling over as it is.

Bottled this last week and it has a great taste to it at bottling. Either need to add a slice of orange to it or next time add more sweet or bitter orange peel to it. Need to wait till it fully carbs before I make a decision. I will report back in like a week or maybe two.

 

[zerohelix]

question:

I just moved my honey hefe into a secondary, but it seems like I could've skipped that step and go straight into bottling. Would keeping it in a secondary for a 5-7 days prior to carbing/bottling have any effect on it's overall taste?

 

[wittmania]

I would have skipped the secondary on this beer. You want it cloudy and fresh. A short-ish (7-10 day) primary is all it needs, and then keg or bottle it. If you are bottling, you will want to make sure you have a steady hydrometer reading for a couple of days before you bottle, unless you like exploding beer and glass bombs.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

I would have skipped the secondary on this beer. You want it cloudy and fresh. A short-ish (7-10 day) primary is all it needs, and then keg or bottle it. If you are bottling, you will want to make sure you have a steady hydrometer reading for a couple of days before you bottle, unless you like exploding beer and glass bombs.

This all over.

 

[wittmania]

Bottling this tonight. The hydrometer reading was 1.005, probably due to me missing my mash temp a couple degrees low. The sample tasted great, by the way.

Any advice on how much priming sugar to use for a 5 gallon batch?

I keg almost exclusively now and even when I bottle I usually force-carb and bottle from the keg. Seems like this is a beer that would benefit from being bottle conditioned and having all of the yeast trapped in "individual servings" rather than having it all settle out.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Hmm, well I've done the keg to bottle with this brew and it works just fine and keeps plenty of yeast in suspension.

As for priming sugar I'm not sure at the moment. Just got rid of windows for linux and I'm trying to get beersmith on there. But you'll probably be safe with 4oz if it's a full 5 gallon batch.

 

[paddyb270]

I'm going to be making this soon. This looks awesome. But this will be my first hefe and I'll be bottling this. How should I avoid too much carbonation (exploding bottles) after primary? There's going to be a lot of yeast floating around.

 

[wittmania]

@Paddy: Carbonation depends on the amount of sugar in the beer, not how much yeast is left. You'll have enough yeast in suspension to take care of all of the sugar you prime with. Once they run out of food they'll take a nap.

@Reno: Out of keg space at the moment, so I'm going to bottle condition this brew. These are the problems I have to deal with!

 

[Reno_eNVy]

I'm going to be making this soon. This looks awesome. But this will be my first hefe and I'll be bottling this. How should I avoid too much carbonation (exploding bottles) after primary? There's going to be a lot of yeast floating around.

The amount of yeast in your bottles has nothing to do with over-carbonation (under-carb, sure... but that's if you have almost zero viable yeast left.) The yeast will only produce CO2 as long as there is sugar to be eaten. Once the sugar runs out the yeast can't keep producing carbonation because there's nothing left to eat.

Just make sure of three things:

1) That you don't bottle until fermentation is completely done. That means take a gravity reading when you think it's done, then take another one 3 days later. If it's the same, you're good to go.

2) Prime with the proper about of priming solution. If you put too much sugar in the bottle bucket or don't get a proper mixture you will get either over-carbonation or uneven carbonation (i.e. some are over, some are under)

3) Mix your priming solution properly in with your beer in the bottling bucket. So after you boil and cool your priming solution, add it to your bottling bucket. Then rack the beer on top of it, being sure the end of your hose is angled so you get a whirlpooling action. This whirlpool will completely mix your solution homogeneously into the beer.