Weizen
Earlier this week I brewed a hefeweizen, my first wheat beer since last June. A delightfully simple and easy brewing session, using 4 pounds of British Optic 2-row malt and 5 pounds of domestic wheat malt. For yeast, I used a rehydrated packet of Danstar's Munich yeast. I hit the target OG dead on, at 1.049.
For hops, I was very generously given an interesting new product to try; Northern Brewer's HopShot. The details of the product are not all clear at this point, but it appears to be a non-isomerized hop extract. It comes in 5ml resealable syringes, with 1ml of extract having approximately the same bittering power as 1 ounce of 2.4% alpha acid hops; that is, 1ml will impart 10 IBUs to a 1.050 wort when boiled for 60 minutes. Very interesting, aromatic, and convenient. Hopefully this will help homebrewers get through the hop shortage a little bit better. I bittered with 1.5ml at 60min, and 0.5ml at 30min, which imparts an estimated 18 IBUs. A touch bitter for a true hefeweizen, but should still be nice.
Tonight I will be brewing a base beer for the kirschweizen (cherry wheat). This beer will need a touch more sweetness, so I will dial back the hop extract to a single 1ml addition at 60min, giving 10 IBUs. The grain bill will be similar, with 5lbs of American wheat, but an additional 1/2 pound of Optic and 1/2 pound of Crystal 60 for sweetness, for a total of 10lbs. Once this has finished fermenting in primary, I will rack this onto a quart of tart cherry juice concentrate.
As a status update on earlier beers, the bitter will be bottled in a week or two, having clarified nicely. The ginger beer is hot, spicy, dry, and strong, as expected. I sampled both the gruit and the espresso stout. The gruit was interesting and herbal, but the espresso stout is shaping up to be a royal failure, with a harsh astringency that I may not be able to force on anyone. Live and learn...coffee should be enjoyed freshly brewed, not bottle conditioned and aged.
For hops, I was very generously given an interesting new product to try; Northern Brewer's HopShot. The details of the product are not all clear at this point, but it appears to be a non-isomerized hop extract. It comes in 5ml resealable syringes, with 1ml of extract having approximately the same bittering power as 1 ounce of 2.4% alpha acid hops; that is, 1ml will impart 10 IBUs to a 1.050 wort when boiled for 60 minutes. Very interesting, aromatic, and convenient. Hopefully this will help homebrewers get through the hop shortage a little bit better. I bittered with 1.5ml at 60min, and 0.5ml at 30min, which imparts an estimated 18 IBUs. A touch bitter for a true hefeweizen, but should still be nice.
Tonight I will be brewing a base beer for the kirschweizen (cherry wheat). This beer will need a touch more sweetness, so I will dial back the hop extract to a single 1ml addition at 60min, giving 10 IBUs. The grain bill will be similar, with 5lbs of American wheat, but an additional 1/2 pound of Optic and 1/2 pound of Crystal 60 for sweetness, for a total of 10lbs. Once this has finished fermenting in primary, I will rack this onto a quart of tart cherry juice concentrate.
As a status update on earlier beers, the bitter will be bottled in a week or two, having clarified nicely. The ginger beer is hot, spicy, dry, and strong, as expected. I sampled both the gruit and the espresso stout. The gruit was interesting and herbal, but the espresso stout is shaping up to be a royal failure, with a harsh astringency that I may not be able to force on anyone. Live and learn...coffee should be enjoyed freshly brewed, not bottle conditioned and aged.
posted by SQLFunkateer at 7:54 AM
2 Comments:
Even hefeweizens need a little bitterness!
I agree, but the BJCP guidelines (the Old Testament Law in brewing) mandate, as I recall, between 8 to 15 IBUs. Note that this is very different for American wheats (which are sometimes labelled hefeweizen), this is specific to Bavarian hefeweizen. American wheat beers tend to stress a little more hop notes, both with more bitterness and with some aroma hop additions. True German-style hefeweizen is 100% about the yeast. The hop additions are only there to provide the minimum amount of bitterness to balance the beer, and hop flavor and aroma are generally not there at all. American wheats usually use neutral yeast strains, so the added hops don't clash at all, but with a hefeweizen the yeast produces clove, banana, and bubblegum esters that are exactly what that style of beer is all about.
I've never had an American microbrewed wheat beer that duplicated true hefeweizen. Even when labelled as hefeweizen, every brewery that I've run across brews them as an American Wheat...a serviceable, if a bit boring, style of beer.
My favorite hefeweizen is Weihenstephaner. Has a sour green apple tartness that is very refreshing.
Oh and I'll admit, my Kirschweizen is probably a bit of an ill-advised experiment...since I'm not using a bland, neutral ale yeast, the cherries may contest strongly with the yeast esters. We'll give it a shot regardless! Its also in gross violation of the Reinheitsgebot, but that's why I'm brewing over here and not in Germany!
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