Krombacher Weizen

[New2thebrew]

Visited the Brisbane German Club for the first time last night, and have just discovered why everyone raves about Weizenbier, was especially impressed with the Krombacher Weizen.

Was hoping someone might have an extract recipe for something close to this. Keeping in mind that I have only done 1 extract brew so far, I will need as much info as possible (i.e. boil size, amount of LME to add to boil, timing of hop additions etc).

After a bit of reading, I have decided to try using Wyeast 3638, however no idea what type of hops they use.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[manticle]

Not sure about krombacher but the basics of hefeweizens are:

Yeast phenolics - banana/clove. Some may err on one side or the other which is usually to do with mash schedule and ferment temp. You can't control mash shcedule but you can control ferment temp. Lower should push clove, higher banana (very generally speaking).

Using between 40 and 60 % wheat malt with the remainder being pale or pilsner malt. If you use wheat malt extract, you'll find it is usually already 50/50 wheat/barley.

Hops are usually noble hops (so hallertauer, saaz, tettnang etc) and hopped quite low (20 would be the uppermost, I'd look between 15 and 17 IBU). Beer is best consumed fairly fresh without the aid of clearing agents (unless it's a kristalweizen)

So:

Using software to find exact amounts, grab some coopers wheat (2 or 3 tins) or a couple of kilos of dried wheat extract. Add a touch of dextrose (up to 500g for a single batch)
Boil enough extract to make a 1040 wort, reserve the rest.

Add enough hops to hit 17 IBU (including top up volumes etc) and boil for 60 minutes.
Top up with boiled cooled water or tap water or whatever you normally use.
Add your 3068 and ferment at 17 for clove, 20 for banana. Not sure how different 3638 is to 3068 so double check that. Ferment as normal but don't use finings or cold conditioing. Start to drink as soon as it's carbed.

 

[superdave]

I agree with Manticle. Go for a wheat extract with some 3068 or 3638 yeast. The yeast gives most of the banana flavour.
From memory the Krombacher isn't as banana-ery as the Erdinger so you might want to go closer to the clove temperatures. I prefer the Franzikaner Dunkle from the German Club myself. But I won't say no to anything on the beer menu.

 

[bconnery]

There's an extract recipe, intended to make an Erdinger clone, somewhere in the recipe db I think, from Les the Weizguy, who, if you can believe it, likes weizens...

I did a quick seearch and found this article which has some details...
Otherwise try erdinger clone in the search function (the google one) and you should find some more...

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=28987

 

[MeLoveBeer]

After a bit of reading, I have decided to try using Wyeast 3638, however no idea what type of hops they use.

Can't recommend the 3638 enough, but be prepared to clean up a few times; its a fairly vigorous top cropper and tends to spill out of the airlock/fermenter (even with a ton of headspace). I ended up giving up and fermenting the rest of my brew with beer in the airlock (doesn't hurt).

I used the yeast for a bavarian weizen fermented at 18 degrees and its beautifully balanced with hints of both cloves and banana.