Recipe of the Month – October 2016 – High Country Hefeweizen

This recipe is an Aussie Brewmakers ‘take’ at a Hefeweizen style beer. This recipe is another great introduction to experimenting with hops and wet malts for the beginner or ‘tin kit’ brewer.

Hefeweizen is a German / Bavarian wheat style beer that literally means ‘white beer’. It’s unique suspension and flavour results from the Weihenstephan strain of yeast.

Fermentation temperatures are very important for this recipe and if followed as per the below will give good results.

Ingredients:

• 1 x 1.7kg Thomas Coopers Wheat Beer Kit
• 1 x 1.5kg Coopers Wheat Malt Extract Tin
• 2 x 11.5g Saflager W-34/70 Yeast (Weihenstephan strain from Germany)
• 1 x 12g Tettnanger Finishing Hops – Dry Hopped

Other Ingredients:

• 200g of Dextrose if kegging with no secondary fermentation (not supplied)

Method:

1. Clean / sterilize all equipment including fermenter and paddle
2. Discard Thomas Coopers Wheat Beer tin yeast and sit tin along with the 1.5kg Coopers Wheat Malt Extract Tin in hot water for 10 minutes
3. Boil 2L of water in kettle
4. Add 1.5L of boiled water to fermenter
5. Add both the Thomas Coopers Wheat Beer tin contents and the 1.5kg Coopers Wheat Malt Extract Tin contents to fermenter and stir vigorously to dissolve
6. Pour 250mls of boiled water into each tin and stir to dissolve remaining contents, then add to fermenter
7. Add cold water to fermenter to 22.0 ltrs and test temperature – make sure it is between 18-24 degrees before pitching yeast
8. Take initial hydrometer reading
9. Add Tettnanger Finishing Hops teabag to fermenter (dry hop) and stir gently
10. Pitch 23g Saflager W-34/70 Yeast (2 packets) and stir gently
11. Keep fermentation temperature lower than 24 degrees for the duration of the fermentation. Ideal fermentation temperature is 20-22 degrees
12. When fermentation finished check with hydrometer and bottle as per normal.

N.B. If kegging, add 200g of Dextrose at step 5