Great work Captain. We found a 70/30 wheat/pilsner, using WLP300 and PERLE hops/12-13 IBUs with just a touch of Crystal 15L, produced a beer superior to most commercial Hefeweizens. Those of us tasting could not believe I made a better wheat beer than many of the top producers in Germany. Every batch previous I used Hallertau. Switching to Perle and the addition of the crystal malt, this combination is what I believe pushed my Hefeweizen to the top. Great videos highlighting my favourite style. I drank my 1st Hefeweizen in Oberammergau, Southern Bavaria. My father had a posting to S.H.A.P.E. in Mons, Belgium and attended a week long course at the NATO school in Oberammergau. I was 16 and surrounded by Alps sitting outside downing two, 500ml glasses of Hefeweizen. Unforgettable. My best friend's father was the top bodyguard to the SACEUR who at the time, was the legendary General Galvin, who I met often. I went to the American high school on base with his two daughters. Fond, Fond memories. Prost!
I love splatch comparisons, especially with just one variable. And so timely for summer since I have Stefon on hand just waiting for a rainy day to brew.
Looks like I’m going to have to give Munich classic a try. Definitely like a more banana forward hefe. Had pretty good success adding Strata at flameout to add in some strawberry notes.
Hi. Thanks for this video. I'd like to try making a good example of a Hefe and will refer to your method. I'm in the UK, but I've recently visited the Pacific Northwest of USA and was pleased to be able to try examples from Widmer Brothers and Pelican. I enjoyed both, but the Pelican version was perhaps my favourite. I enjoy the clove character, but like the banana to be restrained. I'm actually watching this at 1:25 AM, UK time, as I can't sleep - my sleep patterns have still not got back to normal after my transatlantic flight!
Whats the best thing about mixing the two together? Only having to hold one glass! Great job as usual. Now I'm thinking about brewing a small batch of hefe to go along with my Festbier for my Oktoberfest party. Btw, festbier is a great style would love to see you brew it!
Great Video AB. Your other Hefe vid is saved in my favorites as Hefe's are my absolute favorite. I haven't brewed a Hefe yet, so I lean on Tucher, Weihenstephaner, Paulaner, etc. I would, but sticking with the rudimentary IPA's and low complexity summer beers helps me to stay in my lane. I am not afraid of dumping a failure, just sticking with familiarity. October begins brewing season for me as spring and summer are far too demanding on the farm. Nice work. Cheers.
I was due for another! I really don't think they are all that difficult, they are more complicated than some beers but definitely not the most difficult style. Go for it!
Part of the joys in beer is that you fan do very basic hefe and just see what happens, or you can take a deeper dive to really try and get something specific...and I bet all will come out very tasty at the end of the day
Yes sir!! I started years ago making a very basic (1/2 white wheat, 1/2 pils with haleratau) that spawned into a dozen or so offshoots of various styles. A lot of sours when that was trendy. LOL
I usually do a 50/50 pale and wheat malt with mangrove jack's Bavarian wheat beer yeast. I think a good amount of Munich malt can add something good, also a small amount unmalted wheat can be a bit different too.
Related to the video: I had a Lemon Drop hefe at a local brewery recently. It was delicious. Makes me want to attempt one as well. Probably best to wait until I can keg though. Completely unrelated to the video: I passivated my Anvil bucket fermentor as you suggested on a previous comment I made (using Short Circuited Brewer's method as a guide). The difference is night and day. I can see a few spots (on the outside, where it doesn't matter) that I missed with the Bar Keeper's Friend, the rest is nice and shiny. I've only done two brews with that fermentor, and it was already showing signs of corrosion, so it seems the Anvil products really need this step.
Got a story. My 1st Hefe was brewed in about 5min. Dumped wheat DME, RO water, bit of gypsum/CaCl then made hop tea to about 125f/chilled/ added and pitched yeast. Of course all was sanitized. Gets better. After finishing, I was doing a home brew trade with a dude in Cali. He got on line and said it was the best Hefe he ever had. Was raving about it. It did turn out pretty good. When I told him how it was brewed, he wouldn't believe me. Ha! Full disclosure, I tried this 2 other times but never repeated the awesomeness of the first batch. You should try it! 😂
I was on the edge about doing one of these. I think you may have convinced me! Looks like a few tasty beer! Now to get the perfect mix of esters and phenols! Cheers!
