mcbethenstein
Well-Known Member
- Recipe Type
- All Grain
- Yeast
- Wyeast 3333 German Wheat
- Batch Size (Gallons)
- 5
- Original Gravity
- 1.047
- Final Gravity
- 1.011
- Boiling Time (Minutes)
- 60
- IBU
- 12
- Color
- RED
- Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
- 6 days @ 60 ambient
- Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
- 24 days
- Tasting Notes
- A Berry Weiss like fruit beer. Perfect for us girly drinkers.
Before I started home-brewing my absolute favorite beer was Leinenkugel's Berry Weiss.... Yes I know... But I really AM a girl. Now a year into brewing I finally got up the nerve to attempt a recipe entirely for me, and as sweet as the real thing. This recipe is not difficult by any means, but the key is getting the sweetening right. I brewed it as a 3 gal batch, but I will scale it up to the 5 gal standard.
Raspberry Hibiscus Weiss
OG 1.047
FG 1.011
5 # Belgian pilsner
5 # Belgian wheat
1 oz. hallertau hops (3.7%AA) @ 45 min ~ 12 IBUs
1/2 tsp Wyeast beer nutrient
O2 for 1 1/2 min
Wyeast 3333 German Wheat
Mash grains @ 154 for 60 min. Sparge. (for this original batch it was a BIAB). 60 min boil, hops @ 45 min. Nutrient at 10 min. Chill well. I chilled to 69 deg. Oxygenated for 1 1/2 min and pitched. Fermented primary in basement at 60-61 deg ambient.
At the end of primary (6 days for me) move to secondary with 5 -12 oz bags of unsweetened raspberries, and 3-4 large tea bags of hibiscus flowers steeped in 180 deg water. Pour tea bags and water into secondary. Add pectic enzyme according to directions on package, and rack beer over berries and tea bags. Let sit in secondary at least 7 days. At this point I got really busy (Christmastime) and was unable to bottle until 1/8/12. This beer was in secondary with fruit for 24 days.
Now for the sweetening. I did several tests with different non fermentable sweeteners and decided that a 50/50 blend of xylitol and erythritol tasted best. I also like the level of sweetness that you get from 2 tsp of "sugar" per cup. For a 5 gal batch 1 2/3 cup each of xylitol & erythritol sweeteners. Use 5 oz priming sugar for the 5 gal batch. I boiled all the measured sugar in 3 cups water and racked into the co2 purged bottling bucket. Bottle as usual.
1 week later I tasted my first sample. Amazing. Very much like a Berry Weiss, especially in the sweetness level, but the hibiscus lends a nice complexity the original is lacking. Definitely a girly beer, but I wouldn't have it any other way. This may become a house brew... 3 gallons will go fast once my sisters find out about this one.
Raspberry Hibiscus Weiss
OG 1.047
FG 1.011
5 # Belgian pilsner
5 # Belgian wheat
1 oz. hallertau hops (3.7%AA) @ 45 min ~ 12 IBUs
1/2 tsp Wyeast beer nutrient
O2 for 1 1/2 min
Wyeast 3333 German Wheat
Mash grains @ 154 for 60 min. Sparge. (for this original batch it was a BIAB). 60 min boil, hops @ 45 min. Nutrient at 10 min. Chill well. I chilled to 69 deg. Oxygenated for 1 1/2 min and pitched. Fermented primary in basement at 60-61 deg ambient.
At the end of primary (6 days for me) move to secondary with 5 -12 oz bags of unsweetened raspberries, and 3-4 large tea bags of hibiscus flowers steeped in 180 deg water. Pour tea bags and water into secondary. Add pectic enzyme according to directions on package, and rack beer over berries and tea bags. Let sit in secondary at least 7 days. At this point I got really busy (Christmastime) and was unable to bottle until 1/8/12. This beer was in secondary with fruit for 24 days.
Now for the sweetening. I did several tests with different non fermentable sweeteners and decided that a 50/50 blend of xylitol and erythritol tasted best. I also like the level of sweetness that you get from 2 tsp of "sugar" per cup. For a 5 gal batch 1 2/3 cup each of xylitol & erythritol sweeteners. Use 5 oz priming sugar for the 5 gal batch. I boiled all the measured sugar in 3 cups water and racked into the co2 purged bottling bucket. Bottle as usual.
1 week later I tasted my first sample. Amazing. Very much like a Berry Weiss, especially in the sweetness level, but the hibiscus lends a nice complexity the original is lacking. Definitely a girly beer, but I wouldn't have it any other way. This may become a house brew... 3 gallons will go fast once my sisters find out about this one.