Need a Kit+Extract Hefeweizen Recipe

[Tim...]

Alright, I have seemed to have completely screwed my brew. Fortunatly I only screwed up the first $15 worth of ingredients. Alright heres what I did (please tell me everything I did wrong).

This is the first time I have had to boil longer than about 5 minutes. I first did my carapils grain. I cracked this, left in 2L of 65C water for an hour. Then I strained that liquid into another pot, added 500g Dry Wheat Malt Extract, and disolved. When that started boiling, I added 25G Hallertauer Hops. Left that (and stirred every ~ 4 mins) for 45 mins and then added 12.5g Tettnang. About 40 minutes into this boil, I decided something was wrong. The liquid looked like thick soy sauce (very dark). About 50 minutes into the boil, I turned it off, knowing something was wrong. It smelt completely burnt, alot of it was just stuck and burnt to the bottom, and it was about a chocolate brown colour (getting close to black). After that, there were a few swear words exchanged between me and the pot, and then I sat down at the computer (and here I am!).

Now I have an idea about what the problem is, but you guys will have to tell me if I'm right. I decided that maybe I wasn't meant to add the wheat malt in for the whole 60 mins of the boil (and the carapils broth probably). The other thing that might have contributed is the pot I used for the boil was a bit big (and wide) so the liquid was touching too much of the bottom (to low on the sides). Other problems might be that I had the temperature too high (which I did it was alot higher than it needed to be to boil), and that I should have had more liquid.


Heres the recipe again if anyone wants to give me step by step instructions (for dummies )

* Brewcraft Bavarian Wheat (1.5kg tin)
* 1kg Morgans Liquid Wheat Extract
* 500g Dry Wheat Malt Extract
* 250g Carapils
* 25g Hallertauer (60 mins)
* 12.5g Tettnang (15 mins)
* 12.5g Tettnang (5 mins)
* WB-06 SAFwheat Yeast

------------------------------------

Thankfully I bought 500g of carapils, so i still have 250 to spare for tomorrows attempt!

Thanks,

Tim

*EDIT*
I should also mention (if i didnt already) that the stuff that was in the pot was the equivilant of toffee after I turned the flame off. I have decided (after reading some instructions on a few places) that I simply had the heat way too high. And I probably should have had about 3-4 L of water in there, rather than just the 2L from the carapils broth. Does this sound right?

[Kevnlis]

Top up with boiling water from the kettle, a bit of caramelisation should be ok. I think if you just finish this brew it will be fine.

2L was not enough water. The bittering will be minimal if any at all because of the high concentration of malt.

I would use 4L of water if possible, and top up with boiling water if alot is evaporating. The boil can't really be too vigorous so don't worry about the heat too much. If you can boil 8L use the 1kg of liquid instead of the 500g wheat malt.

[pixelboy]

kevs right, I fill my pot to about 3/4 full with water + malt n hops etc.. I get about 6L of liquids all up.

big pots good... fill er up

[Tim...]

Well, as soon as I pick up my lost ingredients (500g WDME and hops), I'll attempt this again. This time I'll be very generous with the water, and refill it if it gets low. Thanks for the help guys!

[roboscot]

Apologies for bumping an old thread, not sure on the etiquette just yet.

I've got:

2 x 1.5kg Morgans Wheat extract
3 x 12g Hallertauer for 60/15/flameout
1 x WB-06 to be purchased tomorrow

In relation to the 250 carapils mentioned earlier in the thread, I don't think I'll be able to get grain. Is an addition of Maltodextine acceptable to add a bit of body? If so, how much and are there alternatives? I am aiming for a nice, simple, easy-drinking Hefe.

Also, being very new to HB, should I be boiling the 3kg of Wheat + Carapils liquor and adding my hops to that boil or just boiling the hops in the carapils/maltodextrine or whatever is most suitable and disolving the extract in that liquor before adding to the fermenter and topping up to 20l or so.

I'm on Mac osX and I've downloaded BeerTools Pro. Anyone here using it, please share thoughts/tips etc

[matr]

Hey roboscot, I have just finished this one and it was very nice.

