Temperature sets the flavour
Cooler fermentation leans to clove, warmer to banana: pick your balance.
Weissbier: how to brew it
The Bavarian wheat beer: banana and clove from a special yeast, a soft bready wheat malt, a fluffy head and almost no bitterness.
Weissbier at a glance
- Original gravity
- 1.044 – 1.053
- Final gravity
- 1.008 – 1.014
- Bitterness (IBU)
- 8 – 15
- Colour (EBC)
- 4 – 12
- Alcohol
- 4.3 – 5.6%
- Carbonation (vol)
- 2.9 – 4.5
Ranges from the BJCP 2021 style guidelines, category 10A.
A typical recipe
For 20 L (5 gal) at about 1.050: 60 % wheat malt, 40 % pilsner malt. Hallertau or similar to about 12 IBU. A Bavarian weizen yeast; ferment at 17–18 °C (63–64 °F) for more clove, 20–22 °C (68–72 °F) for more banana.
Brewing tips
A ferulic acid rest
A short rest at 43–45 °C (109–113 °F) during the mash boosts clove character.
Highly carbonated
Weissbier is served very fizzy, in a tall glass to hold the head.
Brew your own Weissbier
Start from the style in Mashwerk: it builds a recipe within the ranges for your kit, and checks every number as you tweak it.
Start brewing free