Hopfenweizen Recipe and Brewday plus some general musings on brewing hefeweizen

Hefeweizen is one of my favorite beer styles although you wouldn't imagine that to be true given its almost complete absence from this blog. It's the first craft beer style I fell in love with after trying it way back in the very early 2000s at a brewpub and being blown away by how different it was from the light lagers I generally drank in volume. It set me down the path of loving yeast expressive beer which is very obvious to this blog. Living in Texas through my twenties I had the fortune of easy access to Live Oak Hefeweizen which is easily one of the best hefeweizens produced outside of Germany. With easy access to a world class example of weissbier it sets a high bar on brewing my own beer which is a little daunting given how easy it is for the beer to miss the mark. For as many great hefeweizens as I've tried there are at least as many mediocre renditions and as many awful ones. My prior attempts at brewing weissbier fell significantly short of that high bar which discouraged me from continuing to pour inferior beer down the drain. It's ironic I suppose that after a decade of homebrewing I am timid about brewing a beer that is usually recommended to newer brewers as a forgiving style to brew. Certainly the basics of hefeweizen brewing are simple: two grains, gentle hopping and a yeast that can endure slightly warmer fermentation temperatures. Sure--that's easy. On the other hand, hitting the fine details is far more difficult. The mouthfeel should be soft, round and full. Flavors should be well integrated but distinct without the benefit of notable bitterness or acidity to bring clarity. I have a specific desire for a hefeweizen like Live Oak's with a clear banana presence without foregoing clove and staying far away from bubblegum (banana + strawberry) created by too warm of a fermentation. Too often hefeweizens, especially homebrewed versions, are clove without enough banana or the yeast character is generally lacking. They are often muddled and thin. 

Writing about hefeweizen, especially in the context of drinking it twenty years ago, makes me feel like I've matured as a homebrewer and craft beer drinker into Don't Drink Beer's digs at middle aged beer drinkers at the bar pounding hefeweizen and talking about the good old days. Well I'm forty and talking about how much I love drinking hefeweizen so here we are. 

Hopfenweizen--weissbier's answer to hoppy beer

Perhaps the least common weissbier variant is hopfenweizen or hopfenweiss, a late hopped or dry hopped weissbier which challenges the brewer to balance banana, clove and hop flavors. Too aggressive hopping can wipe out yeast character while the wrong hop flavors can produce a beer with disjointed flavors. I first came across this style at an Oskar Blues restaurant on my very first trip to Colorado from a beer produced by Left Hand. I remember being blown away by the unique take on hefeweizen and how bizarrely well noble hops worked with banana and clove. Incidentally, a few years ago I had a hopfenweizen at Live Oak with cascade hops and felt like the grapefruit flavor wasn't quite as well integrated as Left Hand's version. 

Likely the most well known, if we can even call it well known, version of this substyle of wheat beer is the Schneider hopfenweisse. To my knowledge this is the only regularly available hopfenweizen on the market currently--although it is more of a hoppy weizenbock at 8% and 40 IBU than a 5% hefeweizen. Schneider's version arose as a collaboration with Brooklyn Brewery in which both breweries produced a different version of the style but Schneider has since stopped marketing it as such and Brooklyn retired the beer a long time ago. 

There does not seem to be a specific style parameter for hopfenweizen--it seems to consist broadly of any weissebier with hop flavor. Outside of the more hefty Schneider and Brooklyn versions, the handful of other beers have been typical hefeweizens with late or dry hops. Hop selection seems fairly evenly divided between geographically consistent noble hops and fruit forward new world-style fruit hopping. Personally I have never liked fruit forward hopped weissebier as much as noble hops. For my tastes the floral, grassy, spicy notes add a completely different character to the beer that integrates better. Fruit-forward hops in an already fruit-forward beer feels like it imbalances the beer and loses the distinct banana flavor. 

Brewing hefeweizen "the right way"

Ideas on the correct protocols for brewing hefeweizen correctly are all over the map. Even among German breweries hefeweizen is brewed with entirely different techniques and recipes, especially between large packaging brewers and smaller craft brewers selling most of their beer at their own taps or on draft to nearby accounts. The preferred balance of clove and banana is itself subject to a wide range of views on procedures ranging from grain selection to mash schedules to water chemistry to yeast pitching and temperatures. 