0.25 kg Wheat Dry Extract (15.8 EBC) Dry Extract 7.69 %
3.00 kg Wheat Liquid Extract (15.8 EBC) Extract 92.31 %
25.00 gm Hallertauer Hersbrucker [6.30 %] (20 min) Hops 13.1 IBU
1 Pkgs SafAle German Ale (DCL Yeast #WB-06)

Maybe start out basic like this and see how you go. I don't think it needs any more body.

I would just go for the single hop edition as the yeast will over power the late editions you have planned. Just use 2 of your 12g bags. Open them up and throw them in. Save the other for next time.
With the above recipe I used the dry extract in 3L of water for the boil. You can just use malt extract if you can't get wheat.

Ferment @ around 18C for clove esters or higher around 22C for Banana esters.

This was a 20L batch. If you want to make it 23L just bump the boil up to 4L add another 250grm dry extract to it (500grams total) and throw the 3rd bag of hops in.

Hope this helps. Cheers, Mat.

[roboscot]

Thanks Mat

[RUM57L]

Here's a recipe from a recent Homebrew mag:

1.7kg Thomas Coopers Wheat Beer.
1.5kg Thomas Coopers Wheat Malt Extract.
11.5gm WB-06 or Munich Yeast.

The method is as follows:

1. 15-30mins prior to mixing brew rehydrate yeast in 250mls tepid water, stir till creamy and cover with cling wrap.
2. Mix the malt extract and beer kit to fermenter with 2 litres of hot water.
3. Top up with cold water to 23L and stir vigorously.
4. Stir in the creamed yeast.
5. Ferment in the range of 18 - 24 degrees.

FG is expected to be around 1008.

The recipe also states to use a higher priming rate if using dex of 10g/L.

I haven't tried this recipe as yet, but it's on my short list.

EDIT - 1.5kg extract not 1kg as previously listed. Thanks again Earle

[earle]

Go the Wb-06 to get some proper clove/banana hefeweizen flavours, just watch your temps as in the above posts.

You don't have to use that method, just do what's been working for you.

The wheat extract comes in 1.5kg tins, just use the whole tin. Wheat kits and extract are about 50-60% wheat and the rest is barley so you won't be going over the top with wheat.

[roboscot]

I put this down this morning.

2 x 1.5kg Morgans Wheat extract
0.5kg Muntons Dry Wheat Extract
35g Hallertau pellets (3%) @ 60min
1 x 15g BrewCraft German Wheat Yeast (all I could get round these parts!)

Boiled the dry wheat and hops in 5l for 60 mins, added 1.5kg of liquid extract @15mins. Dissolved final 1.5kg extract at flameout, cooled and poured into fermenter, topped up to 23L, pitched yeast.

OG before pitching yeast was 1046.

I'm using the trial version of BeerTools Pro for Mac, it's telling me I'm spot on for style etc. I'll keep you posted on how this turns out.

I won't be racking, only have a Coopers MicroBrew setup, straight to 750ml PET and a week or so to condition should be about right, eh?

[earle]

A lot of the character of a hefeweizen is derived from the yeast so I reckon you may lose some of that by racking anyway.

Because the flavour is from the yeast hefeweizen are best drunk young. Once they are carbed go for it.

My recent hefeweizen is a bit too full on with the clove flavour. Recipe and ferment temps were exactly the same as the previous batch which tasted more to my liking. Different batch of yeast may be the reason for the difference. Maybe a little more time in the bottle will bring the flavour back into check.

[timmy]

earle, I found the same thing with my last batch. It was brewed during the last stages of winter so the banana esters didn't really come out. Still a nice brew, but I'll be sure to ferment at 20-24 next time.

For what it's worth, I have never had a problem with the following:
Coopers Wheat Beer kit
1.5kg Coopers Wheat Liquid Malt
WB-06 or Wyeast 3068 - tending to use the dry stuff recently, mainly because of laziness.

[earle]

Mine is

Morgans wheat beer
1.5kg cooper wheat extract
150g caramunich
10g Hallertau Mittelfrauh @ 5min
10g Tettnang @ 5min
WB-06

The caramunich and hops are in there based on a recipe on AHB. First batch tasted so nice I didn't change it.

