In our home there is a bit of a soft spot for Hefeweizens,
maybe because we are from a hot country where a cold and bubbly wheat beer tastes great; maybe because we love bread? Anyway, I have done several tries on Hefeweizens and they tend to come out a bit off from what I expect them to be: not really heavy on the banana, clove and bubble gum, but rather sour and spicy with a very “summery” feel to them; not sure why. After a few times of getting frustrated with the way the beer was coming out I decided to just embrace the unique flavour I was getting and just develop the mouthfeel my previous Hefeweizens were missing. The result was a light, really refreshing Hefeweizen – my wife loved it.
Process
Mashing
800g wheat malt (53%)
500 Munich malt (33%)
150g flaked wheat (10%)
50g rice hulls (3%)
Multi stage rest in 4 litres boiled Brita filtered London water at 65°c before grains:
90-60 minutes: protein rest at 57°c
At 60 minutes: added 1.5 litres boiled Brita water (electric kettle)
60-0 minutes: mashing at 67°c
0 minutes: strained at 59°c
About 4.5 litres mash left with 1060 gravity at 48°c
Yeast
12g (one pack) of Brewferm’s Blanche yeast
Activated with 5g dextrose in 500ml warm Brita filtered water
Wort (boil)
1L of boiled Brita water added (electric kettle) added to the 4.5 litre mash and brought to the boil
60 minutes: 80g light spraymalt (12 EBC) + 12g Saaz hops (2.2%)
30 minutes: 15g Saaz hops (2.2%)
5 minutes: lemon zest from half of a medium size lemon
Off heat: 10g Saaz hops (2.2%) + 10g Cascade hops (7.12%)
Cooled in 30 minutes to 23°c; about 3 litres left with 1078 gravity
Fermentation
In the fermentation bucket I combined yeast starter, wort and another 2.5 room temperature Brita filtered water for a total of 6 litres.
OG=1043 at 22°c
Fermentation ended after 3 days, raked and left for another week
Bottling (10 days after brewing)
FG=1010 at 20.5°c, ABV=4.33%
EBC=11 (SRM=5.5), IBU=14, about 140 calories per 500ml bottle
Wet sand colour with a nice but thin aroma
Tasting notes
The first tasting of this Hefeweizen was very fresh, after 3 weeks of priming, and we did another tasting a month after bottling. The last tasting found the beer much, much deeper and I would recommend leaving this beer to prime for at least a month for a deep flavour. Drinking this Hefeweizen sends us back to remembering summery days in the Alps with thinner air and drying wheat fields, really refreshing and light.
Smell
Wheaty, fruity aroma with citrus and a bit of straw that evaporates very quickly and turns into a deeper malty scent. Very summery and refreshing scent
Appearance
Hazy straw colour with a foamy white head that disappears quickly. Very classic Hefeweizen appearance with the right hue through the glass.
Taste and mouth-feel
Sour wheat flavour straight away with a much thicker mouth fullness than it seems based on aroma and appearance alone. At the end has a nice maltiness that lingers and blends nicely the sweet of malt with the sourness of the yeast and lemon zest.