I just brewed my first attempt at a Bavarian hefeweizen the Sunday before last. I've heard from a number of sources that this beer should be consumed as fresh as possible. I've even heard it called the "new car" beer because it depreciates so drastically as soon as it is packaged. My question is how long until after the yeast is pitched until it is ready to package and serve? Fermentation appears to be done (1.010 gravity based on the sample I pulled last night), and I'm ready to keg now, but my concern is that I will package too early (before the yeast can clean up any byproducts and/or off-flavors. I've always given all my beers at least 14 days to sit in primary before packaging, and I've read that all ales take between 4 - 6 weeks before they hit their prime. Are hefeweizens the exception to thus rule? How long after yeast is pitched until it is ready to package, and how long until it is in its prime for serving? I plan to keg and force carb. Thanks for any suggestions!
brewed a hefe using 3638 the same day as you. just pulled a first sample and it is definitely ready to be packaged. clean and tasty, good balance, will be crushable for sure! I'm not kegging until next weekend due to holiday travel but it is certainly ready.
I brew a lot of hefes and the "sweet spot" to me is no different than most of my low gravity ales, ie 6 to 10 weeks after brewing. The banana and clove doesn't seem to fade but the "fresh" flavor of the wheat gradually fades after approximately 10 weeks.
I am currently drinking through my batch of hefe fermented with 3068. It's at 5 weeks now, and the banana that I've been wanting in this one is really shining through. I bottled after 2 weeks in the primary, and 1 week after bottling was already showing signs of good carbonation. I agree with @kellyst that 6-10 weeks is probably the sweet spot for a lighter beer, but even at 3 weeks it was mighty tasty.
