All Grain Lady Luck Hefeweizen

NOTES FROM THE BREWER

With such a simple recipe the mash and fermentation were key to making this beer stand out.  Although the single infusion mash will make a fine Hefeweizen, the step mash helps add some desirable nuances to this beer. Fermentation at room temperature works well for this style.  However, if you have temperature control I would pitch a little extra yeast (or make a yeast starter) and ferment cold at 62°F.  After fermentation is almost complete ramp up to room temperature for ester development and to help dry out the beer.  Mine finished at 1.011.  I used carbon filtered city water and aerated for a bit over a minute with pure O2.  American Brewmaster sells the filters and O2 regulators.  I bottle carbonated this batch over kegging because I tend to get finer bubbles doing so, which is great for this style.  1 cup of corn sugar targeting 3.5 volumes of CO2 made it a very refreshing Hefe.  Cheers!

-Robert Aponte

Your Luck is about to change, because
LADY LUCK IS ON HER WAY!
THIS AWARD WINNING
GERMAN HEFEWEIZEN
took first place at the
Piedmont Brewers Cup
homebrew competition in 2012.

This beer has classic Hefeweizen character with loads of banana fruit esters. The winning recipe was brewed using a step mash procedure that develops the body and structure of this beer. However, a simple step mash with a saccharification rest at 152 F will produce an excellent beer!