So... What is it?
The Oktoberfest Hefeweizen is a traditional German wheat beer with origins in Bavaria, often enjoyed during Oktoberfest celebrations. Known for its hazy, golden appearance, it features a flavor profile that blends banana, clove, and sometimes subtle hints of bubblegum, all derived from the special yeast used in fermentation. This unfiltered beer is brewed with a high proportion of wheat, giving it a soft, creamy mouthfeel and a refreshing finish.
What's ours like?
We are doing Oktoberfest right this year! This Hefeweizen comes in at a generous 5.9% and pours a gorgeous golden blonde, with a thick foamy head that lasts for days and leaves that signature wheat beer lacing on the glass! The bitterness is very subdued & hop character non existent which is just perfect for allowing the true star of the show to shine through, the amazing yeast character! First and foremost an explosion of cloves and cooking spice hits your palate, closely followed by waves of banana and vanilla which just coat the tongue with that beautiful silky German goodness!
Batch Size & Stats
- 19L / 5 gal finished beer
- 22L (6.8 gal) wort
- Starting gravity – 1.057
- Final gravity 1.012
- ABV – 5.9%
- Brewhouse Efficiency 69%
- EBC - 10.2
- IBU - 14
What ingredients?
Water
With sparging
- 16L (4.2 gal) strike water
Ferulic acid rest: 113F (45 C) — 10 min
Beta rest: 135F (57 C) — 30 min
Alpha rest: 156F (69 C) — 30 min
Mash Out — 170F - 77 °C — 10 min
- 15L (4 gal) sparge water at 78°C (172°F)
Without sparging
- 27L (7.1 gal) strike water
Ferulic acid rest: 113F (45 C) — 10 min
Beta rest: 135F (57 C) — 30 min
Alpha rest: 156F (69 C) — 30 min
Mash Out — 170F - 77 °C — 10 min
Malts
Total Grain Bill 5.2kg (11.4 lb)
- Wheat malt – 2.6kg (5.7 lb) 50%
- Pilsner Malt- 1.976 (3.83 lb) 38%
- Rolled Wheat - 520g (1.15 lb) 10%
- Supernova (Melanoidin Malt) - 104g (3.7 oz) 2%
Rice Hulls
- 470g (1 lb)
Hops & whirlfloc tablets
Spalt Spatler (4.2% Alpha Acid)
- 28g (1 oz) 10 IBU - 60 mins
Water Profile
- Ca2+22
- Mg2+ 5
- Na+ 16
- Cl- 32
- SO42- 32
- HCO3- 57
Yeast options & fermentation temperatures
- 11g (1 pkg) — Lallemand (LalBrew) Munich Classic - 22°C (71.6°F)
- Any other bavarian wheat beer yeasts will work as well!
Step by step process
Step 1 – Milling
- Mill grains to medium crush (set mill rollers to a gap of approx. 1.00mm / 0.039 inches (credit card width)
- Just keep in mind roller gap settings are not universal so as you brew more batches you will find the ideal crush size for your setup
- Alternatively if you don’t have a grain mill you can order your grains crushed from most homebrew stores, both online and in person
Step 2 – Mashing
Mash for 60 minutes with the following step mash order
- Ferulic acid rest: 113F (45 C) — 45 °C — 10 min
- Beta rest: 135F (57 C) — 57 °C — 30 min
- Alpha rest: 156F (69 C) — 69 °C — 30 min
- Mash Out — 170F - 77 °C — 10 min
- ensure you mix in the grains thoroughly with a mash paddle to prevent dough balls from forming (big spoons, spatulas or whisks will also work)
- its easier to mash the grains and prevent dough balls if you add a little grain at a time, mix, add more grain and repeat until all the grains are mixed
if you don’t have a mash tun with heating then ensure after you have finished mixing the grains in to insulate your mash tun (thick neoprene or heavy blankets both work well)
Step 3 (optional) – Sparging
- if your setup has the capability to sparge then do so with 15L (4 gal) sparge water at 78°C (172°F)
- if you are not sparging and using a BIAB (brew in a bag) method then remove grains from mash tun and twist and squeeze the bag to get as much liquid out of the grains as possible
- as you start sparging (or straining your BIAB bag) begin raising the temperature of your wort to a boil
Step 4 – Boiling
- once your wort begins to boil start a timer for a 60-minute boil and add your bittering hops, 28g (1 oz) of Spalt Spatler
Step 5 – Whirlpooling / cooling
- After 60 mins of boiling turn off your heat source and start cooling wort down
- Once you’ve reached yeast pitching temperature take an original gravity reading of your wort
Step 6 – Yeast Pitching
- It is best to make a yeast starter before beginning your brew day (ideally 1 day before) to ensure your yeast are as active and healthy as possible before pitching, but not completely necessary – you could also just rehydrate yeast 30 minutes before pitching.
- Wort Aeration (Optional) if you have a paint mixer give your wort a quick blitz before pitching yeast to help add more dissolved oxygen into the wort to help the yeast have a healthier kick start into fermentation
- Now add your tincture of Vanilla extract! (or you can wait till end of fermentation if you prefer)
- Pitch yeast in wort a degree or two higher than the target fermentation temperature to help yeast take off more aggressively
- To make a yeast starter you can use either:
- DME (dry malt extract) at a ratio of approx. 100g per 1L water (3.5 oz per 33 fluid ounces) for gravity of approx. 1.040
- some unfermented wort kept cold and sanitary from a previous brew day
- 70g of table sugar per 1L water (2.5 oz per 33 fluid ounces) – however, it is best to use malt sugar (wort / DME) whenever possible to reduce the chance of shocking the yeast with a different food source from starter to wort pitching
- To rehydrate yeast
- Add yeast to approx. 10 times as much room temperature water as the weight of the yeast e.g. 10g yeast in 100 ml water (0.35 oz yeast in 3.5 fluid ounces water)
Step 7 – Fermentation
- Allow yeast to ferment over the next two weeks (aprox)
- If you have a temperature-controlled system keep the fermenter temperature to the recommended fermentation temperature for each yeast strain (stated in the yeast ingredients section above)
- It's important to note that fermentation times will vary based on your circumstances like temperature, amount of yeast pitched, the healthiness of yeast, the gravity of the wort, pH, etc. so don’t stress be patient and know that these times are just a rough guide
- If you have temp control then when there are 2 days left of fermentation raise the temperature by 2 degrees for a diacetyl rest (once gravity reaches roughly 1.01) & gravity is the same 3 days in a row move onto cold crashing! (Dont worry cold crashing is optional!)
