Hefeweizen

[drsmurto]

Kegged my first ever Hefeweizen on the weekend and its a winner. Partner loves it, her mum loves it and most importantly, i love it.

Such a simple beer to make too!

60% wheat malt
40% pilsner malt
Mashed at 67C.
Tettnang at 60 and 20 mins to 15 IBUs
Craftbrewer dry weizen yeast (aka WB-06)
Pitched and fermented at between 20-22 C for 7 days and then straight to keg. Subtle clove esters, slightly tart but damn easy to drink.

Wouldn't be hard to make an extract version seeing as the coopers wheat malt is actually a 50/50 wheat/barley blend.....

Cant wait to try Ross' new Munich dry yeast which is supposed to give the banana/bubblegum esters.

Cant believe it has taken me so long to brew one of these!

[James L]

Sounds bloody good...

Is it cloudy?

I'm going to try to brew one at 17C one day to see what the diff is with that temp compared to brewing at 22-24 like what i have done in the past. I just need to stop brewing lagers long enough to free up the brew fridge for a week or two...

I think tettnang is the goer for wheats... lovely

[timmy]

I just made a partial version of this and it's fantastic. Streets ahead of the kit + malt version I was doing.

How does the WB06 compare to Wyeast 3068 in your opinion?

[Stubbie]

Hey,

Having been recently impressed by a few commercial hefe's I sampled, I decided to brew one of these last night. Went 50/50 Weyermann Pils and Wheat, mashed @ 67C, 90 min boil, Hallertau @ 60 and 10 to 13 IBU and WB-06.

But my big worry is fermentation temp. I read a few posts on AHB over and over re WB-06, but I still remain uncertain re fermentation temp. I'm sticking my neck out for a bit of flack, but I've gone 17C, which is something I might end up putting down to experience.

[Trough Lolly]

Kegged my first ever Hefeweizen on the weekend and its a winner. Partner loves it, her mum loves it and most importantly, i love it.

Such a simple beer to make too!

60% wheat malt
40% pilsner malt
Mashed at 67C.
Tettnang at 60 and 20 mins to 15 IBUs
Craftbrewer dry weizen yeast (aka WB-06)
Pitched and fermented at between 20-22 C for 7 days and then straight to keg. Subtle clove esters, slightly tart but damn easy to drink.

Wouldn't be hard to make an extract version seeing as the coopers wheat malt is actually a 50/50 wheat/barley blend.....

Cant wait to try Ross' new Munich dry yeast which is supposed to give the banana/bubblegum esters.

Cant believe it has taken me so long to brew one of these!

Congrats Doc - that's a widely used Hefe recipe...mines almost identical. One variant that works nicely if you want to tinker with this brew is to mash in at 50-55C for 30 mins, grab a mid to large cooking pot and take some of the mash and decoct for about 10 mins then return to the mash to bring it up to 67C for an hour. The decoction gives a richer, melanoidin taste to the beer if you don't mind trying a fuller bodied hefeweizen...

Cheers,
TL

[drsmurto]

Cloudy, yes, like the bottom of a CPA keg!

First ever wheat beer of any form - kit or AG so haven't tried 3368 but from the AHB thread(s) the 3368 will produce a similar ester profile at the lower end of the temperature range. I 'chose' 20-22 as that is what the temperature is in the spare bedroom. My fermenting fridge has a CSA clone in it at 16C and the dead fridge is looking after a Landlord clone at 18C with ice rotations.

Decoctions are on the list TL but its a very long list..... I may try 5% melanoidin in the next batch to cheat.

I am started to think I could increase my efficiency by doing at least one decoction instead of multiple infusions allowing me a greater volume to sparge with. A 40/52/67/78 schedule leaves me with 5L to sparge with! Oh for a direct heated mash tun.

[Trough Lolly]

My efficiency increased by more than 5% when I decocted my last batch (California Common which I mashed in too low!). I was able to add 10C to the mash temp without adding a drop of water...plus I managed to get more melanoidins out of the mashtun and into the kettle, as well as greater efficiency!!

FWIW - I really like Wyeast 3068 for hefe's - a good strain if you like to remain true to style.

Cheers,
TL

[timmy]

I think you're right about 3068, TL.

The dry stuff would be convenient, but the Wyeast is cheaper if you manage to spin 6+ batches out of a smacker.

[Trough Lolly]

True, but for whatever reason, I found that 3068 tends to mutate sooner than other strains, so getting 3 batches from the smack pack, without yeast washing or plating out, is par for course...

Cheers,
TL

[Stubbie]

True, but for whatever reason, I found that 3068 tends to mutate sooner than other strains, so getting 3 batches from the smack pack, without yeast washing or plating out, is par for course...

TL,

I assume that you refer to pitching a smack pack, and then harvesting yeast for the subsequent 2 batches, thereby achieving a combined 3 batch limit before excessive mutation becomes apparent? As timmy suggests, wouldn't smacking a yeast pack, building up a large starter and then splitting into more than 3 samples be sound way of stretching the yeast further without running into mutation problems? Perhaps my logic is flawed, but it's something I've been meaning to clarify for some time. Is one yeast management strategy better than the other?

Although I cannot be sure, I attributed some suspect flavours in a couple of brews to going too far in splitting my yeast starters (Wyeast 1056, which is also relatively susceptible to mutation, I'm told, by the Importer). In search of sound advice, I ended up with conflicting opinions from a few experienced brewers I asked. So for the time being I've been using dry yeast at least in part due to this issue, hence the use of WB-06 in lieu of 3068 in my recent hefe even though I prefer liquid over dry yeast.

