how the f do ya make good wheat beer?

[nuthin_original]

I've tasted several home-brewed wheat beers, including the batch in my secondary, as well as wheat beer from a local microbrewery, and they all have the same off flavor. I want to make wheat beer that is just as tasty as O'dell's Easy Street Wheat or New Belgium's Sunshine Wheat, Widmer's, Pyramid's, etc..., etc... Please, HELP! Thanks! Homebrewing rules!

 

[frolickingmonkey]

I think the secret to making a good wheat beer is using an all-grain recipe. I've certainly made/had lots of great ales brewed with extract, but when it comes to weizens, you just can't seem to replicate them properly using extract.

 

[sirsloop]

The secret to a good wheat beer is a beer specific liquid yeast strain. Dry isn't gonna cut it....

 

[cuinrearview]

The secret to a good wheat beer is a beer specific liquid yeast strain. Dry isn't gonna cut it....

+1, and using a mini-mash will help as well if you don't have the AG equipment. I've made a few really good hefe-weizens and fruit-wheats this year.

 

[shaundesjardins]

I don't mean to sound like a smartass but I've just finished making a hefeweizen using DME and dry yeast (Fermentis T-58 believe it or not) that turned out fantastic. Mind you it isn't bottled yet but I doubt it'll somehow get worse once it's bottled and carbonated. I'm an avid hefe drinking and regular drink Erdinger, Hacker Pschorr and Schneider Weisse and mine isn't too far off from any of those IMO.
It had a nice mix of clove and banana and the colour is spot on. I'll make sure to post some pics of it once it's done bottle conditioning. (2-3 weeks hopefully)

 

[underwaterdan]

I'm an avid hefe drinking and regular drink Erdinger, Hacker Pschorr and Schneider Weisse and mine isn't too far off from any of those IMO.
It had a nice mix of clove and banana and the colour is spot on. I'll make sure to post some pics of it once it's done bottle conditioning. (2-3 weeks hopefully)

Someone else who loves Schneider Weisse! That is by far my favorite - if you have a recipie that is close to that I would love to get it from you! My mouth is watering!

 

[DrinksWellWithOthers]

I've tasted several home-brewed wheat beers, including the batch in my secondary, as well as wheat beer from a local microbrewery, and they all have the same off flavor. I want to make wheat beer that is just as tasty as O'dell's Easy Street Wheat or New Belgium's Sunshine Wheat, Widmer's, Pyramid's, etc..., etc... Please, HELP! Thanks! Homebrewing rules!

What's the off flavor you're talking about? All the beers you listed are American Wheat Ales. German and Belgian wheats are going to taste much different because of different yeast strains.

 

[shaundesjardins]

Someone else who loves Schneider Weisse! That is by far my favorite - if you have a recipie that is close to that I would love to get it from you! My mouth is watering!

I can't claim that my recipe is a clone of any commercial beer but it sure came out good.
I'll PM you the recipe when I get home tonight since it's on my home PC.
It was very simple...almost too easy but the flavour came out great.
It's basically just some bavarian wheat DME, Hallertau (60 min. boil) and the T-58 yeast really.

 

[underwaterdan]

I can't claim that my recipe is a clone of any commercial beer but it sure came out good.
I'll PM you the recipe when I get home tonight since it's on my home PC.
It was very simple...almost too easy but the flavour came out great.
It's basically just some bavarian wheat DME, Hallertau (60 min. boil) and the T-58 yeast really.

Thanks, looking forward to it!

 

[UnaBonger]

I can't claim that my recipe is a clone of any commercial beer but it sure came out good.
I'll PM you the recipe when I get home tonight since it's on my home PC.
It was very simple...almost too easy but the flavour came out great.
It's basically just some bavarian wheat DME, Hallertau (60 min. boil) and the T-58 yeast really.

It really is that easy. I made one very similar to yours and am loving it

 

[sirsloop]

You can probably get away with a German wheat beer with that T-58, but you may have a hard time getting really great belgian flavors...

 

[shaundesjardins]

You can probably get away with a German wheat beer with that T-58, but you may have a hard time getting really great belgian flavors...

