Berry-Weizen

makes 5 gallons

            Steep 2.5  to 3 gallons of hot tap water (about 130) with all 4 of your crushed malts  for about 30 minutes with the heat on low. (150°- 155° is the preferred temperature)  After 30 minutes, strain out the malts.  Turn the heat to high to bring the beer (wort) up to a boil.  When the wort has started to boil, slide the pot off the hot burner to avoid scorching the malt syrup.  Add about 1.5 pounds the Bavarian Wheat malt  syrup and 1/2 ounce of the Amarillo® hops to the beer.  Stir the malt to completely dissolve it in the water.  Return the pot to the burner and heat to a boil.   Do not put the lid on your pot unless you want a boil over!!  The addition of the malt syrup will lower the temperature in the pot, and will take a few minutes to return to a boil.  You will boil this for a total of 60 minutes.  After boiling for 30 minutes, add the 1 ounce of  Willamette hops to your beer.  When the beer has boiled for a total of 55 minutes,  add the remaining Bavarian Wheat syrup (approximately 5 pounts) and the 1 ounce of Cascade hops, and continue to boil for the last 5 minutes.  Now transfer the beer into 2 gallons of cold water in your sterilized carboy, then top off to a volume  of 5.5  gallons with additional cold water.

                Add yeast when beer is cooled to under 74º, then ferment at 68º.  The American Hefeweizen yeast tends to produce a clove and sulfur aroma at fermentation temperatures above 72º

To make a German Style Hefe-Weizen, simply switch the yeast to the White Labs WLP300 Hefeweizen ale yeast for the banana and clove aromas, and a cloudy appearance.   Or use the WLP380 Hefeweizen IV ale yeast for minimal banana, but large clove and phenolic flavors, this yeast also give a bit of the citrus and apricot notes.

If you want to make a fruit beer, add the Natural fruit extract at the same time you add your bottling sugar.  Raspberry, Apricot, Marionberry and Boysenberry are great.  Transfer the beer into your bottling vessel, then add the fruit extract to satisfy your personal taste. (one bottle will give a hint of fruit flavor, 1-1/2 bottles will give a strong flavor.  You may also bottle a few gallons with out the fruit flavoring, then add the fruit extract and bottle the rest.

If you want to use raw fruit, the best way is to add 3 to 5 pounds of crushed fruit into the wort when you are done boiling, and let the fruit steep for 15 minutes to extract color and flavor.  You do not want to boil the fruit since it will tend to give a very cloudy beer.  You then strain out the fruit as the beer goes into the carboy.