RECIPE: #66 Becca's Bavarian (German Hefe)

Hefe's In The Back

My wife loves a good, yeasty, estery, spicy German Hefe.  Last time I made one she actually gave me an extra brewday as a gift to brew it and part of that gift was that she brewed it with me.  Of course, I really enjoy a great Hefe too.  They work great as the liquid in pancakes, and taste great alongside them.  They are crisp, fruity, spicy, dry, wet, they hit the spot on a warm Summer afternoon while working in the yard.

The first ever Hefe I made was with yeast I had cultured from Sierra Nevada's Kellerweisse beer, and it tasted great.  I wanted to go for that again this time too.  I added the yeast dregs from a single bottle to 10ml of soy based culture media for a few days.  When I was ready to step it up I added the yeast from 2 more bottles along with the vial to 150ml of wort that was stirred for a few days.  This whole starter was added to 1000ml of wort which was stirred for a few more days, then decanted prior to pitching.  From conversations I had a few years ago with Bill Manley from SN, this yeast does great with open fermentation, and if it is used under pressure, sucessive batches are too clean.  I don't plan on doing another one for at least another year, so I plated the yeast from the starter to keep it banked for future use.

This batch was done with 2 other beers.  I did one mash and 2 boils for three beers.  The entire runoff was collected, then 7 gallons was sent to a second kettle for a Saison, and the rest was kept together for this Hefeweisse, and a Berlinerweisse.  I boiled the entire wort together for a finished volume of 8.25 gallons of wort.  I split 5 gallons straight for this beer, and diluted the other 3.25 for the Berliner.  Recipe is for the Hefeweisse alone (makes it easier to reproduce).

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Batch all split up

Stats:      

Gallons:     5.00

OG:            1.044

FG:           1.006

ABV:          5.0%

IBUs:         13

SRM:         4.0

Efficiency: 75%

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Fermentables:

3.00# White Wheat Malt (37.4%)

3.00# Weyermann Pilsner (37.4%)

2.00# Wheat Malt, Dark (25.2%)

Mash 10 hours @ 150

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Boil:  75 mins

60 mins  0.30 oz  Magnum  16.40%AA

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Kettle Additions:

Gypsum - Mash 1/8 tsp; Sparge 7/8 tsp
Epsom Salts - Mash 1/8 tsp; Sparge 1/4 tsp

Calcium Chloride - Mash 1/2 tsp; Sparge 5/8 tsp

Pickling Lime - Mash 1/8 tsp

Lactic Acid - Mash 0.9 ml; Sparge 0.6 ml

Yeast Nutrient 4 taps

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Hefeweisse Fermentation:

Cooled to: 70*F

Sierra Nevada Kellerweisse (3 bottles - 10ml, 150ml, 1000ml)

70*F 2 days (Open Fermented)

72*F 2 days (Open Fermented)

74*F 2 days (Open Fermented)

78*F 2 days (Airlocked)

68*F 5 days (Airlocked)

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Notes:

One Mash, 2 Boils, 3 Beers

6/20-22 Brewed alone.  Mashed all the grains for these 2 beers and the Saison together; doughed in around 9:30pm, wrapped in heated blanket and sleeping bag for the night.  Second burner broke so I had to scramble, borrowed in-law's camp stove.  By 8am the temp had dropped to 138*F.  Took a long time to get 11 gallons of sparge water to 165*F on the camp stove.  Sparged and collected 17.5 gallons of wort into one kettle.  Split off 7 gallons via pump for Saison, then commenced with single boil for both Hefe and Berliner.  Chilled to 70*F.  Racked via pump into 3 separate Better Bottles.  Split 5 gallons in half into 2 Better Bottles for expected large krausen from Hefe strain.  Other 3.25 gallons went into the third for the Berliner. Decanted Kellerweisse starter and split the yeast between both carboys.  Covered top with boiled hop sack and rubberband for open fermentation.  Put sanitized foil over opening until active fermentation ensued.  Done, pitched, cleaned by noon.

Patches of yeast showing in Hefe at bed time, full krausen by morning, removed foil in afternoon.

6/23  Hefe is rocking, bumped up to 72*F.

6/25 Bumped to 74*F.

6/27 Bumped to 78*F to finish strong.

7/3 Kegged with decent amount of yeast slurry, placed in beer fridge on CO2 to carbonate.

7/23 Review