Fairway Cut Hefeweizen Home Brew

By scot in Home Brewing on Saturday, July 31st, 2010

Three months seems like a long time up front, but time has flown by and that is how long it has been since I had the chance to brew at home. I guess I might have been a little burnt out too. I had brewed a crazy amount in a short period, having something to do with beer most weekends in spite of having other obligations to attend to.

I had my mind on several different styles of beer: wheat (the one my wife likes as it is getting low), ipa (brewed before but was going to add some Citra hop to the dry hop), or a hefeweizen. You can tell by the title which one of these styles won out.

Why a Hefe? Glad you asked. It is probably my favorite style of beer when down well. I have done a lot of research on them and came to the conclusion that I should ferment this at 62 degrees. Also, since my past beers have been a bit thin, I decided to make a smaller batch of beer but do a full boil.

A Hefe recipe is rather simple, especially when using extract. The trick is in the temperature of the fermentation as all the real flavor and aroma comes from the yeast. Wheat malt extract and Hallertau hops are the ingredients: no steeped grains at all.

The beer has already been fermenting for a week as I brewed this last Saturday. I am considering bottling after two weeks but I think I will let it go my customary four weeks. I can’t wait to taste and see if I hit a winner. Enjoy!