Timmy, I ferment in a freezer with fridgemate so I think the temps would have been the same for both brews. May try fermenting higher next time. In brewing classic styles, Jamil Zainasheff talks about low temp - clove flavour, high temp - banana flavour as above posts, but then he says he brews at 17C to get a balance of both.

[timmy]

FWIW I read in the German Wheat Beers that your pitching temp and fermenting temp should add up to 30degrees.

[earle]

Did a side by side taste test last night of my hefe and Franziskaner. Of course mine is not going to be the same but there is definitely some similar flavours. Mine is sweeter which could be due to extract or the caramunich I added or both. Next time will drop the caramunich altogether I think. Looking at moving on to partials soon so may go that way as well.

[roboscot]

I put this down this morning.

2 x 1.5kg Morgans Wheat extract
0.5kg Muntons Dry Wheat Extract
35g Hallertau pellets (3%) @ 60min
1 x 15g BrewCraft German Wheat Yeast (all I could get round these parts!)


OG before pitching yeast was 1046.

I bottled this yesterday, FG was 1016, had been since Friday, which is a bit higher than I was expecting. Being in QLD and a bit of a novice, equipment wise, I wasn't able to keep it under 22C. I put some ice packs on during the day but more often than not my digi thermometer was showing 23/24C, would've been down to around 20C overnight. I'm hoping that this doesn't adversely affect the overall flavour of the beer too much.

Hydrometer samples were tasty, a bit of sweetness there with a nice hoppy undertone. It's got quite a nice colour about it too. Looking forward to it being ready, I'll crack one on the weekend and let you all know how it goes.

[hirns]

[Being in QLD and a bit of a novice, equipment wise, I wasn't able to keep it under 22C. I put some ice packs on during the day but more often than not my digi thermometer was showing 23/24C, would've been down to around 20C overnight. I'm hoping that this doesn't adversely affect the overall flavour of the beer too much.

Slightly off topic but I use one of these rubber buckets with a 3lt frozen pet bottle in the morning and a 1L bottle for the night. In tropical Central Queensland the wort rarely makes it past 21C. At present it is raining and have not used ice since since yesterday am. Currently reading 20.5C ambiant and 17.5C wort temp with the 05 at full krausen. The temp probe is in the actual wort as can be seen in the pic. The temp of 18.5C was on a very hot day with the beer sitting in a very warm garage with a black metal roller door. I could put it in a collaspable cooler to improve on it further, but works well as is.



Cheers
Hirns

[roboscot]

I've got one of those buckets, I'll give that a blast next brew.

I think I overcomplicated my icing, we had a couple of icevests (think lifejackets with inside pockets front and back for ice gel packs) from an old job lying around, I was putting them round the fermenter

I'm sipping on my Hefe. It could do with a few more days to get the fizz up a bit. It's quite sweet and rather pale, I can definitely taste the Hallertau but not sure if I would say that I'm getting the bananas that were mentioned at higher ferment temps.

I've just bought a 20l pot from BigW and a thermometer, been reading Nick_JDs threads over on AHB so I'm going to try a BIAB next. The next one will be only my 3rd brew, I just don't see the point in doing 10 K&Ks before I try an AG.

I'm also looking at renovating an old fridge/freezer we've got and using it for fermenting. Are those Fridgemates easy enough to wire in for a non-sparky? Do I need to drill a hole for the sensor or just slide it past the seals?

Thanks for all the great stuff on this site, you guys are good. And every forum needs a Speedie. If there's one gripe, and I joined around the same time, it's that pointless arguments are happening because the people that should know better are engaging in them. Chill dudes, he'd probably by quite funny to have a bevvy with, it's hard for some people to come across well on the interwebz.

Scott

[hirns]

Go Biab or skip straight to AG. I do a full batch mash and then do two 14l boils to get a 20-23 batch with a Big W 19l pot, a 30l fermentor and a second holding fermentor/pot. Will give more details if interested. My 50l keg arriveed last week, but I'm yet to convert it to a keggle.

Cheers

Hirns

[roboscot]

Yeah mate, the more details the better, I cleaned Gympie library out of homebrew books on Wednesday!