You're probably right but it did a pretty good job IMO with the Hefe even though it's not officially a Hefe yeast. It's the best thing my LHBS had so I took a chance with it.
It's the first time I've tried that yeast so I couldn't tell you how well it works for Belgian beers though.

 

[shaundesjardins]

It really is that easy. I made one very similar to yours and am loving it

My recipe didn't produce a super complex tasting beer but it produced a nice clean tasting Hefe with distinct clove and banana flavours.
I think some people occasionally over complicate certain beer styles sometimes.
To me, simplicity is key with a Hefeweizen.
I prefer nice and clean in a Hefe as opposed to super duper spicy notes and stuff.

 

[Beerrific]

If you want a clean wheat beer like the examples you listed, do not use a German wheat beer yeast strain.

My recommendations would use a good high quality wheat LME (or DME if the LME is not fresh), clean, non-citrusy American or German noble-type hop (Liberty, Hallertau, etc.) for a bittering addition only, and the key is to use a clean ale yeast. My yeast recommendations (in order): wlp320 American Hefe, wlp029 Kolsch, or if you want dry US-05 fermented cool.

IMO, all this talk of hefeweizen yeast, T-58, is not really going to help make a beer like

O'dell's Easy Street Wheat or New Belgium's Sunshine Wheat, Widmer's, Pyramid's, etc.

 

[Edcculus]

Here is a rule of thumb for wheats and hefes:

American wheat
-Extract: use the wheat extract which is typically 60% barley malt and 40% wheat malt
-use 1056 for a clean taste

-All grain- Use less than 40% wheat malt in the grist

Bavarian Hefe - Use Wyeast 3068 (or equivalent)
-Extract -Try to find a 100% wheat malt extract. Make sure you have 50-60% wheat malt to pilsner malt.

All Grain - Follow EdWort's Bavarian Hefe recipe

 

[shaundesjardins]

If you want a clean wheat beer like the examples you listed, do not use a German wheat beer yeast strain.

My recommendations would use a good high quality wheat LME (or DME if the LME is not fresh), clean, non-citrusy American or German noble-type hop (Liberty, Hallertau, etc.) for a bittering addition only, and the key is to use a clean ale yeast. My yeast recommendations (in order): wlp320 American Hefe, wlp029 Kolsch, or if you want dry US-05 fermented cool.

IMO, all this talk of hefeweizen yeast, T-58, is not really going to help make a beer like

Sorry for hijacking the thread in my previous posts.
You're right the T-58 is fairly estery and a little spicy/clovy/peppery. Definitely not crisp enough to brew a Kolsch or American style wheat.

 

[cuinrearview]

I see we're getting to discussing yeast in the "my wheat beer sucks" thread, and we should be. I've made four batches of hefe-weizen this year, all with WLP300. All four were drinkable, but the ones I fermented warmer(70*) with milder hops (hallertauer, strisselspalt) came out much more smooth, balanced, and drinkable. The cooler one(66*) tasted like a clove bomb. My american wheat beers with fruit used Safale-05 fermented at 64 degrees. Smoking Cat, a wheat pale ale was held at 60-64 with Safale-05. This beer is listed in my recipes as a Gumballhead inspired WPA. All used Briess wheat DME and all had a very strong "bready" flavor to them which is what I associate with wheat in beer.

I've yet to use T-58, don't know if I will because I've loved the results I've obtained with the two yeasts listed above. Maybe the OP is not obtaining the proper fermentation temps. for what he's making. Maybe the off taste is a process problem?

 

[lx302]

What's the off flavor you're talking about? All the beers you listed are American Wheat Ales. German and Belgian wheats are going to taste much different because of different yeast strains.

That's what I was going to suggest.
Use an American Wheat Yeast and all those banana/cloves flavors and smells should disappear. I personally use Wyeast Liquid 1010. Perle for bittering and liberty hops for finishing. I was trying to clone sam Adams Summer Ale and came close.

But I also recently brewed a Hefe and used a German Yeast Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan Weizen and it turned out like a real Hefe, I was impressed.

It's all in the yeast.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

I delved into this a bit here:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/goose-island-312-clone-discussion-86129/

A word of caution, 3068 is a banana bomb and if you let your temps get high (>68ºF) you will have more banana than the normal person wants.