our first Hefeweizen
My goal for this beer is a classic, German wheat ale that leans toward spice and clove and away from the banana notes common in many Hefeweizen craft brews produced in the nineties and early oughts.
There are a couple of things that make this beer interesting to make. The first is the incredibly high percentage of malted wheat in the grist. I used Weyermann Pale Wheat was well as Weyermann Pilsner. The wheat is almost 60 percent of the bill. This made for a (slightly) stressful brew day as I wasn’t sure I could get the wort completely out of the mash tun and into the kettle. It worked but my conversion was a little less than expected so the beer is only 4.9%, which I actually in hindsight am pretty happy with.
Secondly I did a very complicated step mash that has seven different temperatures. I mashed in very low for a ferulic rest to produce the distinctive clove flavor necessary for this beer. Then stepped up and up little by little. This helped produce a lot of wheat character and a nice body.
The third thing is the use of a traditional Hefeweizen yeast that we have not used before from Imperial called G1 Stefon. Some very interesting and tasty yeast notes on this batch! Hops are a tiny bit of Herkules for bittering and Hallertau Mittelfruh in light quantities for a noble hop backdrop. This is my first stab at this style and I’m pretty happy with it.
One of the difficulties of our Brewhouse is a lack of a test batch system, so if I want to try a new beer I just have to do my research, write a decent recipe and make it. Then tinker with future batches. This beer works well but I might make some small changes in the future. This is gonna be a great summer sipper IMO, particularly due to the low ABV.
Some people might have the idea that they don’t like Hefeweizen, but I think this beer can change your mind!
Tasting notes for me: clove, spice, and a nice balanced ester profile. Good wheat character with a good amount of body. Touch of grass from the hops.