My recipe for a German style Hefeweizen is fairly simple. I use 50% German Pilsner malt and 50% White Wheat malt. Any German noble hop will do to hit your IBUs. This beer isn't about the hops so it isn't that important which variety you choose. For this batch of Hefeweizen I choose to use Tettnang because I had around 1 pound of these in the freezer. Trying to clean out the freezer of hops before the new crop of hops come in to Hops Direct this fall.
After the boil I hooked up the garden hose to the immersion chiller as usual. The ground water here in Kansas is hotter than normal because of the extremely hot summer we have had. I knew that the ground water with the immersion chiller wasn't going to get my wort down to pitching temperature without some help. I was going to have to break out my pond pump with ice water to assist in the cooling process. I use this setup when I brew lagers to get my wort down to 55*F. I purchased a pond pump from Home Depot that you would use in a small fish pond. I place that at the bottom of a brew bucket and fill the bucket with ice. I put enough water in the bucket to get the pump going and the hot water coming back will melt the ice to keep the pump from running dry. I attached the pump to the immersion chiller and run the ice water through the chiller to help bring the wort down to 60-65*F. I use the hose water to first get the wort down to 80-85*F then I hook up the ice water. This works really well and I only use one 20 lb. bag of ice. If your struggling to get your wort down to pitching temperature with this hot summer weather, give this technique a shot. It is really inexpensive and works extremely well.
I used the Wyeast 3068 yeast. If you like your hefeweizen to have more of the clove flavor ferment this beer in the low 60s or if banana is your thing then ferment in the upper 60s to lower 70s. I like the banana but in lower amounts so I generally ferment this beer around 64-66. I have posted the recipe below if you want to give this beer a shot. Cheers!!
Recipe: Weissbier Brewer: Ashley Strube Asst Brewer: Style: Weizen/Weissbier TYPE: All Grain Taste: (35.0) Recipe Specifications -------------------------- Batch Size: 12.00 gal Boil Size: 15.38 gal Estimated OG: 1.053 SG Estimated Color: 3.9 SRM Estimated IBU: 22.2 IBU Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 % Boil Time: 60 Minutes Ingredients: ------------ Amount Item Type % or IBU 11 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 50.00 % 11 lbs White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 50.00 % 2.50 oz Tettnang [4.40 %] (60 min) Hops 22.2 IBU 2.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc 2 Pkgs Weihenstephan Weizen (Wyeast Labs #3068) Yeast-Wheat Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body Total Grain Weight: 22.00 lb ---------------------------- Single Infusion, Light Body Step Time Name Description Step Temp 75 min Mash In Add 7.00 gal of water at 163.4 F 152.0 F 10 min Mash Out Add 4.00 gal of water at 200.0 F 168.0 F
