I'm brewing a hefe this weekend and I'm looking for feedback on my recipe. OG: 1.050 45% 2 Row 45% Wheat 8% Light Munich 2 % Melanodin (I won't be doing a decoction, so this is to the effects). Bittered to 15 IBU or so. I'm hoping to grab Wyeast 3068 at the LHBS. Any thoughts? I'll be fermenting in a 38L corny keg, so open fermentation is a possibility. Should I keep the lid off (maybe some saran wrap on top)? Or is it fine as is (closed up, but not really holding pressure, my airlock doesn't bubble).
Looks good to me! I would tend to throw in a little torrified wheat and drop the munich, myself... but like I said—looks good!
I don't think an open fermentation will do much good for you on this. You'll be fine with a regular sealed fermentation. What temperature do you have planned for the fermentation? I'm never quite sure if Hefes benefit from colder (say 60 degree) fermentations or warmer (say 70 degree) fermentations. Pretty sure cooler will give you more clove and warmer will give you more banana. Probably starting at 60 and finishing at 70 is a good way to get some of both. And, planning anything interesting with regards to pitch rate?
I wasn't sure about temperature, so I might take your advice. It's still cold enough in the basement, so I can easily set my aquarium heater to 60 and step it up to 70 over the course of the week. What are your thoughts on pitch rate? I was planning a simple starter tonight.
Jamil recommends a 62F fermentation with the standard Hefe strains. I brewed a Hefe recently with WLP Hefeweizen IV (clove dominant) and fermented at 63F. Got a hint of sulfur, loads of clove (also did a feurilic acid rest which contributed), and a touch of underlying banana. I personally like the profile, but others that have tried the beer wanted more banana. I like some munich in my wheat beers as well, but I aim for about 3% myself.
Well, per German law, your Hefe has 5% too little wheat. I don't know if that matters much to you though
You shouldn't plan for more than 0.75e6 cells/mL/deg P - some say you could even step down from that a bit. It's such a vigorous strain than a slight underpitch probably wouldn't hurt, might yield some more growth and thus more flavor. Maybe calculate the volume of starter you need then round down for your final starter volume. Edit: just thinking about your vessel a bit more - you may want a blow off on that guy, generates a lot of foam. If you can't get a blowoff on there, a very loosely capper fermentor may be a better idea after all.
I'm hoping blow off isn't an issue as I'll be fermenting 6 gallons in a 10 gallon vessel. But if it starts creeping up, I can swap the airlock for a blowoff.
So if I'm reading this correctly, I would need about 187.5 billion cells, which according to Mr. Malty is a 1 liter starter? If that's the case I might step it down to a smaller starter.
Might be vigorous enough for a slight underpitch yes, but make sure to both oxygenate well and provide adequate yeast nutrient in that case since an underattenuated hefe sucks.
Impossible to give a meaningful critique without knowing what you want the beer to taste like. What is your goal here?
A flavorful German hefeweizen with a balance between banana and clove. Something that would fit into category 15A.
Not sure if you've got a stir plate, shaking, or just letting it sit. Plugging in numbers from a stir plate just now, I'd feel comfortable making a 600 mL starter, assuming your yeast is fresh.
A local brewery uses this strain for their Hefeweizen and it is delicious. I think they ferment at 68F and usually it is done in 3-4 days. For 5 gallons, I would just pitch a full smack-pack. No starter needed, imo, for this strain going into a 1.050 wort. Slight underpitch would yield more pronounced character anyways. I'm not quite sure the pitching rates the local brewer uses, but the 68F ferment produces some nice banana, clove, bubblegum mix.. light and balanced in each character.
FWIW, I usually under-pitch Hefes, but I haven't noticed much of a difference in esters between under-pitching and not, when fermenting at the same temp.
I like to use 50% wheat in mine. I never use a starter for hefe's using 3068, works great the level it's at. I start mine at around 66F and let it get as warm as it wants. Done in 4-5 days at the most, no secondary for a hefe either. I wish all beers were so easy!
Jamil and Palmer (in Brewing Classic Styles) claim 62*F (for Weihenstephan) is the perfect temp...pg 192
Thanks for the info. I'm definitely starting at 62 and I think I'll ramp it up to 68 starting after a few days.
Warner also suggests that for a hefe of superior quality, your pitching temp should be a little lower than the fermentation temp, such that when measured in celsius the sum of pitching and fermentation temp should be 30 degrees... so if fermenting at 62 you might consider pitching at around 58 degrees F. I did this and my hefe was wonderful. I used WLP300, which I believe is the same strain as 3068. Mine was light on banana, but that was what I was looking for... did a ferulic acid rest to enhance phenolic. Under-pitching will help increase the esters. This yeast can do wonderful things and can be tweaked many different ways. You may not nail what you are looking for the first time, but it WILL be tasty and can give you a good basis on which direction to take it in the future. Take good notes!
