Wheat beer and racking to secondary?

Discussion on brewing beer from malt extract, hops, and yeast.
EoinMag

Re: Wheat beer and racking to secondary?

Post by EoinMag » Fri Oct 08, 2010 3:13 pm

smdjoachim wrote:
smdjoachim wrote:Wheat beers can be cloudy or clear.Germany calls clear wheat beer cystal .You buy the beer in a bottle ,then pour it without disturbing the yeast.If you want the yeast in the beer you roll the near empty beer bottle to disturb the yeast ,then pour it into your glass.Beer drinking has lots of little nuances that make drinking such a pleasure.



Krystal weizen does not have sediment in the bottle. You would never not pour out the yeast in a bottle of weizen in Germany.
quote from wiki "Hefeweissbier or hefeweizen: "hefe" is the German word for yeast. The prefix is added to indicate that the beer is bottle-conditioned (unfiltered) and thus might have sediment."


I agree that crystal weizen doesn't have yeast in the bottle ,but hefe wheatbeer does have yeast and that normally settles to the bottom of the bottle.
If you pour that beer carefully you have a crystal wheatbeer.


I disagree with you about never pouring the yeast from a bottle of weizen

I have ,others do ,many don't.I find the yeast a little intense.I much happier with the subtle flavors of bubblegum and clovesI

I was a barman, waiter and chef in Germany for the best part of ten years.

http://www.germanbeerinstitute.com/Kristallweizen.html

From that link, Kristallweizen is a filtered hefeweizen.

So while if you poured a weizen without the yeast you would have a pseudo Kristall, a real Kristall is filtered. For homebrew purposes you could simulate a Kristall by leaving the yeast in the bottle, but it's still not a Kristall.

I never saw anyone in my time asking for a weizen with no yeast, they'd order a kristall. If you didn't pour them out their yeast they would in fact accuse you of attempting to short them on their order, as you kept all the "good stuff".

smdjoachim

Re: Wheat beer and racking to secondary?

Post by smdjoachim » Fri Oct 08, 2010 4:08 pm

Agree with you if you are talking about draft.How about bottled beer that you would serve.I also worked in Germany.
I bought beer by the crate and when drinking them at home ,some of my friends stirred the yeast into the glass and others do did not.
I also agree that crystal is alot clearer than a bottled wiesen that's yeast had dropped out of suspension.
Get the book Brewing with wheat by Stan Hieronymus.In it , it says the Kegs of wiesen are delivered upside down so the yeast will be disturbed turning it over

EoinMag

Re: Wheat beer and racking to secondary?

Post by EoinMag » Sat Oct 09, 2010 1:09 pm

smdjoachim wrote:Agree with you if you are talking about draft.How about bottled beer that you would serve.I also worked in Germany.
I bought beer by the crate and when drinking them at home ,some of my friends stirred the yeast into the glass and others do did not.
I also agree that crystal is alot clearer than a bottled wiesen that's yeast had dropped out of suspension.
Get the book Brewing with wheat by Stan Hieronymus.In it , it says the Kegs of wiesen are delivered upside down so the yeast will be disturbed turning it over

To be honest I'd argue that Weizen does not belong in kegs at all and is a bottle conditioned style. You will find it in kegs but that is more a commercial thing than a traditional thing.
I suppose I'm talking tradition and "wie es eigentlich sein soll", rather than what relates to personal tastes.

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potatoes
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Re: Wheat beer and racking to secondary?

Post by potatoes » Mon Oct 11, 2010 10:02 am

Here is what the beer looks like,

It has cleared a lot and there is a small amount of sediment at the bottom. If anything, a little too small. It is definitely a way of getting a clearer beer, but more suited to a lager than a wheat beer. Will see how it tastes in a couple more weeks!

Image

Image

Cheshire-cheese

Re: Wheat beer and racking to secondary?

Post by Cheshire-cheese » Tue Oct 12, 2010 7:19 am

smdjoachim wrote:...it says the Kegs of wiesen are delivered upside down so the yeast will be disturbed turning it over
I agitate my cornelius of white beer when I walk past it, in a bid to keep the yeast from compacting

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