Very good video, thank u. If u want to push the banana u could try the "Herrmann-Verfahren", it´s a split mash procedure, where u add an "Maltasis-Rest", i have done ths twice, with a strip yeast from "Gutmann-Weizen" wich pushes the banana too.
@@TheApartmentBrewer I am facing some Problems with the answer to your Question, it was deleted twice. I´ll try again. Mash in 60% of the grist at 64°C (w/g 3:1). Hold for 45min. Heat up (1°C/min) to 70°C Hold for 15 Min. Cool down to 45-48°C with cold water/ice. Mash in the rest of the Grist (5.5/1) Hold 43-45°C for 45min. (Maltasis-Rest) Heat up to 70°C Hold for 15min. Mash out at 75-77°C This pushes glucose from 20% to about 35-40% wich pushes the banana Flavour.
The hesitation to do open fermentation is understandable, given that its counter all the sanitation fears we read about. That said I’ve done open fermentations with all my Hefeweizens. The first one was forced by a brewing science course and I never turned back. Just throw a fine mesh brewing bag your fermentation vessel and when high krausen starts to slow, go ahead and install lid and airlock. The boosted ester expression is real.
Awesome video! I am definitely going to try this recipe very soon. I know you said you would add more wheat next time, I think I will start with more and see what happens, cheers!
Excellent analysis, I love the format of using the same grist with two different yeasts. I have tried this a few times myself, when trying to make a clone especially.
Hey, love the info! I fell in love with hefeweizzen after visiting Saltzberg, Austria. Literally a beer hall 50 yards deep and 30 yards wide with a wall full of 8' tall barrels filled with hefeweizzen! Not a seat in the house! Ayinger is the closest Ive found to that beer hall Weizzenbier. I'm digging out my equipment to make a weizzenbock triple decoction as Christmas is around the corner. Great info you're providing and love it when people can nail the nuances of beer, especially weizzen. 👍Excellent!
Interesting that you liked the Munich Classic version as much as you did. Weissbiers are the one style where I won't use dry yeast strains. I've never had any luck with them.
Munich classic is my go to Hefe yeast strain and i also always do a partial open fermentation using 3 layers of cheese cloth to cover my fermenter for the first 3-5 days then close it up
Nice vid! One minor comment though, since you mention that yeast metabolises the 4-vinyl-guiacol (4VG) into a lovely clove characteristic. This not entirely true, because the yeast actually metabolises ferulic acid (a pronounced product from the ferulic acid rest) INTO the 4VG. The 4VG itself is the compound responsible for the clove characteristic.
Fantastic video as always... I definitely will be adding this recipe (classic) to my list of todo's!! I write this as I drink my absolutely delicious lutra pils from one of your other videos. Keep em coming!!!
Double batches is a good way of catching up when your consumption outpaces production. Unfortunately my electric system is limited, so I just end up doing a heavy gravity wort(plus LME) and do part boil. I have yet to encountered any issues with said method. Cheers
@@patrickglaser1560 do you generally use fresh ingredients or get from a supplier that moves a lot of product? A lot of times "twang" is from old extracts. Another possibility is using water with a lot of minerals in it as the extract will bring it's own salts. I always recommend using distill or RO water for extracts to avoid this.
Just like I prefer to spend an afternoon, sitting on the porch, pint in each hand. Lol Your palate seems to be leaning the same way as mine does. I like almost all beers, but the ones I truly love are the really well executed, extremely traditional brews.
Hola. Buenas tardes desde España. Quiero hacerle la siguiente consulta, haces el lavado del grano, en el video no hay lavado, un saludo por el buen hacer.
@@TheApartmentBrewer OK, now I really want to try the Munich Classic. I think you have also inspired me to try an open fermentation as well. Awesome video!
