Cedar Rapids Brewing Society

So,on Sept 5th, I brewed a German Hefe with the rushed intent of serving at a party on Sept 24th. Big starter with 3068 Weistephaner (sp?). Fermented like mad. Was basic recipe 40% white wheat and 60% german pils. Tett for bitter hops, no aroma hops. Lots of O2 and yeast nutrient. Fermented half of the 20g batch 8 days (rush I know) with a final gravity of 1.008 Cold crashed and kegged a week ago. Beer is beautifully hazy and tastes like, well, if you took all of the banana and clove OUT of a good german hefe. I am sure I over pitched and did not stress the yeast enough, as well as 68 degree basement temp, caused the yeast to throw off little to no esters.

I would like advice from anyone if possible. I have a nice mesh dry hop tube. I do love coriander and orange in a wit. Is this a good idea? and how much? I was thinking 1/2 oz crushed coriander and zest of 1 orange. Or maybe dry hop for a few days with czech saaz? or both?

Thanks a ton. Also if anyone wants to have a beer saturday evening, you are all welcome. Got 20 gallons of "spotted cow" and 10g of bland (so far) hefe. And some aged Imp Stout.

Paul

if i had two 5gal kegs of bland wheat beer, i would hit half with the spices, and half with some American hops (citra, Amarillo mosaic?)

For the spices, i would add the herbs then mix and taste it every 12 hours till it got where you wanted -- or you could make an herb tea and test ratios with an eye dropper before adding the herbal concentrate

Thanks for the advice. I have never added coriander and orange peel post boil. Do my amounts look ok? I have blown out my IPA buds for a while, so I was hoping for a traditional hefe. I also have Saaz on hand which I really like.

prieff wrote:Thanks for the advice. I have never added coriander and orange peel post boil. Do my amounts look ok? I have blown out my IPA buds for a while, so I was hoping for a traditional hefe. I also have Saaz on hand which I really like.

I have no input on amounts, sorry. Heffe/whit are beers I only drink if there is nothing I like better around, I never make then myself.

Zest can go a long way. I would zest one orange and see how that goes. Have not tried coriander post boil so add a little and then add more if needed. Go light. You can always add more but can't take away without blending back untouched beer.

If zest goes into a keg out it in a bag. It will plug the dip tube and poppet. Giant mess.

Yeah, you need to bag zest if doing in a keg. Fine mesh to keep it contained.

whitedj wrote:If zest goes into a keg out it in a bag. It will plug the dip tube and poppet. Giant mess.

That's what carboys are for.