BeerBorg

Two weeks ago today, I bottled my first batch of weiss bier (2 gal BrewDemon conical). It still has a lot of debris floating around – tiny dark specks – more than the last batch of pale ale. Is that normal for this style of beer?

Thinking I'll put one bottle in the fridge for a couple of days and see how much it clears and check back on the others in another week. Just want to run it by you guys to make sure that much debris isn't a bad indication.

Wheat beers tend to be hazy. And a hefe is a sub-type of wheat beer that is supposed to be cloudy with yeast still in suspension. If you pop them in the fridge long enough the yeast will settle, but then if you wanted to be traditional when serving it you should actually swirl that yeast back into suspension and pour it in your glass if it's a hefe. If you can't stand the idea then you can pour carefully of course.

EDIT: to be clear, the yeast type used in most wheats is what's called "non-flocculant" which means it doesn't clump up and settle easily. It likes to just float around in there. It's totally normal.

If you want to make a totally crystal clear wheat beer - called a Kristalweizen - then my suggestion is to use Wyeast 3333 (German Wheat) which has great wheat beer flavors, but settles readily. Or an American style wheat beer with a yeast like Nottingham. Those yeasts will pull not just themselves, but also haze inducing particles from the wheat out of suspension.

Thanks, Mashani. I knew hefe's were normally hazy, but thought it was only due to unfiltering. Didn't realize the type of yeast contributed to that.

Maybe I should give toothpicks out with each bottle...

It's been 3 weeks since bottling the Dante's Delight WeissBier and the first pour... well, you can see... had a huge head. This pict was snapped about 15 seconds after pouring and it lasted for over a minute before going down. The same thing happened after I opened a bottle last week. Is this normal? Is it due to all the by-products of fermentation (proteins, floating yeast)? It's been in the fridge for 2 days. (Sorry it's sideways. Pic wasn't. Don't know how to rotate on here.)

Did it taste over carbed? This can be caused by many things from simple over carbing to infection but for the most part, it's likely too much sugar at bottling and/or the beer was not completely done its fermentation and bottled too early.

Wheat beers will often have more head, but not that much.

So yep, what Beer Lord said.

If you aren't testing with a hydrometer, then the question I'd ask first is how long it was in the fermenter? You might need to give it more time if you don't have a hydrometer.

Thanks guys. I appreciate your feedback. Yeah, it did taste over carbed. It was my first time using a hydrometer and I was hesitant to check it too often because each time it's a large sample out of my 2 gallon batch. Guess that's a lesson learned. The beer didn't taste bad, it just had more of a bite than it should have. Bummed because I was really looking forward to this one.

You can just let the beer sit out for an hour or two and then drink it. Takes some planning, but it will then be "normal carbed". If you bottled in PETs you can also put them in the fridge, then next day pop the top, then recap it tightly - that will release some of the carb, and then try the beer the next day and see how it is.

Easy Trotter, see my reply in the Specific Gravity vs Alcohol % thread in this section, you only need to pull one sample.

Dawg, that's a clever way to do it. The less beer I have to draw out, the better.

Mashani, I use saved glass bottles and a capper but I guess I could just recap them. I have opened two more bottles since this post and they were the same. Already looking forward to my next brew.

Looking at that pic, the beer itself actually looks pretty clear for a hefeweizen. The foam is just out of control. Overzealous pour? Or like the others said, fermentation didn't really finish and/or overcarbed.