Simple Hefeweizen

I have to admit that I wasn't a huge fan of weissbiers when I first started drinking good beer. Like many converts, I was enamored with palate wrecking imperial IPAs and dark, chewy imperial stouts. The balance and simplicity of a hefeweizen was completely lost on me. Michelle (fiancée, beer buddy, expert mash stirrer) has always loved weissbiers and, though it took some time, her enthusiasm for the style rubbed off on me. Really, what beer is more perfectly suited for a sunny afternoon on the patio?

We brewed a hefeweizen last year that was just right; nice bready malt backbone with banana and some clove, a dry fullness, and appropriately effervescent carbonation. We used that beer in a dinner we hosted and paired it with a lemon grilled chicken Caesar salad. It was my favorite pairing of the day by far. I figured that with the 90+ degree days fast approaching, it was time to brew another weissbier.

I decided to keep the recipe from the last time. The only change I'm going to make is fermenting it in a loosely covered plastic bucket to mimic the open fermentation used by many traditional weissbier producers. I'm not entirely convinced that open fermentation makes much difference on a home brew scale, but at the very least I can skim the "braun hefe" and even top crop some yeast for a future batch.

Simple Hefeweizen

Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Total Grain: 10.86 lbs
Anticipated OG: 1.048
Anticipated SRM: 3.0
Anticipated IBU: 11.7
Anticipated Efficiency: 70%
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Grain
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50.0% - 5.43 lbs. Castle Pilsener
50.0% - 5.43 lbs. Weyermann White Wheat Malt

Hops
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0.75 oz. German Hallertau (Pellet, 4.30% AA) @ 60 min.
0.15 oz. German Hallertau (Pellet, 4.30% AA) @ 5 min.

Extras
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1.00 tablet Whirlfloc @ 10 min.
0.25 tsp Wyeast Yeast Nutrient @ 10 min.

Yeast
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White Labs WLP300

Water Profile
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Profile: Carbon filtered Waco

Mash Schedule
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Sacch Rest 30 min @ 151 F

Notes
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Brewed on 23 April 2011 by myself

Mashed in with 1.8 qt/lb water to grain

Yielded ~7.25 gal of 1.039 pre boil wort (calculated mash efficiency 68.7%)

Aerated ~4.7 gal of 1.048 wort with aquarium pump and stone for 20 minutes

Pitched 1.65 l starter into ~4.75 gal of 1.048 wort at 64 degrees F at 2:00 pm

Raised temperature to 72 degrees F over 8 hours.

24 April - Very active fermentation. Blowing through the airlock of a 8 gallon bucket. Top cropped ~1 quart of active yeast and "braun hefe" at 8:00 am. Replaced cover with aluminum foil.

Gravity 1.016 on 28 April 2011