Need Input on Modified Wheat Recipe

One of my firends that has enjoyed drinking my homebrew bought some ingredients for a wheat recipe he found in John Palmer's book. He said if I brewed this recipe that I could keep half of the batch for myself. Here is the recipe printed in 3rd editon of How to Brew (page 215):

Extract recipe for 5 gallons
3.3 lbs. Wheat LME in boil
3.3 lbs. Wheat LME at knockout

Hops: 27 IBUs total
0.5 oz Sterling hops at 60 min.
0.75 oz Liberty Hops at 30 min
1 oz Liberty Hops at finish

Yeast: Nottingham Dry Yeast

Now here is the question: My buddy gave me an extra 1 lb bag of malted wheat that he thought I could either steep or use in a partial mash for this recipe.

1) If I partial mash prior to extract I know I will need to add something else to help with the conversion. Should that be an equal amount of 2 row or 6 row?

2) If partial mashing is not an option would anything be gained by steeping the malted wheat grains prior to extract addition? Can anything else be done with these grains?

3) If I do a partial mash should I try to raise the final volume to 6 gallons?

4) Is my keeping 1/2 of the beer a fair exchange for the labor of brewing and bottling?

Thanks for taking the time to read through this post.

You can get plenty of use out of that extra wheat.

Bring about 1.5 gal of water to ~130 degrees then seep for around 30 min. Then increase the water to ~160 for another 30 min. After that, sparge the seeped water in addition to about a gallon more of 160 degree water through the grain into your boil pot. Then proceed on with your recipe as normal.

1-2. Malted wheat will convert itself. It's as good in a mash as 2-row barley. Needs a finer crush as the grains are smaller.
3. I'd be concerned about head space and blow-off with a wheat. If your fermenter is 7+ gallons, 6 gallons is okay.
4. Yes

Do I need to add any other grains to the wheat for conversion? Sorry to ask such a newbie set of questions but leanring has got to start somewhere.

Ignore my previous post. Didn't see the second reply to this question.

For 1) and 2), check out this thread here:

3) Personally, I wouldn't change the volume for an extra pound of malt. This would bump your ABV by about 0.5%, assuming 70% mash efficiency. If you DO want to keep the same ABV as the original, you would only want to add 1/2 gallon.

4) I love to brew, and would do it for free if given the ingredients. As for bottling... I'd ask the friend to pitch in some elbow grease. He'd probably like the experience - heck, he'd probably like to join in on the whole brew session!

msa8967 said:

3) If I do a partial mash should I try to raise the final volume to 6 gallons?

Click to expand...

Like others have said, If its only a 6.5 gallon fermenter, you might want to back off a tad bit, maybe 5.5 gallons. At least in my experience it seems as if wheats produce a bit more krausen and require some more headspace.

I was wrong when I had mentioned the size of the new brewing bucket my wife gave me. It is rated at 6.5 Imperial gallons which should convert to just over 8 US gallons. I still think it might be prudent to use a blow-off tube though.

Does anyone know how long wheat beer stays good for after bottling? If I made this recipe at the end of the month will it still be good lawn mower beer come June?

Thanks to everyone for your input.

OK...I am going to do a partial mash with this recipe that will will use 2 lbs of crushed malted wheat, 1 lb of 2 row and some rice hulls added to the ingredients below which should raise the final volume to close to 6 gallons. I want to split this into two separate 3 gallon . One 3 gal batch will use the dry Nottingham yeast and the second batch I want to try a different yeast. Does anyone have any recommendations on a yeast that will NOT give a strong banana or bubblegum taste?

Extract recipe for 5 gallons
3.3 lbs. Wheat LME in boil
3.3 lbs. Wheat LME at knockout

Hops: 27 IBUs total
0.5 oz Sterling hops at 60 min.
0.75 oz Liberty Hops at 30 min
1 oz Liberty Hops at finish

Yeast: Nottingham Dry Yeast