German Weissbier and the art of brewing

June 29, 1:29 PMBeer ExaminerCharlie Papazian

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Traditional German wheat beer fermentation
(Weizenbier/Weissbier) at the Michael Plank Brewery,
Laaber, Germany

Weissbier/Weizenbier/Hefeweizenbier is one of the most difficult styles of beer to brew and ferment "just right." Why? Not only do ingredients and water play a critical role, but fermentation techniques, temperature control and yeast health and quality are extraordinarily critical.
    It's easy to approach brewing this beer with the basic principles, but getting it balanced the way typical award winning and highly acclaimed German brewmaster do is not all that easy.
    What do I mean by balanced? With German-style wheat beers there is an interplay between fruitiness (traditionally banana like character) and "phenolic" characters such as clove-like character and an underlying smokiness from yeast fermentation byproducts. These characters are influenced by yeast health, yeast fermentation temperature, a degree of "positive" exposure to oxygen/air during the initial fermentation. Ffermentation tank configuration also plays a role.
    The photo pictures the high "kraeusen" or billowy foam of fermentation during the initial days of vigorous ferment. The exposure to air is a good thing in developing certain balance of aroma and flavor character. Also the spillway removes a certain amount of bitter hop resins and also protein "trub" that is one of the compounds that precipitate out of the boiling of malt and hops. All of these things can be good things for beer, but in wheat beer careful control of these matters results in a really spectacular account of the brewers art with the final beer - Weissbier/Weizenbier/Weizenbockbier/Hefeweizen, etc.
There's a lot more to making great German-style wheat beer. I've just touched upon a few of the basic ideas.