Weissbier Honey Orange Hefeweizen

[Reno_eNVy]

And you're new, so don't even worry about taking gravity readings at every step. Heck, I still don't and I've been brewing for almost 6 years... I only ever take two readings total per batch. Just take a gravity reading after you've boiled and then cooled your wort (but before you pitch your yeast.) That will be your Original Gravity, or OG. Then take a gravity reading a couple weeks later when fermentation should be completely done and the yeast have cleaned up after themselves. That will be your final gravity, or FG.

The OG should be right around 1.045 and the FG should be around 1.008 if mashed around 152-154*F

If you're still iffy about mashing I'd recommend doing some more reading. If you haven't, check out the free (but older edition) of Palmer's "How to Brew"

 

[BakerBeer]

Great read!

Thanks for the advise! This forum is the Best!

I was reading somewhere that you can tell when you mash is complete or at its max but taking Sg readings during your mashing. Any truth to this method? I will take your advise and mash in the 152-154 range.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Well you can just give it 60 minutes and call it good. It's almost certainly guaranteed to be complete if you have the right temperatures, fresh high-quality malt, and a proper water to grain ratio.

But if you're really concerned about it, after 60 minutes take a teaspoon or so of liquid from your mash and put it on a white plate. Then put one drop of iodine (or iodophor) in the liquid. If it stays brown then you're done. If it turns blue, black, or purple, you still have starches that have yet to be converted into sugars. Hope that helps

 

[BakerBeer]

Iodine - Just normal Iodine i can buy from the pharmacy?

I will take your advise and brew for 60min and test with the iodine. THANKS!

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Yup, the stuff from the pharmacy should work.

 

[BakerBeer]

Quick question, when i go to add my yeast... how do i mix that up? in a few cups of warm water? Stir and add when i aerate the primary fermentor?

 

[TheJasonT]

This is going to be my first all-grain brew. I'm mixing it up a bit, can I get your thoughts?

Boil Size: 6.5g
Batch Size: 5.5g
OG: 1.041
FG: 1.011
ABV: 3.9%
IBU: 16.9

Grain Bill:
4# Rahr White Wheat
3# German 2-Row Pilsner
1.5# Flaked Wheat
1# Honey Malt

Mash:
Add 13qts of 170 degree water and maintain 154 for one hour.

Sparge:
Over one hour, sparge with 20 quarts of 170 degree water.

Boil:

60 min: .5oz Tettnang
15min: .5oz Tettnang
10min: .5oz Glacier, orange zest, puréed fruit of one orange
1min: .5oz Glacier

Yeast: WLP0300 Liquid

Fermentation:
10 days at 68 degrees

Bottle Condition:
10 days at 68 degrees

I'm thinking of using honey as my priming sugar for this. Has anyone tried this? I know it's more expensive but I have a lot of honey from a local keeper here at home and 6oz isn't that much.

I'm using the Glacier hops for more citrus flavors. I wanted to use Citra but its not available right now.

Being my first all grain, are there any secrets I should know about? Thanks!

 

[NorCalBrewin]

This is going to be my first all-grain brew. I'm mixing it up a bit, can I get your thoughts?

Boil Size: 6.5g
Batch Size: 5.5g
OG: 1.041
FG: 1.011
ABV: 3.9%
IBU: 16.9

Grain Bill:
4# Rahr White Wheat
3# German 2-Row Pilsner
1.5# Flaked Wheat
1# Honey Malt

Mash:
Add 13qts of 170 degree water and maintain 154 for one hour.

Sparge:
Over one hour, sparge with 20 quarts of 170 degree water.

Boil:

60 min: .5oz Tettnang
15min: .5oz Tettnang
10min: .5oz Glacier, orange zest, puréed fruit of one orange
1min: .5oz Glacier

Yeast: WLP0300 Liquid

Fermentation:
10 days at 68 degrees

Bottle Condition:
10 days at 68 degrees

I'm thinking of using honey as my priming sugar for this. Has anyone tried this? I know it's more expensive but I have a lot of honey from a local keeper here at home and 6oz isn't that much.

I'm using the Glacier hops for more citrus flavors. I wanted to use Citra but its not available right now.

Being my first all grain, are there any secrets I should know about? Thanks!

Sounds excellent! I believe the honey will work fine, any extra you can send my way too! lol

 

[TheJasonT]

Will the acid in the orange affect head retention? I took that out because I'm concerned about that... Need lots of head on this beer!

 

[Reno_eNVy]

I've never had an issue with bad head retention. And I don't think it's the citric acid that would affect the head, it's the oil in the skins (of which there isn't enough to affect it.)

