First Weizen, Need Help

[Screwtop]

G'day Steve (SJW) and wheatie thread followers. :icon_cheers:

I'm here to share some info on my latest hefeweizens. My Schneider weisse clone, which was crowned best wheat at the Bitter and Twisted festival, has been in the keg for 21 days and tastes like the best imported/bottled Schneider I ever tasted (sampled last night). Pretty easy recipe, which I'll post in the recipe database later. OK?

And the latest hefe, made with yeast salvaged from a Potter's weizen (presumed W3068) and 3.2kg of Muntons wheat DME, 15g of Target at 11% (boil 60 min) and 10g of 2.5% Saaz at 5 min. Pitch when cool (on 24/12) with a just-finished 500ml culture of the yeast (in wheat DME) and a pinch of yeast nutrient (in the wort, not the culture). 24 litre batch, pitched at 22C, agitated with a long spoon, and then popped into the fridge, with controller set to 18C. Fermentor temp/ stick-on thermometer shows 20C about 14 hours later and 18C last night. Of course it had popped the clip-on lid off the 30l fermentor and spewed krausen all through the old fridge. Being a caring brewer, I had relieved the batch of a sample of wort into a hydrometer flask at the time of pitching, covered it and sat it on my kitchen sink. The brew in the flask had done the same thing as the one in the fridge (overflowed with enthusiasm). I sampled the beer in the flask and I could detect some (quite a bit, actually) banana and passionfruit. It reminded me of JS Colonial wheat, and that pleased me considerably.
Hmmm, shame that I'm sharing this batch, but my mate's a good bloke and he is paying for the ingredients $$.

BTW, the rule of 30 is in the Warner book about German Wheat Beers, and the grey gelatinous muck in your mash tun after sparging is cross-linked proteins called "tieg".

Beerz
Les

Thanks Les, great to hear what others are doing with wheaties and wheat yeast. Good to see another brewer who goes to so much bother to make "such a simple beer". Great Weizens are NOT easy to get right. It's all about yeast choice and fermentation with this beer style.

Screwy

 

[SJW]

I went to the local to get my wheat and they only had Weyermann Dark Wheat. so this is the grain bill now.
I guess it will still be fine just a little darker, not much though.

#53 Weizen
Bavarian Weizen (Weissbier)


Type: All Grain
Date: 15/01/2008
Batch Size: 25.00 L
Brewer: Stephen Wright
Boil Size: 32.05 L Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 75 min Equipment: Keg
Taste Rating(out of 50): 0.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00
Taste Notes:

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
3500.00 gm Wheat Malt, Dark (Weyermann) (13.8 EBC) Grain 61.40 %
2000.00 gm Pale Malt (Barrett Burston) (3.9 EBC) Grain 35.09 %
200.00 gm Caramunich III (Weyermann) (139.9 EBC) Grain 3.51 %
50.00 gm Saaz [2.50 %] (60 min) Hops 12.7 IBU
0.50 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
11.00 gm PH 5.2 Stabilizer (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs Weizen (Fermentis #WB-06) Yeast-Wheat

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.050 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 0.000 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG Measured Final Gravity: 0.000 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.96 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.00 %
Bitterness: 12.7 IBU Calories: 0 cal/l
Est Color: 18.2 EBC Color: Color

 

[0M39A]

meh, its just a dunkelweizen now

 

[SJW]

I can't see it tasting too much diff for a Hefe anyway. The colour is now just over the BJCP guidlines for a Hefe. Might just have a bit more caramel/toast flavour?

Steve

 

[geoffi]

Might look more like a Schneider or Maisels. They are both a bit darker than the norm.

 

[tangent]

Les, how many of your weizens are extract based?

 

[blackbock]

Interesting that so many homebrewers out there don't consider a protein rest necessary for a Weizen.

I and a couple of others will be headed into the other direction very shortly, with a triple-step protein rest planned with 10 mins at 45, 48 & 53. This is in addition to the two saccharification rests and mashout!

 

[SJW]

Interesting that so many homebrewers out there don't consider a protein rest necessary for a Weizen.

Would it make that much diff. to the final product?
Steve

 

[Hargie]

Would it make that much diff. to the final product?
Steve

....yes....

 

[Screwtop]

Would it make that much diff. to the final product?
Steve

Using the 42x20Min, 52x20min, 62x60min, 72x20min makes a great difference. BUT and there's always a but! The difference is hard to describe. Until you've made a single infusion Weizen on your own system and been able to try the step mashed version to compare it to you will not know/understand the difference. If I was making one for a comp I would definitely use the step process, for my own consumption, no I wouldn't take the extra time.

Bavarian Weizen (Weissbier)

So Steve is it a Weizen (Wheat) or a Weisse (White)? Think it could actually end up a Dunkel (Dark) Weizen. One thing is for sure it will be tasty! Les is spot on with his advice re bittering hops.

Screwy

 

[mika]

with 10 mins at 45, 48 & 53

? :unsure:

I can understand the 45deg and the 53 deg, but what's with the 48 ? I can't see what it would give you.
With only a 10min rest at each temp, how are you planning on stepping the temp up ?

A Dunkelweizen is planned for after the move and I'm thinking a decoction would be a cool thing to try, still haven't got my head around it fully though.

 

[Weizguy]

Les, how many of your weizens are extract based?

Gee, not many these days, but my mate needed a quick fix... and I have made some excellent DME wheat beer before.

There have been several of my recipes in these wheat beer threads since I began posting.

As SJW said, the lhbs is running low on wheat malt and we were not looking at brewing a dunkelweizen.

Beerz
Les

 

[geoffi]

Before I went AG I used to use the ESB paint tin kits. With the right yeast these make a ripper Weizen. So I think this style can really work well with extract. (APA is another that seems to work. Apart from that, I'm not convinced.)

As for the question of step mashing, Graham Sanders gave a good explanation of this on one of his Craftbrewer Radio shows recently, with a simple technique as well. Worth a listen.

Gee, not many these days, but my mate needed a quick fix... and I have made some excellent DME wheat beer before.

There have been several of my recipes in these wheat beer threads since I began posting.

As SJW said, the lhbs is running low on wheat malt and we were not looking at brewing a dunkelweizen.

Beerz
Les