Beer Forum

Is it possible to brew a good German weizen with extract? Would I need to boil it for 90 minutes if part of the malt is a Pilsner extract (or does Pilsner extract not needed to be boiled for 90minutes)?

I usually brew all-grain, but but made an extract hefe last year to save a little time. I used the liquid wheat extract from William's Brewing for Jamil's German Hefe and had great results. I would definitely use this again.

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/GERMAN_WEIZEN_EXTRACT_8_LBS_P372C99.cfm

I used distilled water for this batch, assuming the maltsters used the correct water chemistry to make the extract.

Forgot to add:

60 minute boil

When using malt extract a 90 minute boil is not necessary as most of the DMS has been driven off during the production of the malt extract. 60 min. boils are fine unless you need to add hops at 90 minutes or are looking for some more melanoidins formed during a kettle caramelization.

I make tons of wheat beers from extract and extract with partial mash. They range from 50 to 65% usually. I've got plenty of people offering to purchase my wheat beers if it was legal. I'm mostly making fruit beer and Wits but do the hefe now and then but those I do partial mash. Just thinking the grains will give me something the hefe yeast will like better. So far no complaints.

Thanks guys.....I want to get started brewing something for warmer weather. It's been a long cold winter. Put my ski suit on a couple of weeks ago and sat in the garage drinking beer and boiling wort. Kind of a hassle to unzip three layers of clothes every 15 minutes to pee!! My wife thinks I'm nuts. Gonna try Jamil's hefe weizen extract recipe in "Brewing Classic Styles" next.

Webb wrote: My wife thinks I'm nuts.

Well. You are. Just like the rest of us.