How to make Hefeweizen beer

FERMAMENTARIUM - BREWING BEER BY DJ SPIESS ON JULY 8, 2008 AT 12:01 PM

One of the best summer beers you can make is Hefeweizen. This Southern German (Bavarian) wheat ale is incredibly
simple to make, but has great complex flavors. The beer can have strong banana flavors or strong clove flavors, and
everything in-between. There can even be some vanilla flavors or other citrus flavors.
The beer has a light mouth feel, which is why it makes a great summer selection. Hefeweizen translates to wheat with yeast
(mit hefe), since the beer is traditionally cloudy. The cloudiness comes from the unfiltered yeast. There is a clear version of
Hefeweizen called Krystal. The Krystal is a filtered Hefeweizen for crystal clarity.

Hefeweizen Yeast
I think one of the most important factors in making a
Hefeweizen is your choice of yeast. There are several wheat
beer yeasts and each will produce a very different Hefeweizen.
You need to decide what flavors you want in your Hefeweizen.
Some Hefeweizens have a clove-like flavor, while others have a
citrus or strong banana flavor.
From White Labs you can choose Hefeweizen (WPL300),
American Hefeweizen (WPL 320), Bavarian Weizen (WPL 351),
or Hefeweizen IV (WPL 380). The WPL 300 yeast will produce
Here's a traditional German hefeweizen from Hacker Pschorr

more banana flavors and the Hefeweizen which is traditionally

associated with the German variety. WPL 351 and WPL 380 will

accentuate the clove flavor.

From Wyeast you can choose German Wheat (3333),
Bavarian Wheat (3638) or Weihenstephan Weizen (3068).
The 3638 will give banana flavors like the WPL 300, while the
3333 and 3638 will give more clove flavors.
WPL 320 of course will produce an American version similar to
the Oregon American wheat beer. You can also use American
ale yeast for the American variety. This will result in a slightly
crisper flavor and much higher flocculation. You probably wont
get the cloudiness you would get in the German varieties using
American ale yeast.
Personally I like the banana flavor, so I tend to use the WPL
300.

Hefeweizen Recipe

There is actually quite a bit of variety for hefeweizen yeast. Most

break down into either banana flavor or clove flavor.

The recipe is often listed as a beginner recipe. The recipe is usually 50-50 wheat malt and either pilsner or 2-row malt. To
make a true German version, you need to add at least 50% wheat malt by law. The style guidelines state you can use up to
70% wheat malt. I add a bit of Crystal 20L to give the beer slight sweet flavor, but you can omit the Crystal malt to keep it
simple.
If you are looking for a break from all-grain brewing and want to make a quick extract beer, you can even get away with using
100% wheat malt extract. If you decide to go the extract route, make sure you do a full wort boil. You dont want the beer to
darken too much. It is supposed to be a pale straw color. The beer can be as dark as a dark gold color, but most

Hefeweizens tend to be light. The SRM (Standard Reference Model) listed in the guidelines state the beer color should be
between 2 and 8.
Hefeweizens use Nobel hops, but not much.
8.5 lbs Wheat Liquid Malt Extract (LME)
1 oz Hallertau (4% AA full boil)
White Labs Hefeweizen (WPL300) or Wyeast German Wheat (3333)
SG 1.050
FG 1.012
Boil the beer for at least 60 minutes.
If you want to make this beer using an all-grain recipe, just use 5.5 lbs of wheat malt and 5.5 lbs of pilsner malt. You can use
German varieties, but I really think the yeast is what makes this beer. For all-grain versions, Id use local malts. Mash the
grains at 152 F for 60 minutes.

Fermentation
You will want to ferment the beer on the lower end of the temperature range for the yeast (60F 65F) in order to produce a
cleaner flavor. My basement is a constant 65F, and Ive always been pleased with the results.

DJ Spiess - I am a avid homebrewer and winemaker. Ive been making my own beer and wine for many years.