Wheat Beer (German Weissbier)

[Bachy__]

Im completely in love with Weissbier since my visits to Europe and it is sadly lacking in Australia. Therefore I will brew my own. I have previously brewed gingerbeer but this will be my first attempt at a 'real beer'. I wish to keep it pretty simple as I'm a beginner.

Please respond with any advice you may have for me (or suggested premixes if they are available) and anything a complete newbie has to look out for when brewing a wheat beer.

The result I eventually want to reach is a unfiltered, full flavoured wheat beer similar to those served throughout southern Germany.

Thanks for any help/suggestions you may have for me!

Michael

[damian44]

Hey Bachy__ welcome to the forum. What sort of equipment do you have and where are you located.

Ive only been brewing for 1 year, but what i found most important is.....
1. Keep everything CLEAN. Buy heaps of cleaning products.
2. Tempreture control. When the yeast is doing its stuff, it needs to be kept at a certain tempreture. Ale yeast as close to 18C as possible and Lager yeast as close to 12C.
3. Have a good read through the stickies at the top of Making beer section of the forum.

All the best. And be careful as your on a slipery slope.

[timmy]

Easy peasy...

1.7kg Tin Thomas Coopers Wheat Beer kit
1.5kg Coopers Wheat Malt Tin
WB-06 Dry yeast

Dissolve the kit & extract in boiling water and top up to 23L. Pitch yeast and ferment at about 20 degrees. Go a bit higher (25deg) if you like the banana esters.

You can also add some hops at the end if you like, but the hoppy flavour/aroma is a bit out of style for this.

The other thing about this is that you can drink it as soon as it's carbed up - it is better young. There is all sorts of stuff you can do with this style but the recipe I gave you is pretty foolproof and gives great results.

Cheers,

Tim

[Bachy__]

Thanks guys,

Im in Brisbane now. Currently I have no equipment and I have no idea what happened to it... Guess I will have to go and buy a new set (I hear the shops open again on mondays...). I know theres a home brew shop in logan I was thinking of visiting or I'm sure I'll find others. I'll have a nosey around this site some more and check out the general tips. Is there any way that brewing a wheat beer would be different to brewing a normal beer?

[timmy]

Nope. Same principles and processes apply.

[warra48]

If you are in Logan, you are only a stones throw away from Ross at CraftBrewer. Best quality ingredients at sensible prices, and excellent advice.

Here's a link to his website:

http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/

[Bachy__]

On of the main things I've been hearing and reading is 'temperature control' and 'cleanliness'. Now I have an old fridge downstairs that I could modify and noticed some external thermostats are available. Has anyone got experience with these? I really dont want to be doing things like ice and towels as I plan to brew on a very regular basis and want a 'fix and leave' solution regarding temperatures.

[damian44]

You need to wire it up and put it in a jiffy box, but its pretty straight forward. Money well spent.

http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=718

[Bizier]

I just did a fridgemate, and I'd be tempted to suggest a tempmate instead, in conjunction with a heatbelt, so your brew is never too warm nor cold. And they are only $25 more from memory. In a QLD summer, temp control will be the best thing you can buy.

[Bachy__]

I ended up with the model that the poster above me posted (fridgemate I believe) and after some swearing (stupidity on my part I cant read the 'MALE end of cord' and 'FEMALE end of cord properly) I got it all hooked up. I got the first batch going with a premix kit of HefeWeizen (figured I'd get the basics right first) and some liquid yeast and it should be coming along nicely. The fridgemate has so far kept the temperature at +/- 1 degree of 19 C so I'm pretty happy with it so far. I was advised that the weizen beers bubble a lot so I hooked up an airhose into a bottle instead of the airlock. Here's to hoping the first ones a success so I can upgrade my skills and do it all myself soon!


Edit: Regarding temperature... I know the yeast creates heat that is likely to heat up my brew a bit. Has anyone tried to turn the temperature down a few degrees for the first day or so to compensate for that and were there any effects?

Which brings the next question... bottling. I dont want to have a clear beer as an end result and prefer there to still be some yeast suspension in the beer (bottles). How long should I let it sit after the sugar content stops falling before bottling it?

[timmy]

You can bottle it provided the SG (or sugar content) is stable for 2 days. I normally leave my hefe's in the primary for a week then bottle.

Cheers,

Tim

[damian44]

You might want to get yourself a Liquid yeast. Wyeast 3068 or Whitelabs WLP300. Its more expensive, but you can reuse it.
Your ferment temps could drop 1 or 2 degrees.

[timmy]

I've been using Wyeast 3068 for a couple of years now but have used WB-06 for the last couple of brews and I think the result is very similar. The costs aren't that different - especially since you save time not having to reculture up. It does help that I got some packs for nix (thanks pixelboy ).

One thing I did notice with the WB-06 is that it produces a firmer trub which comes in handy when racking/bottling.

Cheers,

Tim

[Bachy__]

for the record I've got 3068 in this current batch.