I have a plan to try a split batch of hefeweizen using....... bread yeast. From what I've read, the majority of yeasts sold for baking are Hefeweizen yeasts, and it would make sense given that fermenting with both can have lots of yeast in suspension. I think it could be interesting to do a split batch with that and see if it's true. Speaking of split batches, when I made my first hefeweizen I ended up with more wort than I expected, so I fermented the remainder with Opshaug kveik just to see how it would turn out. It was definitely not a hefeweizen, but it was delicious in its own way, more like a witbier, I almost preferred it to the main batch honestly.
What would you get using unmalted wheat (like in a Belgian wit) instead of wheat malt? 61% might not totally convert, but 50% should. Obviously it won't be German because Reinheitsgebot, but will it be good? I'm thinking of trying it, using German "Tradition" hops and Munich Classic yeast. No spices or orange or any of that. Not sure what to expect 😂
I found Munich Classic a bit too estery. Lots of apple, lots of banana and as you say a bit of bubblegum in the finish which I'm not a huge fan of. I like my hefe's quite phenolic and if we're talking dry yeasts then fermentis wb-06 seems to produce a better hefe than munich classic does, for me. I would say clove dominant with a presence of banana and a bit of vanilla too. Have you tried it? Cheers for the videos!
It was definitely estery for me as well. I prefer a balanced hefe, hence enjoying the mix at the end. I have not tried WB06 since it is diastaticus, and that can be an issue over time getting too dry.
@@TheApartmentBrewer so far all easy. Just filtering the wort was a bad idea. Immediately clogged up from all the protein. I hopped with styrian golding for 5min and it smelled out of this world 💚🍻 malt bill is 2/3 wheat, 1/3 marris otter and some melanoidin like yours. Lautering was no problem at all with biab. Just sparged before pulling.
@@TheApartmentBrewer Yesterday was the day 🍻 it turned out amazing, the hops really shined in this one. It came in at 6,5% with FG 3.5°P .Also the Malt bill was delicious. I was my own best customer and got totally blasted.
It also helps with lautering. If your system is slow to lauter or slow to heat up to a boil it can be beneficial, but I really do it only out of habit. Not totally necessary
decoction mashing doesn't take any longer than step mashing, which doesn't necessarily take longer than a "normal" single infusion ... you just can't dump malt in warm water and walk away to drink beer for an hour lol. 20 minute cereal cook (only needed if using unmalted grain) (bring ambient water and the unmalted grain up to boil and boil for 10 minutes) 25minute protein rest 120-125F (decoct 1/3 with 15 minutes to go, bring to boil over 5-7 minutes, boil until end of step) add decoction back, hold at 143-147 F for 30 minutes (decoct 1/3 with 15 minutes left, bring to boil over 5 minutes, boil until end of rest) add decoction back, hold at 155-160F or 10 minutes Lauter and sparge total time with 100% malt: 60 minutes With a cereal cook: 80 minutes I Think the myth that decoction "takes all day" comes from home/"Craft" brewers that use "brewing" as an excuse to sit on the back porch for an hour or two and justify their day-drinking... rather than brew beer. lol. I don't need to justify my day-drinking... I just do it lol Drinking while infusion brewing isn't the best way to be safe or consistent... but drinking while decoction mashing (shoveling 220-230F sugary porridge around) definitely isn't (once again, why so many people come up with excuses why they can't/wont do it)
Collect 6.25 gal, post boil: 5.5, 5.25 in fermenter 6 Lbs raw Wheat 3.5 LBS hard red wheat Malt 1.4 LBS corn .25 LBS wheat, toasted to around 35L (500F for 10 minutes) 30 min boil, 0.35 OZ Newport; first wort 0.15 oz each of Sterling, Tahoma, Horizon; add at 160F and hold or 10 minutes before continuing to cool 0.15 oz each of Sterling, Tahoma, Horizon; Dry hop day three of active fermentation BPG: 1.043 -- OG:1.049-- FG 1.011 IBU 16 For a dunkelweizen (sorry, "dunkelsweissbier" is an oxymoron, like "black IPA" lol... and a weissbier doesn't have to contain wheat, it just has to be "white") , just roast the 6lbs of wheat for 10 minutes @500F, and roast the .25 LB of unmalted wheat for 15 minutes (instead of 10 min)
Love your hefeweizen videos, cheers for sharing 🍻 Have you ever brewed with Wyeast 3638 Bavarian Wheat? Been looking for the best hefe strain that really hits those banana and bubblegum notes
I think that was the one where I did 50/50 munich/wheat. I think this one was ultimately tastier, but I think there is benefit to doing maybe a 25/25/50 pils/munich/wheat grist.
