Set me straight on my hefeweizen! Can I bottle yet?

[Gnomebrewer]

Go with 160F/71C instead of 154F/67C

 

[logdrum]

Go with 160F/71C instead of 154F/67C

Hmm, I can do that, but to what end? Foam building? Body? Both? Thanks!

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Hmm, I can do that, but to what end? Foam building? Body? Both? Thanks!

Yep, both.

 

[logdrum]

All righty, I’ll give it a go. Thanks. Also thinking of pitching low & fermenting a little higher-17/20C, 62/68F

 

[Horseflesh]

Last time I was in a hefe thread, it was said by some that this style can only be made with LODO techniques. The orange color and malt flavor require it... I was told.

I don’t have a dog in that fight, but I do know that I have made more hefe than anything else and have never come close to commercial quality. I need some new ideas.

I also have always kegged at close to 14 days. Even if kegging earlier will help flavor, I’ll be miles away from that nice orange color. Is decoration required?

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Last time I was in a hefe thread, it was said by some that this style can only be made with LODO techniques.

It's bullsh1t. I've done Lodo. Including on hefe batches. LoDo is definitely different, but I prefer HiDo (but with LoDo on the cold side for most (but not all) beers). Those brewers might really like the results they get with LoDo, and it may be that the taste you are looking for can only be achieved with LoDo. I've seen some videos of German hefeweizen being splashed from shallow fermenters on it's way to bottling, so it's definitely not required. I prefer my HiDo hefe.

 

[Smellyglove]

Last time I was in a hefe thread, it was said by some that this style can only be made with LODO techniques. The orange color and malt flavor require it... I was told.

I don’t have a dog in that fight, but I do know that I have made more hefe than anything else and have never come close to commercial quality. I need some new ideas.

I also have always kegged at close to 14 days. Even if kegging earlier will help flavor, I’ll be miles away from that nice orange color. Is decoration required?

What's your grist? 1% choco, or 3% EBC 120-150 should do it.

 

[Horseflesh]

I usually do roughly 2/3 red wheat, 1/3 pils and color is nowhere near right. I've tried a few things including 50/50 and making pils the majority, and they are definitely all beer... but not like a commercial hef.

Last time, I followed someone's advice and added in 5% CaraHell which is about 10L. This helped, but color was still not as rich and orange as a real Paulaner. (Nor was the flavor!)

 

[Rev2010]

Last time, I followed someone's advice and added in 5% CaraHell which is about 10L. This helped, but color was still not as rich and orange as a real Paulaner. (Nor was the flavor!)

I use 6oz of CaraWheat in my Hefeweizen's. The color is perfect. I make some excellent hefe's and have made them before where it was virtually indistinguishable from Weihenstephan I just haven't yet been able to match my favorite - Franziskaner. Get close but could never get the amount of both banana & clove like a Franzi. Still trying.

Rev.

 

[Horseflesh]

I use 6oz of CaraWheat in my Hefeweizen's. The color is perfect. I make some excellent hefe's and have made them before where it was virtually indistinguishable from Weihenstephan I just haven't yet been able to match my favorite - Franziskaner. Get close but could never get the amount of both banana & clove like a Franzi. Still trying.

Rev.

If your recipe etc is available for review I know what I am doing next weekend. I'd be appreciative of any info... this is my homebrewing white whale.

PS Sorry for the threadjack OP!

 

[Rev2010]

PS Sorry for the threadjack OP!

No worries, I'll PM it over to you in a minute.


Rev.

 

[Smellyglove]

I believe this was 3% caramunich 3.

 

[cooper]

Do you guys typically decoct, step mash, or single infusion your best hefes?

 

[Rev2010]

Do you guys typically decoct, step mash, or single infusion your best hefes?

Step mash, just ferulic and sacc. I've done protein rests and never saw any difference. I've double decocted and it made a small difference in maltiness but wasn't really that much a gain to be worth the effort. This is strictly my opinion, before anyone flips out


Rev.

 

[cooper]

I hear ya on the decoction piece. I've only done one decoction on a Maibock and it was delicious but I dont know if that was just because it turned out great or if the decoction actually made a difference since I havent brewed that recipe again. Maybe I need to! I think it really helps though if you can get the less modified malts when doing a decoction but I dont have much evidence on that.

 

[Smellyglove]

Step. Either a straight ferulic, then beta, then alpha then mashout, or a herrmann.

I used to to a lot of them with protein-steps, and it did help on getting that pillowy foam, I believe the picture above was with a proteinstep.