Hefeweizen

[Calum]

Pete. My Hefe only got down to 1014. It went off like a train (yeast pouring over the top of the bin) and got down to 1020 in fairly smart fashion. It took another week or so to come down to 1014.

If you are going to bottle you will need to leave it a bit to mature but if you are going to stick it a keg then I think you are good to go with this particular recipe.

Enjoy

[tubby_shaw]

Go for personal taste every time. I tend to brew the styles I like as I like them.

I'm an ale man through and through but I like Hefe as I spent a great year drinking hefe and Alt in Aachen back in 97-98. I brew Hefe to style because it brings back so many (hazy) memories of youth

/Phil.

Completely off topic but came across this whilst reading the thread in preparation for a Hefe brew tomorrow.
Phil I also have great memories of drinking Hefe whilst in Aachen.
I also remember being given a standing ovation one evening, whilst drinking outside one of the bars that was around the old ampitheatre. The legs on the whicker chair I was sitting on gave way and I tumbled backwards down the steps into the bottom of the ampitheatre. The Germans found it highly amusing

[Calum]

Here we go again. I am brewing another Hefe tomorrow. I'll be starting as soon as Gemma, my 2 yr old, decides its time for me to get up.

The ratio of pale malt to wheat malt is slightly different but I'm sure the beer will taste good.

Pale Malt 2.826kg
Wheat Malt 2.2kg*

*This is a bit of a guess . I had a sack of pale malt that was almost finished so I thought I would simply empty it into a bucket on the scales. Hence the 2.826 (this is pretty accurate). I then thought I would go for around 2.4kg of wheat malt (I had the remains of another sack to use up). I got to about 1.5kg and the scales reported "ERR". I had obviously reached the limit of the scales. I think it was around 2.2 kg.

However, the main contributer to the whole Hefe thing in the yeast adn I am confident that this will be a good'n. I got 5 packs of Bruferm Blanche from Edina on Thursday so that is my summer garden beer sorted out.

I am also going to contribute a cornie full of Hefe to the Scottish Traditional Beer Festival in Edinburgh in June so this will be a practice run.

[Andy]

Is Hefe a Scottish traditional beer then ?

[Calum]

It is when made in Dunfermline!!

The committee put out a request for types of beer that they haven't produced before for the festival. I thought that with the success we have all had with the Hefe it was a chance to show it off and also allow me to contribute. I should be a good weekend - I am also helping out at the stall on the Friday.

[charlie]

Having only just come over to the dark side, on Thursday 29/3/7 I am going to join you lot on the cloudy side. Fingers crossed that things don't get stuck too fast.

[Seveneer]

Completely off topic but came across this whilst reading the thread in preparation for a Hefe brew tomorrow.
Phil I also have great memories of drinking Hefe whilst in Aachen.
I also remember being given a standing ovation one evening, whilst drinking outside one of the bars that was around the old ampitheatre. The legs on the whicker chair I was sitting on gave way and I tumbled backwards down the steps into the bottom of the ampitheatre. The Germans found it highly amusing

I'm sorry, I completely missed this. I know exactly where you mean. I nearly came a cropper a few times myself on those old chairs.

I was in Aachen a few weeks back for a meeting. Drank the Alt, Pils, Hefe, Dunkels and then settled on the Belgians. Had a very drunken couple of days. Just like old times. Oh and the meeting went well too

[Matt]

I had a night on a v nice wheatbeer recently - Paulaner. BUT it was £4.20 a pint (at the ICA in London).

[Calum]

I have now transerred my hefe into the cornie and moved into the fridge in the garage.

What is the best way to get the beer carbonated to the level that you would expect for a wheat beer? I have been slowly topping up with my S30 canister, will the beer keep absorbing the CO2?

[Calum]

Cheers DaaB. I'll drip feed it over the weekend adn see how we get on. It is quite a rewarding experience. Skooosh!, Taste. Skooosh! taste.

I am due to make an order to H&G for new connectors and taps for my new cornies so I will look to getting a pressure gauge aswell.

[BlightyBrewer]

I'm going to brew 23l of the Hefe soon. It's been such a long time since I brewed and I have forgotton all the little tricks. Someone please remind me the standard liquor / grist ratio for the mash I think it's 2.5 l/kg, but can't be sure..

[Seveneer]

I aim for 2 l/kg but little more won't hurt.

[BlightyBrewer]

Cheers Seveneer. So for a 23l batch I'm looking at 12-15l in the tun, and I'm guessing at 25l to sparge for good measure. I always seem to come up short at the end of the boil, so the sparge volume is a guess?

Another question, do you treat your water for this brew? I have DLS and CRS, and have just obtained a detailed water report for my (new) area giving alkalinity and calcium content so I can treat the water if desired..

[Seveneer]

Personally, I don't treat my liquor unless the mash pH is particularly high where I may use some lactic acid to lower it. I am certainly not someone who religously trawls through water data to match my liquor to a particular brewing area. Not that there's anything wrong with doing so if that's your thing

/Phil.

[BlightyBrewer]

I can see your reasoning. My pH is 7.5, which is very close to neutral. I think I may just throw this one together without fussing too much.