Weiss becomes Wit. Easy fix for our wheat beer, right?
Never mind the creepy detached limbs of Jeff. Let’s talk about our WeissGuy Hefeweizen for a second. We brewed our latest batch Monday. This time it’s going to be a little (okay, very) different, though. Up until Monday we’ve brewed a Bavarian-style hefeweizen with coriander and orange zest.
It seems like everyone and their mom uses coriander and orange zest. And in Georgia we’ve already got a couple decent hefeweizens from ABC and Sweetwater. We’ve recently been sipping on a few Belgian hefeweizens that we love – most notably the St. Bernardus Witbier. We’d like a little bit of a lighter brew for the hot Georgian summers. Monday we had a targeted 1.051 OG. We ended up with 1.048. Obviously this is acceptable, but we will still be flogging Jeff for the discrepancy.
In summary, wish us luck. This is new territory for one of our most consistent beers.
Jonathan, Joel & Jeff
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Well, good luck…
Although I’d say that if you can perfect a nice Bavarian hefe (especially since so many American breweries make an American, rather than Bavarian, wheat beer), it will be better than a wit. Especially since Sweetwater’s wheat beer is a wit, not a hefe.
I think there’s something to be said to taking a common style and just executing it really well. So many hefeweizens are utter crap, because breweries would rather spend time on their more “interesting” beers and leave the hefe for the beer-illiterates who need something “light”.
But a well-made Bavarian Hefe is a great beer, and if you can pull it off, it will impress.
Hopefully moreso than my last hefe, which is foul :(
May 23rd, 2008 at 7:55 am
How about a Berliner weiss. Think flemmish sour meets Weiss. Yum sour!!!
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/252/36378
May 23rd, 2008 at 10:00 am
Brad– an astute observation. We’re not sold on going the Belgian route yet, but we are curious to see how it turns out. Also, between you and me and the blogosphere, Sweetwater’s wheat beer, whatever it is, is terrible.
May 23rd, 2008 at 10:01 am
Troy, I think the point is to SELL some beer too.
May 27th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
It goes great with southern fried rabbit and watermelon.