Looks like I'll end up with a session Wit

**BierMuncher** · 03-10-2007, 04:49 PM

Not sure what I did wrong, but my 5 gallon AG wit came in a whopping 1.036 post boil gravity. Any thoughts on this process?

4.5 Lbs Pale Malt (Crushed by Midwest)
4.5 Lbs Flaked Wheat

Mashed at 153 for 75 minutes and sparged (10 minute soaks) with 170-175 dgree water twice. Recirculated...blah blah blah... to get about 6.5 gallons.

Two things occur to me:
1) I ended with a 60-minute post boil volume of about 5.5 gallons+ (too diluted)?
B) The grain bill is just light?
4) I had a bad day?

I don't mind a session brew like a wit. Good summer time beer. But, is this because of my recipe/volume (things I can adjust) or are you scratching your heads as well?

Thanks.

Willsellout · 03-10-2007, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BierMuncher

Not sure what I did wrong, but my 5 gallon AG wit came in a whopping 1.036 post boil gravity. Any thoughts on this process?

4.5 Lbs Pale Malt (Crushed by Midwest)
4.5 Lbs Flaked Wheat

Mashed at 153 for 75 minutes and sparged (10 minute soaks) with 170-175 dgree water twice. Recirculated...blah blah blah... to get about 6.5 gallons.

Two things occur to me:
1) I ended with a 60-minute post boil volume of about 5.5 gallons+ (too diluted)?
B) The grain bill is just light?
4) I had a bad day?

I don't mind a session brew like a wit. Good summer time beer. But, is this because of my recipe/volume (things I can adjust) or are you scratching your heads as well?

Thanks.

Do you have any idea what kind of efficiency you got with this one? I would'nt think that half a gallon would dilute it all that much. From what little I know I would say maybe your grain bill could be bumped up a couple pounds, it could be the crush of the grains. How many times have you used Midwest with your recipes? I'm still trying to learn all this stuff so I'm interested in hearing the answers to this.

Dan

**BierMuncher** · 03-10-2007, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Willsellout

Do you have any idea what kind of efficiency you got with this one? I would'nt think that half a gallon would dilute it all that much. From what little I know I would say maybe your grain bill could be bumped up a couple pounds, it could be the crush of the grains. How many times have you used Midwest with your recipes? I'm still trying to learn all this stuff so I'm interested in hearing the answers to this.
Dan

Now that I'm looking at my carboy. it may be much closer to 6 gallons. This was my first AG order from Midwest bu the ingredients and the crush look spot-on. I doubt it was "them". The targetted OG was 1044. I guess I'll be happy if I can get this thing to finish at ~1008 or 1010. At about 3%, I can pack a couple in my lunch for work...

Sir Humpsalot · 03-10-2007, 05:37 PM

I would've just added a bit of DME and called it a day.

Willsellout · 03-10-2007, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toot

I would've just added a bit of DME and called it a day.

How often do you AG'ers do this to reach your target OG? I was curious to know, I mean you could just add some DME to some water, boil it and then toss it in to raise the gravity right?

Dan

Mikey · 03-10-2007, 06:01 PM

Flaked wheat is not really what you want, the yield is much lower than 'regular' malted wheat.

With this in mind, and if you really have a 6 US gallon carboy, your efficiency was about 66%. This slightly low for a wheat beer, lots of folks get 70% for wheat and 75% for barley beers.

grnich · 03-10-2007, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikey

Flaked wheat is not really what you want, the yield is much lower than 'regular' malted wheat.

I agree. Did you mean malted wheat or flaked wheat? Isn't flaked wheat just a speciality grain used in small amounts to add body and head retention? Does it actually add converted sugars? Did the recipe called for 4.5# of flaked wheat?

**BierMuncher** · 03-10-2007, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Willsellout

How often do you AG'ers do this to reach your target OG? I was curious to know, I mean you could just add some DME to some water, boil it and then toss it in to raise the gravity right?

Dan

Ironically, I usually go over because I always feel like adding some Oats or some 10L crystal for some extra character.

This time I followed the recipe verbatim. Plus I don't think that I want a lot of "mouthfeel" from oats in a Belgian Wit.

For what it's worth, the brew downstairs is churnin and burnin. It started "convulsing" at about 8 hours. Hopefully I'll get enough work out of those yeasties to bring my G down to below 1010.

Hey, I remember when 3.2 beer was all you could buy in Kansas.

Sir Humpsalot · 03-10-2007, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Willsellout

How often do you AG'ers do this to reach your target OG? I was curious to know, I mean you could just add some DME to some water, boil it and then toss it in to raise the gravity right?

Dan

My impression is that it is fairly common. I can't remember what I was reading... I think it was "Designing Great Beers". It said that the vast majority of award-winning homebrews use some amount of DME in the recipe and they almost ALL used at least partial mashing.

The impression I got is that you pretty much NEED partial mashing for great beers, but a little DME won't necessarily have a negative impact on your brew.

uglygoat · 03-10-2007, 09:14 PM

did you batch sparge? with that much flaked, i'd go with a long slow fly sparge....

also, maybe toss two or three lbs of wheat malt in there instead of flaked.

however, a low gravity wheat beer is a good beer for breakfast. carb the bejaysus out of it, it'll be good!