first attempt at partial mash

Hi folks.

Earlier this summer I decided it would be nice to have a wheat beer on hand to enjoy the nice weather (summer is pretty short where I call home). After doing some reading, I decided to attempt a partial mash to get the most out of my wheat.

Recipe is as follows:

2 lbs German Pilsner
2 lbs malted wheat
1 lb Abbey (aromatic)
~1 cup rice hulls

2.2 lbs wheat DME (will add with ~10 min left in the boil)

2 oz Styrian Goldings 4.5% AA (1 oz 60 min, 1 oz 20 min)
1 oz Saaz 3.5% AA (5 min)

Wyeast 3711 (with starter)


I'm hoping to get something funky and flavourful without using spices or other adjuncts. I'm wondering if I'm a little too heavy on the abbey malt - I want to taste it but I don't want it to dominate the beer. Should I cut it back or add a bit of regular DME? Or both?

The other idea I've been toying with is adding some flaked wheat. Any suggestions? Better to KISS this time around?

Anything else I haven't thought of? I'm going to be brewing this weekend. Can't wait to give partial mash a shot!

Idk about the abbey malt, but WY3711 is a French saison yeast. It doesn't have brett or any of that in it though. But is supposed to give a peppery ester. I didn't get it in my saison though? I wouldn't bother with the flaked wheat myself.

1lb is very heavy on aromatic. Its a very strong grain that should be used much more sparingly as it would completely dominate the flavor. I would think that .25lb would be more suitable, but I also think that this grain is a bit out of place in a wheat beer like this. If you want to add a touch of maltiness, I'd suggest replacing with a portion of munich.

Thanks for the feedback. I have been having trouble finding reliable information on the Abbey malt - there seems to be some crossover with regards to naming - also I'm not sure whether I have Castle or Weyermann. Perhaps I need to take a trip back to the LHBS to find out exactly what I'm working with.

The description at the LHBS said 10% of the grain bill was enough to make a noticeable difference (admittedly I'm around 13% or so). If I decide to leave it out, would a half pound of each munich and malted wheat be reasonable?

Thanks again!

I just made a wheat (dunno how it'll turn out yet) but I wanted something subtle not as intense as Munich so I went for vienna. As others have mentioned .25 would be nice.

Additionally vienna compliments pilsner malt nicely.

I agree on the vienna malt. Don't use too much though. It gives rich malt character & some toasty flavors. Flavor & color depend on which one you use. I've seen 3 different ones. Light gold to golden orange amber colors. It's generally darker than pilsner malt, but lighter than munich. Hope this helps.

This is a bit embarrassing, but I just realized I milled all the grain into the same bag. So it seems I'm committed!

I'm going to call this one an experiment/learning experience. I don't think I'm going to end up with what I had in mind going in, but if nothing else I should end up with something unique. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

Please do! I've ordered kits where they did the same thing. I prefer that all grain types be in separate bags. I store what I don't use for the next brew day.

You're using a saison yeast, so might as well just call it a "wheat saison" -- you can get away with throwing just about anything into a saison!

unionrdr said:

I prefer that all grain types be in separate bags. I store what I don't use for the next brew day.

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That's good advice - I think I'll be doing that going forward.

nick5429 said:

You're using a saison yeast, so might as well just call it a "wheat saison" -- you can get away with throwing just about anything into a saison!

Click to expand...

That's what I'm thinking! Either that or a "Belgian specialty ale"

just on the Abbey malt issue, I think that it has been called "aromatic" (or some variation) for years but one of the companies (Castle?) has recently changed the name to Abbey malt. Same product, but you'll probably find more info by researching "aromatic malt".

Thanks for the clarification BlackGoat. It seems both Weyermann and Castle produce a malt called "Abbey" - and they are apparently different although I of course have no experience with either.

I think you're right about Castle's being previously called aromatic. I think that is what I have but I'm not certain.

Is it Abbey? Aromatic? Melanoidin? I've read that it tastes similar to biscuit and/or honey and/or aromatic. At this point I don't think I'll know for sure until after it's fermented

Edit: Here's another thread on the subject.

Well after 8 weeks in the primary I finally got around to bottling this batch.

Brew day went well for the most part. One major oversight on my part - I didn't account for boil off or water being soaked up by the grains, so my final volume was waaaay under where I had wanted it. I decided to top up with boiled water, bringing my OG down to 1.03. A bit of a disappointment, but lesson learned for next time.

My first sample from the hydro reading was disappointing - watery yet bitter.

However, I took a sample closer to the end of bottling, and it tasted surprisingly good! Definitely malty, but not overpowering. Quite flavourful - I'm surprised at how different it tasted from my initial sample.

Eager to have another taste in a few weeks.


Edit: fermented down to 1.00 in case anyone is wondering.

Cracked open my first bottle of this stuff today and to my surprise, it tasted... AMAZING.

I was really worried about this beer being cloyingly sweet because of the higher percentage of abbey malt. It could just be my un-sophisticated sense of taste, but I'm actually finding it to be quite dry. I'm getting some spicy and fruity character, although hard to say specifically. Not peppery exactly. Some of the funky yeast character I was hoping for.

It smells like a hefe. It tastes like... good beer

I don't care if no one I share this with likes it. In fact I kind of hope that's the case so I can keep it to myself. My only regret is that I didn't have it 6 months ago when it was actually nice outside. It's super refreshing thanks to the low ABV%. Perfect gardening beer.

Thanks everyone for your help. Also, thanks uniondr, I just noticed that you've commented on just about every thread I've started. So awesome to have a knowledgeable community to draw from!

Cheers!

Interesting how life & beer work out, isn't it?