I’m looking a brew another hefe. Thinking about adding some Vienna malt to the 60/40 wheat to Pilsner malt. Any suggestions on amount of Vienna. Or should I just skip the Vienna and go with wheat and Pilsner?
Also anyone use the imperial stefon yeast? Just curious of the banana/clove balance.
Vienna malt would add some oomph, I’ve used melanoidin malt in small amounts like 3%, to get a little more malty profile.
That’s what I’m looking for. Thought my last two were a little thin. It was still tasty but it was lacking something compared to a commercial versions.
And no way I’m doing a decoction
Biscuit is also a nice background malt… About 3-4% is good in pale brews… Darker ones it seems to remain muted…
I’ve not played with melatonin malts yet either… I’ll put that on my bucket list this summer…
Sneezles61
I did a hefe a while back that called for melanoidin. I didn’t have any so I used some dark Munich I had on hand. About 5%. I’d likely use a little less next time.
Me did place a order of biscuit. Somehow did end up with melodian malt pfff 55lbs. So this wednesday will use some. About 3 % in my grain bill
I believe I went 152 in the past couple attempts as my normal biab routine.
So my thought was 5.5 lbs pale wheat, 4 lbs pilsner, 8 oz of vienna. Does 5% vienna sound like a reasonable amount? Going to bitter with 1 oz of Tettnang for 60 min give or take depending on AA of the package.
I think the AA of Tettenang is lower than most bittering hops… Or dual use hops… Best to brew this with your scheduled hops… Take your notes… See if you believe your wort isn’t too much… verses the hops really distracting from the malt… Good grief… I’m dancing all around the word… “balanced”…
Sneezles61
Hopping a hefeweizen is a minimalist strategy, and a 60 minute ounce of Tettnang is perfect. No further hopping needed.
As far as the Vienna, that is a much smaller beast than Melanoidin, so I would use more than 5% percent if that is your strategy to increase the maltiness. You could do something like 30% Pilsener, 20% Vienna and 50% pale wheat.
Ok I have a couple pounds of vienna on hand so I can probably make that happen.
Any advice for water treatment? I’m starting with distilled I would guess more chloride than sulfate based on style. I have to plug it into bru n water still.
Yeah, malty brew profile for water treatment, 1.5 to 1.0 chloride to sulfate ratio.
I again agree with @voodoo_donut. 5% isn’t likely to contribute much.
Now let’s talk about your mash temps. Is it possible your losing too much heat and mashing at a lower temp? And I assume you aren’t performing a mash out since you BIAB. How long does it take you to get to a boil? This too will contribute to conversion and end in a thin beer.
Some ideas:
Mash at 146° for 30 mins and then 156° for 30 mins. This will contribute more dextrins.
You could also use a dextrin malt like carapils/carafoam to get more dextrins.
You could check for conversion early, at say 30 mins into the mash and start getting to the boil.
Last couple batches were outside on my propane setup. I was losing maybe 2 degrees over 60 mins wrapped up with insulation and a bunch of blankets. Then firing up the burner after lifting the bag. This batch will be inside on my clawhammer electric setup. Recirculating for 60 mins. This setup takes a while to get to a boil after mashing. I have some carapils on hand. I’m really trying to keep it simple with grains. I just remember reading people using vienna or munich to help add some depth to certain beers. Munich would probably add more color than I’m looking for. The last two I made were very drinkable but just didn’t compare to Paulaner, Weihenstephaner (both clone recipes) or just a local brewery Fat Heads Goggle Fogger as far as body. It had the right clove and banana but just didn’t have anything in the middle and then finished crisp which I feel was spot on.
I went to my LHBS tonight to get the malt, hops and yeast (wyeast 3068). The hops were only 2.7 AA puts my IBU around 8 which is the low end of style. I ordered same from NB other than I wanted to try Imperial Stefon but it’s still sitting unfulfilled since the 13th. Who knows when it will ship with everything going on.
Have you considered adding unmalted Wheat to your recipe. Or maybe even some Raw naked Oats. Oats are not normaly added to a Hefe due to the purity law but they will give you the better mouth feel. Both unmalted Wheat and Raw naked oats will add dextrins with out adding much if any flavor.
I haven’t had much thought about that. Something to think about. I think I’m going to dig into the style for a few batches. I like the idea of the purity law but it’s not a deal breaker if I’m not strictly following it. Want to experiment and see what I can come up with. Thanks for the input!
Wheat itself is verboten in Reinheitsgebot. Hefeweizens never followed purity laws and squeaked through the cracks.
