by warra48 » Wednesday Jul 14, 2010 7:43 pm
I've never brewed a K&K Hefeweizen, but I have brewed about 12 or so AG Hefeweizens and Dunkelweizens.
For Hefeweizens, my best grist has been 50/50 wheat and pils malts, with 100 grams of carahell. I couldn't differentiate it from Erdinger Hefeweizen.The carahell is just to give it a little body and to balance the clove I get from the yeast and cooler fermentation.
I don't bother messing about with decoctions, just a 60 min mash at 65ºC. Some rice hulls in the mash makes draining/lautering a breeze.
I think that any more cara/crystal type malts, even if balanced by some more IBUs, will take it out of style, and away from what Schöfferhofen is.
Hefeweizens should not have detectable hop influences.
DrS' suggestion as to the malt make up for K&K is a good one.
WB06 is a genuine wheat ale yeast, although I've never been able to get banana esters from it. It will make a tasty brew but, in my experience, more towards clove than banana esters.
These days, I use WY3068, and I like the results if I build up a 2.5 to 3 litre starter, pitch and ferment at 17.5ºC. It gives me the balance I'm looking for between body, clove, and subtle banana esters. I don't aerate the batch itself, but I pour off the starter wort and add 2 litres from the batch itself, and aerate that until it's at high kraeusen and pitch that.
For my next batches I'm thinking of experimenting with WY3868 to see if I can get some subtle bubblegum esters I don't get with WY3068.
Hefeweizens are not a difficult style to brew, but should be balanced between body and the clove, bubblegum and banana esters. if any of these dominate, it's not a good Hefeweizen.