By: Jamie Fulton, Head Brewer
Whenever I
set out to brew a new beer, I put hours of research into the endeavor. However, when I first brewed a hefeweizen on
a commercial scale in 2006, I knew without research what the recipe would
involve. From my time in Germany, I
learned that these beers have been brewed for centuries from a basic, simple
formula: half wheat malt, half barley malt, a touch of bittering hops, and most
importantly, an authentic Bavarian hefeweizen yeast strain to create the telltale
clove and banana flavors for which these beers are known.
Years ago before beers were distributed
around the globe, you went to your local pub or restaurant to drink local
beers, and many of these were probably using very similar recipes, albeit each
brewer adds his/her own personal twist. While
there are obviously many variations in modern commercially available
hefeweizens, this basic recipe is a good rule of thumb.
To keep it
traditional for that first batch of hef, I ran with the simplest version of
that recipe: 50% wheat malt, 50% two row barley malt and 14 IBUs of bittering,
noble hops. It was an instant favorite
of my customers and one of my all-time favorite beers we made at The
Covey. It goes miles to show that
sometimes you just shouldn’t try to reinvent the wheel! I tinkered with the recipe slightly over the
years, but it never varied far from the time-tested, classic formula that’s
been brewed in Southern Germany for many, many years.
I think the
reason for the centuries-long popularity of certain, classic beer styles is
plainly obvious: they are widely enjoyed by many people and there’s a certain
catch to their flavor. Just look at the
impressive run for beers like English Bitters, Czech Pilsners, German Helles,
Irish Dry Stouts, etc. This is why we
set out to brew the Witbier at Community Beer Co. as traditional as possible:
we’re on a straightforward mission to bring our local community the freshest
witbier around. While witbier has not
been around as long as some of the other classic beer styles, it has left its
own unique mark in history.
Historically some of
the beers that fell into the category of witbier were sour to some extent; we
decided to go a more modern route with the fermentation. The late and great Pierre Celis – the
godfather of modern witbier – brought his own yeast to America to make the now
famous Celis White, the brand of which was sold and still brewed by Michigan
Brewing Co. (We've heard rumors that it might be coming back to Texas via Celis' family)
We’re using that same yeast
strain at Community, along with another select Belgian strain that adds its own
unique “fingerprint.” We’re gently
spicing our witbier with California sweet orange peel, French bitter orange
peel and freshly ground coriander seed. We
did keep the grist traditional, about half of which is unmalted wheat. Anyone who has ever brewed with any
appreciable amount of wheat in an all grain mash knows the challenges that
usually ensue! Thankfully, our state of
the art, four-vessel brew house with a mash mixer gives us the capability to
gracefully handle large percentages of unmalted grains. This is a good thing, because I think we’re
going to be brewing lots of Community Witbier!
Go grab a pint at
your favorite local watering hole and find out for yourself. I don’t think you’ll try it and think it
needs some other obscure ingredients to make it a standout craft beer. Sometimes traditions are best kept in place,
and I think our Witbier is a perfect example.
