Erdinger Festweiße Experiment

My friend Ian decided that he was interested in homebrewing just before I left for Germany.  Seriously, Ian, it took you almost five years to brew your first batch – even after you tasted my yummy concoctions.  Anyway, on Ian’s first attempt, he brewed a delicious milk stout that was similar to Left Hand.  Not surprisingly, after sipping on the fruits of his labor, Ian contracted the brewing bug.  His last adventure was a gluten-free mead ale that ended up slightly sweet and with a dry finish.

A few days ago, Ian challenged me to develop a recipe for Erdinger “Oktoberfest ,” or in Germany, simply, Erdinger “Festweiße.”  Well, Ian, challenge accepted!  I must confess, I’ve never sampled this specific beer before.  Since I’m living in the northeast part of Germany, many Bavarian specialty brews are hard to come by.  Shocking!  I didn’t find this beer on the shelves of my local grocer among the sea of Pilsner.  I’ll keep my eyes peeled, but there’s a good chance I won’t have this seasonal beer any time soon.

As a trained engineer, improvising a good solution is second nature.  I’ve had Erdinger Weißbier, and in summary: it’s yummy!  This beer has a full and sweet wheat flavor with hints of bananas and clove.  My guess is that the malt bill consists of 55-60% wheat to a 40-45% Pilsner Malt.  To create my clone, I’ll assume that Erdinger is happy with their Weißbier and that they applied this malt base for their Festweiße.  The next piece to the puzzle is figuring out what specialty grains are used in the Festweiße.  D’oh, the description of the Festweiße is not mentioned on the Erdinger webpage, nor on RateBeer and BeerAdvocate.  I guess I will have to rely on RateBeer’s user reviews for the Festweiße to determine the beer profile.

After reviewing numerous ratings, I saw RateBeer users agreed that the Festweiße is amber orange-like in color, hazy (duhhh), and has a nice, thick weizen-like head.  Users found that the beer aromas consisted of caramel, bananas, citrus, and cloves, with wheat bread.  They reported that the beer tasted sweet and wheaty, had a touch of toast and caramel, and finished with bananas and citrus.  The palate tended to be moderately carbonated with a smooth-mouth feel.  So, what are the specialty grains?  Well, since Festweiße is an Oktoberfest  beer and many reviews reported a toasty-caramel flavor and slightly darker color than the Weißbier, I am guessing the beer is brewed with Munich malt and a light color, caramel malt.

Now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for….drum roll, please…the All-Grain clone recipe!  Without knowing the International Bitterness Units (IBU) of the original Festweiße beer, I am going to guessthat it will increase to 19 IBU to balance the additional caramel sweetness.  Since the Festweiße alcohol is around 5.7%/volume, I am targeting an  Original Gravity of 1.058.  Batch size is for 5 gallons.  Remember, sanitation while brewing is your best friend.  DON”T CUT CORNERS!  Of course, if you choose to brew this, please, let me know how it ends up – I’m predicting a delicious brew!

Give’em the F-”inger” (All-Grain)

IBU = 19,   OG = 1.058,   Final Batch Size = 5 gallons

Grain Bill:

6.5 lbs Weyermann Wheat Malt

4.7 Ibs Weyermann Pilsner Malt

4 oz Weyermann Munich Malt

4 oz Weyermann Carmel Malt (20L)

 Hops:

1.25 oz German Hallertau Hersbrucker Pellets in hop bag @ 4.5% AA  (add at 60 minutes of  Boil)

Hop Weight Adjustment Calculations (if your hops %AA  are  different):

IBU=[(W_{hops in oz}  x  U%  x  AA%  x  0.7489)  /  (Volume_{final gallon}  x  Original Gravity)]

Example:

19 IBU = [(1.25 x  24  x  4.5  x  0.7489)  /  (5  x  1.058)]

U% _{60 min boil} = 24%

 Yeast Options:

For a tart and fruity wheat (identified by the RateBeer users), use Wyeast #3333: German Wheat

For a more spicy clove/ banana wheat, use Wyeast #3068: Weihenstephen Weizen

 Brewing Instructions:

Dough-in at 1.5 quarts/pound grain = 17.5 quarts = 4.38 gallons;

Rest at 110^oF for 15 minutes;

Rest at 120^oF for 15 minutes;

Rest at 151^oF for 35 minutes;

Mash out at 170^oF ;

Sparge slowly with 170^oF water until 7.5 to 8 gallons of water is collected (depends on your brew kettle rate of boil-off);

Boil for 90 minutes; and

Add the hops for the last 60 minutes.

Fermentation/Bottle Instructions:

Cool wort to room temperature (quickly);

Siphon off wort (leaving the trub behind) into a sanitized fermenter;

Pitch the yeast (smack the Wyeast Smackpack a full 3 hours in advance and  let it puff up at room temperature);

Store for 7 days (or until fermentation is complete) at a steady 64-65 ^oF for a smooth less clove/banana beer (recommended!);

Transfer beer to a 2^nd fermenter (leaving behind sediments) and store for 7 more days;

Transfer beer to a bottling bucket or vessel (leaving behind sediments) and add 7 oz of corn sugar (for 3.5 vols of CO₂).  Fill and cap bottles, then let the bottles sit in the dark for 2-3 weeks at 65 ^oF (brown and clean bottles are best).

Give’em the F-”inger” (Extract)

Liquid malt extract (LME)  brewers can convert the Wheat Malt and Pilsner Malt in the All-Grain Recipe using the simple rule of:  (Weight of Grains in lbs) x 0.75= (Weight of Liquid Extract in Ibs).  Find Wheat and Pilsner LME at your local brew shop.  Steep the remaining specialty grains at 150 ^oF for 30 minutes, add the LME, then bring the wort to a boil.

Beginners Info:   If you don’t have a local brewing shop near you, Northern Brewer.com has a reliable stock of fresh brewing ingredients and equipment that can be shipped within a few days.  Most NB items ship at a flat-rate of $7.99, regardless of the cart size.  Tip: Consolidate your orders.  Need help with your first brew?  See the Northern Brewer’s Homebrewing 101 or contact the Gravity Flux for answers!