Planning on brewing a Hefeweizen soon as I haven't brewed one for years, and I want to do a split batch, but one will stay a wheat beer, and the other will be dry hopped to make a more new world wheat beer. I think I'll use your base recipe to start, any recommendations?
@@TheApartmentBrewer My obsession with saisons. I've only made two neipa batches, and the rest have all been saisons. I've made close to 15 saison batches so far in the two or so years I've gotten back into brewing. I make small changes as I go to dial it in for my taste.
Hey Steve, loved the video! I am interested in how you calculated the ferrulic acid rest. Did you put in a calculated amount of boiling water or added it until you got to 113? I developed a Belgian Golden recipe with a multi-step mash but used BeerSmith to calculate my water additions. I ended up chickening out and doing a single infusion at 150F! I don’t recirculate (cooler mash tun). Cheers!
Nice. Thank you for this. Planning on a Munich Classic but without the Melanoidin and a slightly diff variant of the wheat and the pils malts (which is available here for me). Also, I am reading that one can start at 17c and raise it to 22 or so over 6 days. Any comments on that? Thank you.
How do you approach a "percentage" of melanoiden to simulate decoction? I am thinking about brewing a Rogue Dead Guy clone, and I want to do a short mash, so I thought about adding 2-3% melanoiden to get some of the taste without the pain and time of decocting the mash. Maybe that isn't enough? I want to brew a good Hefe later with a ton of banana notes...this was well done to choose a path. Loved the content. Prost!
I would go for about 5-8% Melanoidin malt in a beer like that. Maibock is going to have more Melanoidin character than a hefe but you won't want to overdo it.
I had it pretty hot for a Hefeweizen and wouldnt really be comfortable pushing it too much further. I'm thinking either a lower pitch rate or just remove the ferulic acid rest to get the right balance
for the 10 gallon 120 volt system, How much boil evaporation do you get?? I did my first all grain batch on the ten gallon 120 volt system and seemed to get very little boil off and ended up with much more water than expected going into the fermenter. I think it may have diluted the flavor? I ask because I will be brewing a 5 gal batch of your hefewiezen (my 2nd batch) and want to make sure I have the right amount of water this time. Curious to see what others get for boil off evaporation rates on the 120 volt CH system.
I have found that its almost necessary to have the lid on to get a decent boil but nothing strong. Makes sense why I would not get much boil off. Makes me think i should get som insulation on the kettle. Thanks for the info! I am going to be doing a five gallon batch of the Munich classic hefe for my cousins wedding. Hopefully it will turn out good! Cheers!
Depending on whether you want a West Coast or NEIPA, you can use very different water profiles. I've got videos on both with some sample water profiles if you are curious!
@@TheApartmentBrewer I was thinking this exact same thing. My brewing software keeps demanding a lower ph so I oblige because of style guidelines and this is the result. I will push the ph up next time. Thanks for responding!
@@TheApartmentBrewer i appreciate it, Steve. I think the takeaway is that once you change one variable, you're not going to know what the other possibilities could be unless you run tests on the permutations if the others.
ah, yes, the mythical ferulic acid rest!! Actually research suggests ferm vessel shape is more relevant than the f acid rest. So open ferment, and decoction mash, like the Bavarian beer gods would want you to!!
Your mash temps are not on point.... next time try 63°C 40 min. and 72°C 20 min. BTW i like mangrove jacks m20 the most :) greetz from Swabia Germany😅👌🏼