Some issues to consider:

• The percentage of barley to wheat;
• The extent to which the ratio of barley to wheat determines the ester and phenol profiles;
• Whether to employ specialty malts as part of the beer recipe;
• Water profile; 
• Whether to use acid malt, lactic acid, sauergut, or no acid addition; 
• Mash ph;
• Kettle ph;
• When to adjust ph, if at all;
• Final ph;
• Whether to employ a ferulic acid rest;
• How long to rest at ferulic acid-producing temperatures
• Mash ph during the ferulic acid rest;
• Whether to employ a protein rest;
• How long to employ a protein rest, if at all;
• What mash schedule to employ;
• How long should the mash take;
• How long to lauter;
• Fermentation geometry;
• Open or closed fermentation;
• Yeast strain selection;
• Pitching rate;
• Oxygenation rate; 
• Pitching temperature;
• Whether to allow temperature to rise and on what schedule;
• Whether to bottle with speisse or sugar;
• How much speisse or sugar to use;
• How much carbonation is appropriate.

Navigating these many issues for a supposedly very simple beer seems to take a multitude of paths depending upon the navigator. Of course, large German breweries have to make decisions to ensure their beers survive transportation and potentially lengthy shelf lives but for every permutation of decisions on these factors you can find some expert to suggest that is the objectively correct way to brew a hefeweizen. The best conclusion to draw is probably just that there are many right ways to reach your preferred destination of banana/clove characteristics. 

Despite homebrewing lore often treating this beer style as a basic beer to brew it is obviously highly technical when it comes to brewing the beer well and with repetition. Hefeweizen yeast are not difficult to control but they are finicky and less forgiving to small changes in brewing technique and recipe. A few degrees difference in a Chico ale strain-fermented beer is undetectable in most cases but those same degrees in a hefeweizen can be the difference between a balanced clove/banana beer and a one note clove-flavored hefeweizen. Navigating decisions around these many factors must start with a clear understanding of the goal beer and how these issues affect one another--a subject far too lengthy for this blog. (Two good reads on the subject include Braukaiser's discussion of hefeweizen and Stan Hieronymous's Brewing With Wheat.)

Designing this hefeweizen recipe

Let's talk goals here. My preference for hefeweizen leans a little more banana forward than what most people seem to like but I don't want a beer that tastes like melted banana Runts. I want the beer to have a full body with roundness and a moderately long finish. There should be a little acidity to sharpen and distinguish the flavors and keep the beer from feeling flabby or flat. It should taste fresh and lively for at least a reasonable period of time. The late hop addition turning this beer into a hopfenweizen should compliment the other flavors rather than steamroll or muddle them. It should be a delicate beer but still have some heft. 

As an initial batch to get my feet wet trying to brew a great hefeweizen I don't want to reinvent the wheel or try to perfect every tiny detail at once. The foundation of this hopfenweizen recipe is the Schneider hefeweizen recipe. Schneider, I guess, knows some things about brewing hefeweizen. It is a simple 60:40 wheat malt:pale malt recipe with a step mash. I'll brew it a tad on the warm side to emphasize some bananas. 

One issue that will get plenty of attention along the way is the water profile and pH through the brew day. For a water profile I want a fairly neutral water profile that will avoid any notable minerality but allow for a rounded beer. Further, I will modify the pH through the brew process rather than set the pH in the strike water and let it go. A high pH reportedly increases ferulic acid production which becomes the desirable clove flavor. I'll start with a pH at 5.7 and after the ferulic acid rest drop pH to 5.5. That should allow the beer to drop low enough after fermentation to have a hint of acidity without tasting like a weird Berliner weisse. (If you care, I used Bru'n Water to create the first profile with 5.7 pH and then altered the pH to hit the second target with the mash.) 

Because this is a hopfenweizen we should also discuss the late hopping. Recipes I looked at were all over the map on hops, hopping rates and times. The recipes ran the gamut of gentle hopping with noble varieties to aggressive hopping with new world hops to basically create a wheat IPA. Here I want somewhere in the middle of the range. I opted for a meager 1/2 ounce per gallon half as a ten minute addition and half as a whirlpool addition. Although late boil additions are not terribly common these days, the character of slightly boiled hops seems to integrate a little better than the raw postboil additions although I want to retain some of that fresh hop flavor and aroma. I opted for Mount Hood and Aurora hops in equal blend. These hops are reminiscent of noble hops but bring a little more citrus and fruit flavors.