Cheers

[Trough Lolly]

G'day Stubbie,
Nothing wrong with your sound logic...The "split up the original smack pack" method is quite a good way of dodging the task of having to harvest slurry and wash yeast etc. Once you adopt this method, it means that you always have to make a starter to avoid underpitching but you can make the original yeast go a long way if can decant the yeast into test tubes. I must confess that I've been lazy of late and I normally take some slurry and wash it down to smaller 330ml bottles. Effectively I can stand the stubbie on the bench during the brew session to come up to room temps and then pitch the slurry (after emptying 2/3rds of the solution above the slurry) directly into the chilled wort. I find that the wort doesn't take long to start fermenting via this method - because I'm using yeast that's fresh and viable, having been generated out of the last batch I made - but admittedly, this lazier approach does not help lower the risk of cell mutation when you do it several times. Then it becomes an economics issue of putting a batch of wort at risk, or buying another smack pack.

To answer your question, I don't believe that one yeast management strategy is necessarily better than another - they seem to have different priorities; one provides a quick and easy solution (taking slurry), others try to minimise the risk of mutation (plating out and using slants), and others are based on economics (splitting up the smack pack). They all have their pros and cons and whilst I don't advocate that we should spend yet more money on a lab setup with tubes, loops, bunsen burners etc, you need to work out your personal needs and find a balance that you're happy with, between spending time and effort in managing your own supply of yeast versus going to the HBS and buying a fresh smack pack or sachet of dry yeast at your leisure...

I can't comment in detail on WB-06 since I've never used dry yeast in my wheat beers - but I did hear that whilst it delivers on the cloves side, it lacks the estery bubblegum aspects that its liquid cousins provide?

Cheers,
TL

[warra48]

I can't comment in detail on WB-06 since I've never used dry yeast in my wheat beers - but I did hear that whilst it delivers on the cloves side, it lacks the estery bubblegum aspects that its liquid cousins provide?
Cheers,
TL

That's been my experience with CraftBrewer's WB-06 yeast. I have enjoyed the beers, as have all the freeloaders I have offered it to, but was a little disappointed with the lack of banana / bubblegum characters. I enjoy those, but understand not everyone does.
I'm hopeful CraftBrewer's new Munich yeast might provide those characters for those looking for it.
I'll certainly be trying it for my next wheat attempt. Horses for courses. If the new yeast still doesn't give me the character I'm looking for, I'll have to go back to liquids.

[James L]

i'd like to hear how you go with the dried munich wheat yeast...

I'm still brewing wheats with farmed 3068 yeast, but if the 3 brew limit applies, i might have to purchase a new packet soon.

[Stubbie]

TL,

Thanks for your ever sensible advice. I feel a lot happier now and can, with a clear conscience, choose between splitting or harvesting as the situation requires.

[Kevnlis]

I visited Ross this weekend and sampled a few beers he had made with the WB-06. It certainly doesn't have any banana or bubblegum and the clove is fairly mild if used properly. It does attenuate well and leaves a fairly dry product. I made a wheat beer with it a couple months back and was not very happy, but the alt Ross made with it was excellent!

Ross gave me one of the sachets of Munich yeast to trial and I plan to do a wheat similar to the one I made with the WB-06 so that I can properly compare the yeast profiles.

[Rob C]

DrSmurto do you have a partial recipe for this hefe.
Thinks its time i should give a partial mash a shot.

Cheers
Rob

[gibbocore]

Hi TL,

How simple is it to do a one step decoction? I've been wanting to do it for my oktoberfest i'm going to put down on the weekend to get some thicker malt flavours in it. I am however using 1kg of melanoiden grain so wil lit be nescesary do you think?

[Kevnlis]

1kg of Melanoidin

You certainly won't need a decoction with that much in the grist! I know you can use up to 20% in the batch, but I am not sure I would myself. Most I have veer used is a few hundred grams and it is certainly noticeable.

[Trough Lolly]

...yeah, I tend to use no more than 300g of Melanoidin. And I would not do a decoction if you add Melanoidin, but it's your call...

A single step decoction is quite simple. All you're doing is pulling some of the mash into a pot (try to avoid pulling too much liquid - just the grains will do) that you'll boil for a while to help caramalise the contents (darken it) and the Malliard reaction will also enhance the malt flavour profile melanoidins present in the mash....what's a Malliard reaction? Well, you see it every time you make toast out of bread at brekkie!

And as Palmer points out, the boil will break up the starch molecules in the decoction so that they are more easily and thoroughly converted when returned to the mash, which will improve overall extraction efficiency of the mash - and remember, the boil will denature / kill the enzymes that were in the decoction. So, a 20 min gentle boil in a pot will do the trick. Bear in mind that when you reintroduce the boiling decoction into the mashtun, you'll raise the mashtemp which is fine if you want to time the decoction so that it becomes the mash-out addition but give the decoction enough time in the mashtun to get the starch converted or you'll risk a hazy, starch laden beer...

Cheers,
TL

[Kevnlis]

I am not sure I would encourage pulling thick grist for a mash out decoction TL.

If you want to do a single decoction I think the easiest way is to strike for 63C, rest for 20 min then pull 1/3 of the grist and boil it for 20 min, return it to the mash tun for a rest at 72C for a further 20 min then proceed with your mash out and lauter process as per normal.