 

[Brewskier]

Looks really good. Thanks for including a partial mash version.

I have a 3 gallon Rubbermaid MLT. Will it fit 6.5 pounds of grain? I've never tried that much at a time. Anybody know?

 

[Reno_eNVy]

That seems doable. But go search for "green bay rackers calculator" and on that page will be a "can I mash in it" calculator.

Sorry for not including a link, I'm posting from my phone.

 

[Brewskier]

That seems doable. But go search for "green bay rackers calculator" and on that page will be a "can I mash in it" calculator.

Sorry for not including a link, I'm posting from my phone.

Looks like it will work.

Would your recommended yeast substitution be the WLP300? I've had bad luck with dry yeast.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

300 for more banana/clove like a german hefe, 320 for a clean american wheat

 

[Brewskier]

300 for more banana/clove like a german hefe, 320 for a clean american wheat

Which would you recommend as a substitute for the dry yeast in your recipe? I'm worried the banana clove would overshadow the honey/orange.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Which would you recommend as a substitute for the dry yeast in your recipe? I'm worried the banana clove would overshadow the honey/orange.

Okay that question is a bit ambiguous. If you mean you're looking for a substitute that is also dry, I'd say anything neutral like US-05 or nottingham.

 

[Brewskier]

Okay that question is a bit ambiguous. If you mean you're looking for a substitute that is also dry, I'd say anything neutral like US-05 or nottingham.

Sorry, I was looking for a liquid substitute. I went with WLP300. I figure if the orange/honey gets overshadowed by the banana/clove, I'll still have a tasty hefe. If I used the American hefe yeast, I'd worry about there being not enough flavor.

I'll let you know how it turns out. I'm brewing as we speak.

 

[brett1341]

I used wyeast 10-10 and bottled this on 11/7. It is pure goodness.

Great recipe!

 

[Brewskier]

Just realized how quickly this one can be consumed. I brewed it in preparation for a trip I'm taking in the middle of next month... would you recommend bottling to keep some of the hefe character around longer? I usually keg, but I realize that a lot of yeast will go to the bottom after a few weeks. I could always bottle from the keg...


What do you think?

 

[SLCRebellion]

Just brewed this up today. I slightly changed the grain schedule just to have the beer finish at 5%, and then since Little Cuties, Clementines, are now out I juiced a pint of Clementines and added it to the end of the boil. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

 

[CheemsAF]

Just brewed this yesterday, can't wait! Although I altered the original recipe: increased grain bill by 15%, increased IBU by 2, using Wyeast 3068 instead of 3056 (LHBS limitation), and used half a jar of home harvested honey (Mom's a bee keeper). We'll see how it turns out. Yeasties are very active right now and OG was 1.061.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Both substitutes of cuties and local honey sound great. Be sure to post your final results

 

[woknblues]

Just brewed this beauty last night. I over estimated my boil off/ water volume (BIAB and ended up with 6 gallons after a planned 90 minute boil) and got a 1.040, but I am sure it will be fine. I am getting ready to pitch this morning (my first no chill). Thanks for the recipe. I will post results when this is ready.

 

[BakerBeer]

What do you mean by " going to pitch this morning " add the yeast?

 

[Reno_eNVy]

What do you mean by " going to pitch this morning " add the yeast?

Yup, pitching the yeast means simply to add it.

The reason he's waiting for the next morning is because he's doing no-chill

 

[BakerBeer]

Ahh I see... So instead of rapidly cooling the wart he is letting it cool to room temp before "pitching"

I thought I read some where that we cool the wart as fast as possible to prevent any bacterial from getting into the wart before the fermentation process starts.

I made this very receive in November. Being my first all grain it didn't turn out very well. I boiled down to 3.5 gallons from 5. I didn't know we were to start with a per boil volume of 6.5-7gallons. My bad. Lol I learned from my mistake.

I am going to attempt again in a few weeks lol

Thanks for all the help!

 

[WhiteEagle1]

"Wort"

 

[Reno_eNVy]

I thought I read some where that we cool the wart as fast as possible to prevent any bacterial from getting into the wart before the fermentation process starts.

Typically what people will do is pour boiling wort into a bucket. This will certainly kill any baddies. Then it's closed up until ready for yeast so as long as you have an appropriate sized yeast starter with healthy yeast it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[TheJasonT]

Cracked open my first bottle of this tonight. It carbed up really fast, it's only been conditioning for less than a week. Obviously, the flavor was a bit green still but I got all sorts of honey sweetness in the middle with a touch of orange on the back end. Delicious!

 

[BakerBeer]

Wow Jason, looks good!

How does it taste?