The Weizenbier belongs to the great family of German wheat beers. Blonde and refreshing, originating in southern Germany, it’s brewed with malted wheat. These are summer beers — even though they’re made year-round — lightly hopped, owing their unique, fruity and spicy character to the aromas the yeast develops during fermentation. They’re not made to age: drink them young and fresh. The “mit Hefe” version is served with the yeast left in the bottle.
Average characteristics
- High carbonation: 5.5 to 8 g CO₂/L
- Original gravity: 11 to 14 °Plato
- Apparent final gravity: 2.5 to 3.5 °Plato
- Colour: 8 to 24 EBC
- pH of the finished beer: 4.0 to 4.5
- Low bitterness: 6 to 18 IBU
- Alcohol: 4.5 to 5.6% vol.
The traditional method
The recipe rests on 50 to 70% wheat malt, the rest in Pilsner-type barley malt. (Rye malt replaces wheat for Roggenbier.) The traditional hops — Hallertau, Tettnanger — are there for bitterness only.
The choice of wheat malt matters: winter wheat is preferred over summer wheat, as it contains fewer proteins. The minimum quality to aim for: a dry extract above 83% and a protein level below 12.5%.
The aromas of fermentation
The whole art of the Weizen lies in the balance between the phenols and the esters produced by the top-fermenting yeast. These aromas — banana, clove — are the signature of the style, but must never show up to excess.
A delicate lautering
The high-molecular-weight proteins of wheat make lautering tricky. Two precautions: don’t exceed 50% wheat malt, and lauter slowly so as not to compact the grain bed.
Good protein coagulation is also necessary: allow a boil time of at least 90 minutes, and remove as much hot break as possible before cooling the wort.
Fermentation and conditioning
Fermentation is readily done in open vessels, with a pitch of 10 to 15 million cells per millilitre, between 18 and 22 °C. Cold conditioning then takes place between 4 and 8 °C, traditionally in horizontal tanks.
Bottle conditioning and maturation
The traditional method has the brewer add fresh wort for the re-fermentation, along with a bottom-fermenting yeast. A variant: add a wort that’s already been fermenting for 36 to 48 h. Some even halt the main fermentation by cooling, 2 °Plato before the attenuation limit, and transfer the young beer to a conditioning tank where it finishes fermenting under pressure.
Count on a week of bottle conditioning in a warm room, then 3 to 4 weeks of cold maturation.
