Your best wheat beer

I've brewed this many times:

60% Wheat malt
40% Pils malt
1 oz whatever noble hop I have on hand for 60 min
Wyeast 3068

I like to ferment warm for more banana and less clove, but that's a matter of taste. I've done it with a single infusion and with a decoction (or two). I think there probably is an improvemt with the decoction mash, but it's marginal and the single infusion beers are always good.

 

what is your typical mash temp, and whats your water profile look like?

 

It's difficult to advise because (1) I don't make a lot of wheat beers and (2) I don't know what you are perceiving in the commercial ones that you don't get in the homebrew ones.

If they are still decocting this in Germany (are they?) than maybe you are missing melanoidens which you could tried to add with a very light touch of a kilned malt such as Munich or melanoiden malt. Are you comparing your homebrews to beers you consumed in Germany or to beers that are imported to the US. If you are comparing to imports, maybe there is some element of age that you are associating with the characteristic of the German beer. If you are comparing to beers that you drink when you are in Germany, perhaps you are allowing the setting to influence your perceptions of taste -- right place and right time and all that jazz. Or (D) none of the above.

 

Have you read Brewing with Wheat?
I'm not gonna find the exact passages, but in it, someone from Weyermann states something along the lines of "Every weiss brewer in Germany uses a some crystal malt now". I have found that a 1/2# of weyermann carawheat will add that extra heft of body and also some depth of malt character. To me it tastes like whole wheat bread crust with a touch of honey.

I also tend to just use wheat dme if I'm doing a straight hefe, though, so take my advice with a grain of salt. I find no need to haul out the mash tun if what I want is already available in powdered form.

 

I don't have my recipe handy, but I did do the following and would up with what I consider to be an authentic Bavarian Hefe:

1) Used all-German malts (Weyermann): roughly 60% wheat, 40% pale ale with a touch of carahell
2) Used noble hops for bittering charge, about 14 IBUs
3) Step mashed with a ferulic acid rest to enhance phenols
4) Paid careful attention to fermentation temps. I tried my best to keep the sum of the pitching temp and fermentation temp (measured in degrees celsius) to 30 degrees (pitched at 56 F (13 C) and fermented at 62 F (17C)
5) Carbonated to 3.6 volumes CO2: very lively!

A delightful beer! Good phenolics & citrus flavors (mostly lemon). Made me wish for a hot, humid day! Some might like a little more banana flavor; you would probably need to raise the fermentation temps to make them more evident.

I used WLP 300

 

Elderberry wheat beer. Fifth time around is coming up this week.

 

You recommended this to me years ago and I've always had great results from it. So +1

 

60% wheat
25% pils
15% Munich

Double decoction with rests at 108 F, 148 F and a mash out at 168 F. Hold decocted portions at 158 F for 15 min for sacch rest and boil for 15 min with constant stirring.

90 min boil

Hopped to 15 IBU with Hallertau Mittlefruth

3638 wyeast, fermented with 30% headspace at 68 F. Rack to bottling bucket and prime to 3.0 vol CO2 as soon as gravity is stable for 3 days (usually 7 day fermentation).

 

I like to use decoction for wheats, but since you don't wanna go there... my best advice would be to ferment at a constant 62F with 3068. That should give you a really nice spicy fermentation character. You can go higher in temp if you want more banana flavor, but to me the clove/pepper flavor you get at the low temp is the way to go.

 

Just brewed a weizen with Wyeast Laboratories. Bavarian Wheat™ 3638

4 lbs. Wheat malt, 2 lbs. Pilsner, 2 lb. Munich

1 oz. hops 60 min, Fermentation started cold 58F, yeast was multiplying but not "taking off", moved to warmer spot like 65F. It was a great beer, slammin'. The one thing I noticed was that when the yeast was added to the glass via the swirl method, that is what gave the beer the body and mouthfeel it needed.

 

Bavarian wheat yeast 3638 is the bomb~! The one time I altered my use of this for my elderberry wheat beer it was a mistake, and I won't make that mistake again.

All this talk of munich in wheat beers, how about a 60% wheat malt, 40% munich with 3638? I think I will try it, probably with willamette (because I have willamette at the moment).

Also, I've used 64F every time for this beer and every time I've been happy with the results. The yeast performs fine at that temp.

Also I like a (small) late addition of appropriate hops for my wheats. Not a friggin' wheat IPA*, just an ounce or so of something that isn't strong near flameout.

*I have not been impressed by white IPAs, wheat IPAs, hoppy wheats, hoppy hefs, or hoppy wits. they are drinkable but the flavors clash. it's like putting salt in your coffee then trying to add sugar so it doesn't taste like shit.

 

2-row 50%
Wheat 50%
OG 1.030

Mash hopped with something German (IBU nil), decocted to 150, mash out, lauter, heat to 210, no boil.

Lactobacillus/apple juice starter pitched first.
US-05 pitched on day 2.

Lacto/US-05 repitched at bottling.
Age 6 months.

Drink outside in the sun.

 

I am more of a American Wheat Guy

4 pounds two row
5 pounds wheat malt
.5 pound Caravienna
.5 pound GNO

1050 to 1012 5% ABV

Magnum to 30 IBUs
1oz Citra FO @180
1oz Amarillo FO @180
1 oz Citra Dry Hop Primary
1 oz Citra Dry Hop Keg
1 oz Amarillo Dry Hop Keg


001 or 090 @ 65 let rise to 68

 

I keep a hefeweizen around at all times - a favorite of my German friends my recipe leans more towards Weissbrau Huber's Freising version.

7 lbs Weyerman wheat
2 lbs Weyerman pils
2 lbs Weyerman light munich
6 oz Wyerman melanoiden malt
3 oz Wyerman acid malt

.5 oz Hersbrucker @60
.5 oz Tettnanger @10

White Labs 380 yeast is what I use exclusively these days after years of Wyeast 3068.

 

6lbs wheat
6lbs Pils
.5 oz halletauer @60
.5 oz hallertauer @15
Wyeast 3068

125 for 30 mins, 148 for 60, 168 for a 10 min mash out.

Pitch @ 65ish and keep for 24hrs, then let it get as warm as it wants with ambient 65ish. Usually only ferments for 4-5 days.

Big creamy banana-bomb with a slightly sweet hit of clove at the finish. Prost!

 

"best wheat beer" is an oxymoron.

 

Use weyermann munich II and weyermann dark wheat, go with a looong mash (diastic power on this mash will be borderline) and you'll have an nice dunkelweizen.

 

I could add a little 6-row to boost diastic power, but that sounds tasty!