Kendall Jackson

Med Bag of Chips

Ham, cheddar cheese, fresh tomatoes, and arugula.

Ham and Cheese Sandwich

Sliced turkey, lettuce, tomato, and mustard in a whole wheat wrap.

Fit Turkey Wrap

Wheat Beer - Albuquerque, NM - 5.4% ABV - 15.0 IBU A traditional take on a Bavarian classic! Poured into a 23 oz. Hefe glass, this beer is served mit hefe with a voluminous white head.

Start with ~19 L of brewing water (adjust batch size to equipment loss). Add 1.5 g calcium chloride and 1.0 g gypsum to lightly accentuate malt and hop character; these modest salts suit a delicate hefeweizen profile. If mash pH is above 5.6 after milling and mixing, add up to 0.5 g sodium bicarbonate in small increments to target mash pH of 5.2–5.4.

Balance water

Crush the malts to 0.6–0.8 mm if using whole grains. Combine crushed German pilsner, Munich, wheat malt, CaraMunich (or Vienna), and flaked wheat in a clean vessel.

Mill and mix grains

Heat about 11–12 L of your adjusted water to approximately 74 °C (165 °F) to achieve a dough-in temperature of 50–53 °C (122–127 °F) when grains are added (target mash rests of 63 °C). Expect a mash temperature of 62–64 °C (144–147 °F) after mixing for a classic hefeweizen body and moderate attenuation.

Heat strike water

Add grains to strike water, mixing thoroughly to avoid dough balls. Hold mash at 62–64 °C (144–147 °F) for 60 minutes. Stir gently every 10–15 minutes and check temperature with a calibrated probe. Optional: rest 10–15 minutes at 68 °C (154 °F) for slightly fuller body, then return to mash-out.

Mash-in

Raise mash to 75–76 °C (167–169 °F) for 10 minutes to stop enzymatic activity and improve lautering if desired.

Mash-out

Lauter and sparge with approximately 7–8 L of water at 75–78 °C (167–172 °F) until you collect roughly 24 L of wort in the kettle (account for losses to trub and evaporation). Aim to collect enough pre-boil volume to end with ~20 L post-boil if you want ~19 L package/bottle after conditioning.

Sparge

Bring wort to a vigorous boil. Boil for 60 minutes. At 60 minutes remaining (start of boil) add 20 g Hallertau for bittering. With 5 minutes remaining add Irish moss/Whirlfloc if using, and add 10 g Hallertau at flameout (0 min) for delicate hop aroma. Hefeweizen is low-hop; this schedule targets about 12–18 IBU (aim ~15 IBU).

Boil and hops schedule

After flameout, chill wort quickly to 18–20 °C using an immersion chiller, plate chiller, or ice bath to minimize infection risk and encourage clean fermentation. Transfer cooled wort to sanitized fermenter, leaving heavy trub behind.

Cool wort

Aerate the cooled wort well: shake the sealed fermenter vigorously for a few minutes, or oxygenate to ~8–10 ppm O2 with pure oxygen. Yeast performance depends on adequate oxygen for cell growth.

Oxygenation

If using liquid yeast, rehydrate or make a starter sized to the gravity (OG ~1.050); for dry yeast, sprinkle or rehydrate per manufacturer instructions. Pitch yeast when wort is 18–20 °C. Target fermentation temperature 18–22 °C for classic hefeweizen esters (banana/clove) while avoiding excessive phenolic phenotypes. Maintain at 18–20 °C for cleaner esters or up to 22 °C for more fruitiness.

Pitch yeast

Ferment for 5–7 days until vigorous activity subsides. Expect krausen and a voluminous head (mit hefe) — do not overly disturb. After initial active fermentation, allow an additional 3–5 days for conditioning while yeast cleans up byproducts.

Primary fermentation

If desired, rack to secondary or cold-crash gradually to clear but remember hefeweizen is traditionally served unfiltered 'mit hefe' (with yeast). If keeping yeast in suspension, proceed to packaging after primary fermentation and any short conditioning.

Secondary/conditioning (optional)

Sanitize bottles, caps, or keg. If bottling, dissolve 120 g corn sugar in 250 mL boiling water, cool, and mix gently with beer to prime. Typical carbonation for hefeweizen is higher than average: target 4.5–5.5 volumes CO2 (use appropriate priming calculator; 120 g is approximate for 19 L to hit ~4.7 vol at 20 °C). If kegging, force carbonate to ~4.5 vols.

Prepare for bottling/kegging

Fill bottles leaving ~2–3 cm headspace, cap, and store at 18–22 °C for 10–14 days to carbonate, then condition at cooler temps for a week before serving. For kegging, carbonate and lager briefly if desired.

Bottle or keg

Serve in a 23 oz hefeweizen glass. Pour gently for first half, then swirl to lift yeast into the glass to serve 'mit hefe' and produce a voluminous white head. Serve at 6–8 °C (43–46 °F).

Serving

Expected original gravity (OG) ~1.052–1.055, final gravity (FG) ~1.012–1.014, ABV ~5.2–5.6% (target 5.4%), IBU ~15, color (SRM) ~6–8. Maintain sanitation throughout. The hefeweizen yeast provides banana (isoamyl acetate) and clove (4-VG) phenols; fermentation temperature control will tune that balance. Enjoy the classic cloudy, bready, banana-clove profile mit hefe!

Brew water

Calcium chloride (CaCl2)

Gypsum (calcium sulfate, CaSO4)

Sodium bicarbonate (if needed to adjust pH)

German Pilsner malt

German Munich malt (10L)

Wheat malt (raw or malted wheat, ~50% of grist for classic hefeweizen character)

CaraMunich or Vienna (light caramel for color/mouthfeel)

Flaked wheat (optional for extra head retention)

Hallertau (or Tettnang/Golden hops) - bittering

Hallertau - aroma/flameout

Hefeweizen yeast (top-fermenting Bavarian strain, e.g., Wyeast 3068, White Labs WLP300, or Safbrew WB-06)

Corn sugar (priming)

Campden tablet or metabisulfite (optional, for water)

Irish moss or Whirlfloc (optional, to clear wort)

A Slice of Hefen

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Germophile - GABF Silver Medal

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Lover - Mango/Goldings Dry-Hopped

Fruited Sour - Santa Fe, NM - 5.0% ABV - 5.0 IBU

Mountain of Light - Palisade Peach

Barleywine - Santa Fe, NM - 14.0% ABV - 44.0 IBU

Ned Ryerson - Colkegan BBL

Make A Slice Of Hefen Recipe in just 168h . Wheat Beer - Albuquerque, NM - 5.4% ABV - 15.0 IBU A traditional take on a Bavarian classic! Poured into a 23 oz. Hefe glass, this beer is served mit hefe with a voluminous white head.

A Slice Of Hefen Recipe

Descriptors

Tasting Notes

Food Pairings

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