3/4 chocolate wheat experiment

Rhymenoceros · 02-19-2009, 04:06 AM

So I decided to make my first recipie ever, and want to experiment with a chocolate wheat. Its just going to be a small 3/4 gallon experiment batch first so heres the recipe: (none of this is set in stone, I don't know what Im doing so please help)

Brew Type: Extract
Style: Dunkelweizen
Brewer: Tom
Batch Size: 0.75 gal
Boil Volume: 1.00 gal
Boil Time: 60 min

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
1 lbs Wheat Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract 72.73 %
2.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 9.09 %
2.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 9.09 %
2.0 oz Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 9.09 %
0.10 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (60 min) Hops 14.9 IBU
1 Pkgs Hefeweizen IV Ale (White Labs #WLP380) Yeast-Wheat

How does this sound? I don't know if the Caramel and Munich malts will do much. The hops are just for bittering so I didn't worry too much about them, are they good? And how does the yeast sound I just picked it based on the beer smith description, but wasn't very methodical about it.

J-Man · 02-19-2009, 09:58 AM

As far as ingredients go, it's sounds like you've got a winner. I've never attempted to brew an experimental small batch before, but the quantities sound like they may work. One thing I would be careful of is overpitching the yeast. Since you are essentially pitching a quantity of yeast that would normally be used to ferment 5 gallons, it may produce some off-flavors; making an otherwise great recipe not so great. As for the type of yeast, personally, I like the White Labs WLP300 yeast. I've used it several times, and it always produces a great banana-like aroma and flavor. If you ferment it down in the middle 60's F, it will give off more of a clove-like aroma and taste; in the low 70's - more banana. I'd say go for it and brew a full 5 gallon version of your recipe (with adjusted amounts of grain and hops respectively, of course). After all, when the beer turns out great, you'll have to wait at least another 2 weeks before you can brew a full batch (meanwhile, those 10 or so beers will go quick!). By the way, loving the Conchords reference! - "I'm the Hiphopapottamus, my lyrics are bottomless.........." - priceless...

Rhymenoceros · 02-19-2009, 05:36 PM

As for the over pitching yeast, I was going to make a starter and pitch a fourth of it, and save the rest for another use. I might give WLP300 a try, we'll see what happens when I got to buy ingredients.

I love those two kiwis.

Rhymenoceros · 02-20-2009, 02:03 AM

also, would orange zest be good in this, and when would I add it?

J-Man · 02-26-2009, 08:39 PM

I think orange zest might be better in a regular German Hefeweizen because the absence of dark malts might help the orange character come through more; but this is based only on speculation. I have not used orange zest in any of my beers yet. Currently I have a dunkelweizen in my fermenter right now and I plan on adding a vanilla bean or two to it. I've heard of others doing this with good results. If you were going to add orange zest, I imagine you could add it with your aroma hops- as this is what my friend did to his Belgian ale. Adding it to a secondary will increase the risk of infection, unless you soak them in vodka or other type of alcohol first.

Rhymenoceros · 03-23-2009, 04:30 AM

So I just tasted this bad boy... the best way I can think of describing it is a clovey banana shake... "beer". The reason I put beer in quotations is it really didn't taste like beer. The clove and banana flavors were very prominent with this yeast. I ended up brewing it without the Munich and I used tettnang instead of EKG. I would double the hops next time, or use something with more aa. Still, it was satisfying.