Hopfenweizen Recipe 

Details
Batch Size: 3.1 gallons
Est. ABV: 5.3%
Est. IBU 12.4
Est. OG: 1.051
Est. FG: 1.013
Est. SRM: 3.7
Expected Efficiency: 72%
Grain Bill	Pounds		Ounces		SRM		Pct. Grist
Pale Malt	1		13		2		70.00%
White wheat malt	4		0		1.6		30.00%
Water Profile	ppm
Hefeweizen Water
PH: 5.7 and 5.5 after ferulic rest
Calcium	44
Magnesium	3
Sodium	10
Sulfate	56
Chloride	43
Bicarbonate*	48
*pre-acid addition, -8 after
Water Additions					Mash		Sparge
Gypsum					0.9g		0.5g
Epsom Salt					0.3g		0.2g
Canning Salt					0.3g		0.2g
Baking Soda
Calcium Chloride					0.5g		0.8g
Pickling Lime					0.3g
Lactic Acid
Mash Schedule	Step Temp.				Step Time
Single Infusion Batch Sparge
Mash volume: 12.18 qt
Sparge volume: 1.67 gal
Infuse 12.18 qt at 116F	111				15
Decoct 2 qt and boil
Add 0.3ml lactic acid to mash to 5.5 pH
Protein rest--add decoction	125				10
Decoct 3 qt and boil
Gelantinization rest--add decoction	143				30
Decoct 3.8 qt and boi
Sacharification rest--add decoction	161				45
Sparge 1.67 gal at 180F	180
Boil Schedule	Volume		Unit		Time		IBU
60 minute boil
Mount Hood	0.1		oz		60		3.9
Mount Hood	0.25		oz		10		3.6
Aurora	0.25		oz		10		4.9
Mount Hood	0.5		oz		Whirl
Aurora	0.5		oz		Whirl
Fermentation Schedule	# Days		Temp.
Yeast: WLP300 Hefeweizen Ale
Starter: NA
Pitch at 61F	?		61
Free rise to 68F and hold	14		68
Dry hop on day 14 0.30 oz Aurora and 0.70 oz. Mt. Hood hops

Keg at 3 volumes of CO2

Brewday and Fermentation Notes

Brewed on 8.15.21.

Settling in for a complex decoction mash schedule that, due to short mash rests early in the process, will require a lot of attention. Thankfully the pH came in just under 5.8 at the first rest. I was a little concerned the way I adjusted the water profile in Bru'n Water to increase the pH and then lower it after the ferulic rest. 

The hop pellets are ready for action. (Bittering, late boil, whirlpool.) The hops have a nice aroma of floral, lemon, orange and melon with that unmistakable pellets-fresh-out-of-the-freezer freezer burnt aroma. 

Preboil volume: 3.8 gal

Preboil gravity: 1.053

Mash efficiency: 91.6%

Postboil volume: 3.1 gal

Postboil gravity: 1.060

Brewhouse efficiency: 85%

Fermentation kicked off the following day and carried on for just under five full days with the krausen holding on until day ten. I left the beer to relax and clean up before adding 0.30 oz. of Aurora hops and 0.70 oz of Mount Hood hops as a dry hop addition for two days before bottling. I had not initially planned on dry hopping but the hop flavor and aroma was not quite where I wanted it after two weeks. A vigorous ferment plus moderate hopping can do that. 

Kegged after three weeks.

Hopfenweizen tasting notes

Appearance: Pale yellow beer forms a bright white rocky head that lingers to the bottom of the glass with nice lacing. The beer is cloudy but not muddy. 

Aroma: Banana, fruit punch, rose, banana bread, grassy, lemon-lime soda.

Flavor: Banana, clove, generic floralness, lemon, lime, soudough bread, straw. The beer is too acidic for the style--it is tangy like lemonade. The beer is too bitter for the style with bitterness lingering through the taste and into the lemon-banana aftertaste. There is also a metallic note in the end of the swallow and lingers into the aftertaste. It is metallic like straight lactic acid. Lacks the raw doughy flavor typical of hefeweizen. 

Mouthfeel: The beer feels medium to full but prickly with light acidity and a touch of scratchy tannin. The scratchy tannin lingers in the aftertaste. Lacks the soft feel of a typical hefeweizen.

Overall: Kind of a misfire on this beer. It is too tangy and bitter for the style with subdued banana/clove yeast flavor. The bitterness and tannin presence is easily blamed on the hops. I would have been better off with less hot side and a big dry hop addition. The bigger problem is the tangy acidity in the beer. I like hefeweizen to feel soft and pillowy with a touch of sweetness and this beer is missing all of that. It is too rough and too acidic. It isn't so acidic it is berlinerweisse-like but getting on its way. I don't think the mid-mash acidification was necessary and I suspect my mistake was not accounting for how pH changes differ with temperature changes. I also think I would have been better off with a softer water profile than what I used here. 

Overall there are positives here but just not the beer I had envisioned.