Festwiese

Beer Recipe Design
1

Been meaning to post this for a while (or a hhhwile for family guy fans). Anyway, had this beer at a local German bar back in October and fell in love. I’m just a moderate wheat beer fan, but this one is just fantastic. It’s a clone of Erdinger Festwiese. I searched the web for a few weeks, but never actually found a recipe. I found a few others who tried to break it down and here’s what I came up with. I don’t usually post recipes, but this one’s easily one of the best beers I’ve made out of my first 30 batches. It’s a nice easy drinking wheat with a little more maltiness. If you want to try something different, give this a shot. (I’m a BIAB brewer, so my mashing instructions will be different than what most will do, but you’ll get the general idea.)

Festwiese: All grain

5 gallons
OG 1.055
FG 1.015
Eff 72%
SRM 6
IBU 20
ABV 6%

6lbs Wheat malt
3lbs Pilsner
8oz carapils
6oz munich type 1
4oz C60

Step-mash: Protein rest 3.25gal @ 133F for 20min. Sac-Rest infuse 1.5gal boiling water to reach 154F and hold for 40min. Batch sparge 1.5gal @ 168F for 10min.
90min boil.

2oz Crystal 60min (I’d use a low AA noble hop, but had a bunch of Crystal and subbed. Also, hop to about 20 IBU’s. My utilization is lower due to lower boil volume. I had to top off with 1 gallon of fresh water at the end.)

1tsp nutrient at 10min

Cooled to 60F and pitched 1L starter of Wyeast Weihenstephan Weizen (3068).
Fermented between 60-65F for 14 days. Racked to corny, cooled to 40F, carbed at 10psi for 7 days and served.

Hope you enjoy!

2

interesting recipe - I could see that being a beer that people who would never drink a “darker” beer would end up really liking. Might have to put that on the summer agenda for next fall. Thanks

3

It’s a slightly darker wheat. Still very light in color, but more malty than a standard wheat beer. And yes, end of summer or early fall is a perfect time. I had mine on tap in December just because that’s how it worked out, but I see it becoming a summer/fall beer in my house. It really is good. Even if you don’t brew this version, look for Erdinger’s original version if you can ever find it on tap. It comes out in the fall as an Oktoberfest/Wheat. According to the description on the menu at the German restaurant it’s one of the harder beers to find in America, so brewing it yourself is probably the better option.

4

Buy some Erdinger and culture the yeast from the bottles. I’ve got some I’ve raised from the dregs and plan on using it for a weissbier.