Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dark Clone

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by utahbeerdude, Sep 16, 2014.

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  1. utahbeerdude

    utahbeerdude Maven (1,374) May 2, 2006 Utah

    OK, you german wheat beer brewers. I just had a bottle of Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dark, and this beer is exactly what I would like to brew in a German wheat beer. This beer is essentially liquid banana bread with a slight touch of phenolic in the background.

    Any tips towards cloning this beer would be most appreciated, especially info with regards to yeast choice, pitching rate, and fermentation temperature profile (all of which I think must be crucial to nailing this beer). Of course any malt, hops, and water info would be most appreciated. Cheers, y'all.
     
    #1 utahbeerdude, Sep 16, 2014
  2. MLucky

    MLucky Initiate (0) Jul 31, 2010 California

    Well, just to get you started: Wyeast 3068 is supposed to be the Weihenstephan wheat beer strain. I would use that. It's very temperature sensitive yeast, and normally I ferment with it down at around 62F in order to get more clove/pepper and less banana, but it sounds like you want more banana, so you might want to go 68-70F to bring that out.

    I would assume they use a german dark wheat malt (Weyermann is good) for the bulk of the grist, probably 50-60%, and then (this is just guessing) maybe 20% munich and 15-20% percent pils, maybe a little carafa?
     
    #2 MLucky, Sep 16, 2014
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  3. checktherhyme

    checktherhyme Savant (1,036) Apr 8, 2008 Washington

    I know that the regular hefe is 65% Wheat, 35% pils, but not sure on the dark hefe. Use Hallertau hops to 10-15 IBU and WY3068 yeast. WL300 and Fermetis WB-06 are the same strain too I believe. Most people like the 3068, but I have had great beers from all 3. I actually like the WB-06 best (even though many people don't).
     
    #3 checktherhyme, Sep 16, 2014
    Last edited: Sep 16, 2014
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  4. BushDoctor

    BushDoctor Initiate (0) Oct 27, 2007 New York

    Great suggestion on the dark wheat malt. Maybe think about some dark munich malt too.
     
    #4 BushDoctor, Sep 16, 2014
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  5. utahbeerdude

    utahbeerdude Maven (1,374) May 2, 2006 Utah

    My latest attempt at a Dunkel Weizen, while good, is not at all like the Weihenstephaner. It is a bit too dark and, perhaps because I used a different yeast (WLP 351), the flavor profile is different (I got a lot of phenolic and very little banana). Aside from my choice of yeast, I basically followed the recipe in Brewing Classic Styles, which has some Carafa II for color. I don't think this is necessary to clone the Weihenstephaner. FWIW, I found the following recipe elsewhere on the interwebs. I may give something like this a try.

    "Recipe Type: All Grain
    Yeast: Weihenstephaner
    Yeast Starter: 1000ml
    Batch Size (Gallons): 5.5
    Original Gravity: 1.057
    Final Gravity: 1.011
    IBU: 19
    Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
    Color: 17
    Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 10

    Notes
    I brewed this and compared it to the original Weihenstephaner Dunkel Weizen and it is dead on in color and taste. I can't tell you which one I liked better because they actually tasted nearly identical. If you want an authentic Dunkel-Weizen then this is the beer to brew. Happy brewing

    Grain
    5 lbs Pilsner Malt
    5 lbs Wheat malt
    1 lb Honey malt
    .5 lb Special B
    .5 lb rice hulls

    Mash at 152-153° for 60 min

    Full wort boil

    Hops
    1 oz Mt. Hood 4.5%AA for 60 min

    Yeast
    Weihenstephaner 1000ml starter

    1 week Primary fermentation

    Keg 12 psi serving pressure"
     
    #5 utahbeerdude, Sep 17, 2014
  6. zimm421

    zimm421 Initiate (0) Jan 24, 2009 Ohio

    I actually brewed this exact recipe on Sunday. My OG came out a little higher than the target, but I'm looking forward to it. I picked up a few bottles of the Weihenstephaner earlier this week so I could compare the two when it's ready to go. Unfortunately, have to wait a few more weeks before I get to that point...
     
    #6 zimm421, Sep 17, 2014
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  7. Ilanko

    Ilanko Initiate (0) Aug 3, 2012 New York

    5.5 Wheat Malt

    4 Pilsner

    8 oz Roasted Barley

    8 oz Caraaroma

    6 oz Flaked Oats

    1 oz Tettnang @ 60

    0.5 oz Tettnang @ 20

    0.5 oz Tettnang @ 0

    WLP 300 Hefeweizen 55F° - 66F°
     
    #7 Ilanko, Sep 18, 2014
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  8. utahbeerdude

    utahbeerdude Maven (1,374) May 2, 2006 Utah

    Ilanko,

    This is an interesting recipe. Have you brewed it? If so, how was it? Was it close to Weihenstephaner?

    Cheers!
     
    #8 utahbeerdude, Sep 18, 2014
  9. Ilanko

    Ilanko Initiate (0) Aug 3, 2012 New York

    utahbeerdude,
    Did this BAVARIAN HEFEWEIZEN from NB properly 20 times already, manage to do tests and variation. That was good experience with a lesson "Clone is for beginners".

    Weihenstephaner perhaps uses more then one yeast strain for fermentation, other commercial HEFEWEIZEN filter the yeast after fermentation and prime the beer with lager yeast or some other strain.

    My latest accident yield a delicious Hefeweizen, When a new vial of WLP300 show very low vitality and smell like hell (sulfur). To save the batch I added started US05 and some WLP029 yeast cake and the result is so good that I reuse this bland of yeast for the second time now and might use it again.
     
    #9 Ilanko, Sep 18, 2014
  10. utahbeerdude

    utahbeerdude Maven (1,374) May 2, 2006 Utah

    How did your Dunkelsweizen come out, especially when compared to Weihenstephaner?
     
    #10 utahbeerdude, Oct 25, 2014
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