Weiss beer, or Weiss bier, is a traditional Bavarian-style wheat beer known for its cloudy appearance, fruity notes, and smooth finish. Brewing your own at home can be a fun and rewarding process. Here’s a guide to crafting a refreshing Weiss beer with ingredients readily available in South Africa.
Ingredients:
- Malt:
- 2.5 kg of Wheat Malt
- 2 kg of Pale Malt (2-row)
- Hops:
- 20g of Hallertau Hops (for bitterness, about 12 IBU)
- Yeast:
- 1 packet of Bavarian Wheat Beer Yeast (such as Safbrew WB-06)
- Water:
- 20 liters of Cape Town tap water, treated with a Campden tablet to remove chlorine
- Priming sugar (for bottling):
- 120g of dextrose or cane sugar
Equipment:
- 20-25 liter fermenter with an airlock
- Brewing kettle (30-liter capacity)
- Thermometer
- Siphon
- Bottles (about 40 500ml bottles)
- Bottle capper and caps
Brewing Process:
1. Mash the Grains
- Heat 12 liters of water to 65°C.
- Add the wheat malt and pale malt into your mash tun and pour in the heated water.
- Stir to eliminate clumps, and maintain the temperature between 63-67°C for 60 minutes.
- After mashing, raise the temperature to 75°C for 10 minutes for mash-out.
2. Sparging
- Heat another 10 liters of water to 75°C and rinse the grains slowly to extract maximum sugars.
- Collect the wort (sweet liquid) in your brewing kettle.
3. Boiling
- Bring the wort to a boil.
- Add 20g of Hallertau hops and boil for 60 minutes. This hop addition gives the beer mild bitterness, allowing the yeast to shine.
- Cool the wort rapidly after boiling, using an ice bath or a wort chiller.
4. Fermentation
- Transfer the cooled wort to a sanitized fermenter.
- Sprinkle the Bavarian Wheat Beer Yeast directly onto the wort.
- Seal the fermenter and add an airlock. Ferment at 18-22°C for about 10-14 days. This temperature range is ideal for producing banana and clove notes typical of a Weiss Bier.
5. Bottling
- Once fermentation is complete, mix your priming sugar with a small amount of water and boil it to sterilize. Cool and add to your bottling bucket.
- Siphon the beer into the bottling bucket, gently mixing it with the priming sugar.
- Bottle the beer, cap, and allow it to condition at room temperature for 2 weeks.
6. Enjoy Your Weiss Beer
- After conditioning, chill your Weiss beer for at least 24 hours before serving.
- Pour into a tall glass, leaving the yeast sediment in the bottle, or swirl for a more traditional cloudy appearance.
Cheers to Your Homebrewed Weiss Beer!
With quality local ingredients and a bit of patience, you’ll have a refreshing Weiss Bier to enjoy and share with fellow beer lovers in South Africa. Be sure to experiment with different yeast strains or add some citrus zest for a Cape Town twist!
Want to know the difference between a Weiss Beer and a Wit Beer check it out here