Girly Girl Hefe

Light colored Hefeweizen that is just slight variance from my regular Iceyweizen with a higher alcohol content.

Brewer:	magnumice77		Email:	magnumice77@hotmail.com
Beer:	Girly Girl Hefe		Style:	Weizen/Weissbier
Type:	Extract w/grain		Size:	5.25 gallons
Color:	4 HCU (~4 SRM)		Bitterness:	22 IBU
OG:	1.060		FG:	1.008
Alcohol:	6.6% v/v (5.2% w/w)
Water:	House tap water for the boil. Public artesian well water for everything else.
Grain:	2 lb. Wheat malt
Steep:	1 1/2 gallons cold water. Add cracked malted grains and bring temperature to 104F. Keep temperature at 104F and let rest for 10-20 minutes. Take to 122F-124F and keep steady for 10-20 minutes. Take to 136F-138F and keep steady for 10-20 minutes. Take to 152F-156F and keep steady for 20 minutes. This is the most important step. Take to 177F and turn off the heat. This always works for me to get at least a 60% efficiency. Sure better than 30%-40% by steeping. Should take about 90 minutes total.
Boil:	60 minutes	SG 1.104	3 gallons
	1 lb. Light dry malt extract 6 lb. Wheat extract
	Strain the wort through a fine mesh strainer into your brew pot. Add enough water to bring to 3 gallons. This lighter wort will boil faster at a lower temperature so don't leave it. After it starts to boil add the first round hops. With 15 minutes left add the 2nd round hops and 1 teaspoon Irish moss. (skip this if you desire) After the boil time is complete add the wheat LME and the ex-lite DME. Stir to combine and blend and melt in. Let rest with the lid on the pot but stirring frequently to keep blending the extracts and help cool the mixture. Strain the wort into the fermenter and add enough cold water to bring the volume up to 5.25 gallons. Do not add to much cold water as to bring the temperature below 75F-80F.
Hops:	1 oz. Perle (8% AA, 60 min.) 1 oz. Hallertauer (3.75% AA, 15 min.)
Yeast:	Two days before brew day make a starter from 1/4 cup DME and 1 pint (16 ounces) water. Gently heat the water and blend in the malt extract. No need to boil. Force cool to 80F and add 1 vial 75F-80F WLP 300 Hefeweizen liquid yeast. After it has proofed and reproduced for 2 days in a growler bottle with an airlock and is around 70F-75F add it to the fermenter. Seal it up and add a blow off tube as this will blow your airlock out and make a sugary sticky mess.
Log:	Wild fermentation (hence the blow off tube) for 3-4 days. Removed blow off tube added airlock and let it finish for 3 or 4 more days. Racked to secondary for 2 more weeks until the air lock stopped completely. It comes out darker than the 4 SRM the spreadsheet says. Maybe a 6 or 7. Probably due to the color of the wheat LME. Might could get it lighter if you used all DME. I am not a beer judge so I don't know exactly. It is very light colored to me though.
Carbonation:	5 1/2 to 6 1/4 ounces corn sugar into bottling bucket. I know the spreadsheet will tell you more sugar but from personal experience any less it tastes kind of flat but has tiny bubbles and any more it is to foamy and you end up wasting 1/3 of your beer. Recipe bottles up about 55-56 twelve ounce bottles.
Tasting:	The people (women) don't know that the beer they are drinking because of the light color has just as much or more alcohol than my English or American Pale Ales. It does not have that carmelly extract taste either.

Recipe posted 05/14/07.