#15 Bavarian/Belgo Weizen

The Biere de Garde

After brewing a few big hoppy beers over the past few weeks, I wanted to take one last opportunity to brew a low gravity, sessionable summer beer before the end of warmer weather. The more I've gotten into beer and brewing, these low gravity summer session beers have become less appealing than they first were when I fell in love with craft beer, but I think a good summer seasonal can still be satisfying and a true test of good brewing. I have yet to brew a Bavarian Hefeweizen since my first all grain batch so I figured it was a good time to give the style another shot.

Beginning the runoff into the boil kettle

I took this recipe yet again from The Jamil Show; a simple and straight forward version of this traditional wheat beer. I kept close to the recipe, but chose to alter the process slightly with a slightly more complicated mashing schedule that hopefully resulted in a wort filled with ferulic acid, which is the precursor to the clove and banana esters/phenols that most Bavarian Hefeweizens are known for. It will be interesting if the Belgian Wheat yeast (hence the 'Belgo') I will be fermenting this batch will exhibit these same characteristics as a traditional Bavarian yeast strain as well.

Bavarian/Belgo Weizen

Batch Volume (Gal): 5.75

Pre-Boil Volume (Gal): 5

Total Grain (Lbs): 10

OG: 1.042   Anticipated FG: ~1.010   Anticipated ABV: ~4.2%

IBUs: 14.1

SRM: 3.2

Brewhouse Efficiency: 67%

Boil Duration: 95 min

Grain           (Lbs/oz.)   (%)

Wheat Malt       5           50

Pilsner               5            50

Rice Hulls (in mash at mashout to improve lauterability)

Hops         (AA%) (IBU) (Oz.) (Boil[min])

Hallertau     3         14.1     1            90

Yeast

1800 mL starter using a Belgian Wheat 3942 Wyeast propagator pack.

Water

2.1 tsp Calcium Carbonate (95 min)

Attempted to produce Munich water profile:

S04: 8

Ca: 75

Cl: 8

C03: 100

Mash Schedule:

Step Mash

Beta-Glucan rest: 117 F (20 min)   Protein rest: 125 F (30 min)   

Beta-Amylase rest: 140 F (10 min)   Alpha-Amylase rest: 150 F (30 min)

Mash out: 162 (10 min)

The Wheat/Pilsner grist (left) and rice hulls (right)

For the first time since I began all grain brewing, I chose to go with a step mash procedure in order to allow for ferulic acid production, as well as a few steps to dry this beer out, improve efficiency, and breakdown the large portion of protein in the wheat malt. The Belgian Wheat yeast I chose to ferment with will not likely utilize the ferulic acid in fermentation as much as Bavarian strains, but it will be interesting to see if the 117 F rest will help to produce some of the banana/clove esters in the final beer. 111 F is apparently the optimal mash temp in the extraction of ferulic acid (the rest I was aiming for) but I believe 117 F will result in a similar level of ferulic acid production.

I'm hoping that the step mash process does not result in an overly attenuated beer due to long rests at low temps. I have little experience with step mashing since I quickly learned that single infusion was much easier and just as effective with modern, well modified malts. This beer seemed to be one of the few reasons to get back into step mashing but it could possibly result in a beer that is off in one way or another. The pre-hopped wort tasted pretty good however, so I'm hoping the beer turns out well. The aroma was striking as well, possibly from the wheat malt so I'm excited to see how this beer is altered during fermentation.

The Hallertau hops in the boil

I am excited to drink the beer this Belgian Wheat yeast will produce. The starter smelled fantastic; super aromatic like a Belgian Wit but restrained in the banana/clove esters of a Bavarian Hefe. This strain will supposedly produce a fruity, estery beer without these higher alcohols of banana and clove which sounds very appealing for drinking in August before things get cold again. 

The finished wort just after aeration with pure oxygen and prior to pitching yeast