AG#5 - Hefeweizen

[Pinchy]

Brewing this at the weekend or on Monday hopefully :).

I do enjoy a wheat beer and after so many successful beers of this type on this forum I thought I would give it a go. With help from Pittsy recently and Calumscott a while back about the step mash for this beer hopefully it should be a winner!


Recipe: Hefeweizen
Brewer:
Asst Brewer:
Style: Weizen/Weissbier
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 34.50 l
Post Boil Volume: 27.23 l
Batch Size (fermenter): 23.00 l
Bottling Volume: 21.60 l
Estimated OG: 1.051 SG
Estimated Color: 6.8 EBC
Estimated IBU: 11.9 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 79.7 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
3.40 kg Wheat Malt, Ger (3.9 EBC) Grain 1 64.2 %
1.90 kg Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (3.9 EBC) Grain 2 35.8 %

28.00 g Hallertauer Hersbrucker [3.00 %] - Boil Hop 3 8.7 IBUs
22.00 g Hallertauer Hersbrucker [3.00 %] - Boil Hop 4 3.2 IBUs
1.0 pkg German Wheat (Wyeast Labs #3333) / (White Labs 380)


Mash Schedule: BIAB Hefeweizen Step Mash
Total Grain Weight: 5.30 kg
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash Step Add 37.74 l of water at 42.3 C 41.0 C 20 min
Mash Step Add 0.00 l of water at 55.0 C 55.0 C 20 min
Mash Step Add 0.00 l of water at 64.0 C 64.0 C 20 min
Mash Step Add 0.00 l of water at 72.0 C 72.0 C 30 min


As advised by Pittsy I will be cooling this down as close to 15°C as I can get and pitching the yeast at that temp. Then I'll be fermenting this beer in my fermentation fridge at 20°C.

Really looking forward to this one because of how little time it takes from brewing it to drinking :thumb:

 

[marksa222]

Good luck mate. I've also been mithering Pittsy for similar advice regarding a hefeweizen... Can I ask though, for what purpose is the cool to 15 degrees to pitch part? I've not received that advice from Pittsy...

I'm almost going for the same recipe.. All weyermann malts and Hallertauer hops, but i'm going for the wlp300 yeast... I like the banana in wheats you see. Similar mash schedule and also biab... I might copy and paste your brewday post haha.

 

[Pinchy]

I believe that it helps to give the beer all the desirable characters from the yeast like banana, cloves and vanilla flavours.

This is the thread I posted for help:
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=50526

 

[Pinchy]

I might copy and paste your brewday post haha.

Haha thats pretty much what I did to be honest! :

 

[marksa222]

Thanks. I'll give that a go then... I've not got my brew fridge sorted yet, so i'm just going to use a heatbelt through an stc1000 and cover with a duvet or something.

The suggested mash temps i've got are;
41/44c for 15/20 mins
55c for 20 mins
rise to 63c for 20 mins
rise to 71c for 45 mins
mash out at 76c rest 10 min

Not sure if it'll make a much of a different beer. Happy to swap one with you if you fancied it?

 

[Pinchy]

Great idea I'd be more than happy to do a swap! It would be a good test as your using a different yeast too. To be fair I'll probably be doing a mash out at 76°C to improve efficiency too.
When is your brewday mate?

 

[marksa222]

Doing it on Sunday. What are you planning fermentation wise? I think it'll be 13 or 14 days for me as I would struggle to find time to bottle on a week day.

 

[Pinchy]

Probably about the same for me. Hoping to brew this on Monday. So should easily be ready for bottling on the weekend commencing 15th. Then keep the bottles warm for two weeks and it's ready to drink I guess

I'll look out for your brewday post :thumb:

 

[marksa222]

awesome.

I'm thinking of doing an experimental 1 gallon batch during the week if I get time. I'd skim the krausen from this one and use that to ferment it. I might do an 80% wheat or maybe 50/50 but hop with amarillo or something... not quite sure though. Any suggestions?

 

[Pinchy]

I don't know to be honest mate. The only wheat beers I have had are the ordinary German and Belgian ones. I seem to remember hearing about some American hopped wheat beers about though?

 

[Pinchy]

Started the mash. Temp was 42c instead of 41 but hopefully that won't make too much difference. Looking forward to using the Wyeast smack pack!

 

[Pinchy]

Boilers been cutting out into the boil again on my 40L buffalo. I really must get the thermal cut out bypassed!!! I hope that will fix it.

 

[Pinchy]

A pretty bad brew day to be honest. Boiler was cutting out, Because of this I got an OG of 1.044 instead of 1.051 due to less evaporation I guess. And I assume it will have less flavour and bitterness from the hops too.

And then my Wyeast smack pack wasn't smacked properly... There were two compartments of a sachet inside and only one of them had been burst (1 nutrient and 1 yeast?). So I pitched separately and gave it all a good stir. I guess it will work ok? Just start a little slower??

Hopefully I will still have a drinkable beer at the end of it. It will be more of a Wheak Beer than a Wheat Beer!

Here are the photos from the day:

 

[pittsy]

Good news , hops shouldn't be noticed so all's good . A hefe is a strong beer really so 1044 is still around 4.2% which is good in my books and i take it you have more wort than expected which ain't a bad thing and lastly the smack pack not working will mean the yeast would of been stressed a little due to possible under pitching which is also a good thing with a hefe . So all in all your errors just ain't a bad thing ( for a hefe) :thumb: .

 

[Pinchy]

Good news , hops shouldn't be noticed so all's good . A hefe is a strong beer really so 1044 is still around 4.2% which is good in my books and i take it you have more wort than expected which ain't a bad thing and lastly the smack pack not working will mean the yeast would of been stressed a little due to possible under pitching which is also a good thing with a hefe . So all in all your errors just ain't a bad thing ( for a hefe) :thumb: .

Haha this is great news!! Really cheered me up about this brew :thumb: . And as you say I have a couple more litres of beer because of it.

Thanks Pittsy I was worried it would be a rubbish beer.

 

[Pinchy]

Finished fermenting at 1.010.

Planning on bottling this Sunday. Should I keep the temp at 20? Or drop it for a few days?

Edit:

I juts searched and read to drop the temp to 15c so ill do that :)

 

[pittsy]

Finished fermenting at 1.010.

Planning on bottling this Sunday. Should I keep the temp at 20? Or drop it for a few days?


Edit:

I juts searched and read to drop the temp to 15c so ill do that :)

If you want to cool it and can then 10c is the ideal temp for a hefe :thumb:

 

[Pinchy]

OK will do mate. Thanks Pittsy :thumb:

 

[Pinchy]

Bottled this today. The aromas are intense! I understand what everyone means now when they go on about the intense banana smells from this yeast :) seems like it's going to be a nice one!

 

[pittsy]

Nice 1 , did you get any vanilla smells too . Lovely yeast that .