Chocolate wheat beer?

My latest experiment is nothing like I imagined, its delicious, but not what I had in mind.

I was attempting a chocolate wheat beer.
10lbs red wheat
1lb chocolate malt
1lb caramel malt
1 oz Saaz
1 oz nettenang
1 packet of saf 3

This is my first recipe I've tried to create, as well as my first all grain brew. I prefer to do everything old school mostly and not take many readings or fancy equipment so I just have the minimal equipment. I used a blender to crush the grains, and mashed for about 2 hours ranging from 160 degrees to 140 degrees in a 7 gallon brew pot. Strained the grains into a bucket, rinsed them with hot water( as hot as the tap was) then boiled 10 minutes Saaz and 10 minutes tettenang. Fermented in the primary for two weeks, air lock bubbled for 4 days then slowed, no movement in the air lock for 6 days do I bottled it today.

It's delicious but not what I had in mind, it's more like a stout, robust and earthy.

Anyway, I can't really call this a chocolate wheat beer, so is it a wheat stout?

there is no roasted barley in your recipe so it looks more like a porter to me.

pm5k00 said:

there is no roasted barley in your recipe so it looks more like a porter to me.

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The chocolate malt is roasted, it's black, but it could be a porter as well I guess. It's not sweet enough for a porter in my opinion.

looks to me you created a dunkelweizen. did I read that right you only had a 20 min boil?

Generally what separates a stout from a porter is the use of roasted barley, but it's all semantics anyways. Call it whatever you want, sounds tasty!

Chris1272 said:

looks to me you created a dunkelweizen. did I read that right you only had a 20 min boil?

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Yes, 20 min boil

Soma said:

Generally what separates a stout from a porter is the use of roasted barley, but it's all semantics anyways. Call it whatever you want, sounds tasty!

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I was hoping a sweeter brew, but it's really tasty anyway. I have a schlafly extra stout and a schlafly cocoa porter to compare it with

jesus16x said:

Yes, 20 min boil

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The 20 min boil was to keep out the hop bitterness but yet get some balance the brew.

You should really boil for an hour at least. I wont bore you with the chemistry of why but if you want to have a lower hop profile then I would suggest just use less hops ie you don't have to use the whole package. just put the left overs in the freezer and save for another beer. or do that hour boil and put the hops in in the last 10 to 20 min of the boil. But the only real advice I can offer on your approach is to find a cooler of some sort to do your mash in. controlling the temp of the mash will help you control the level of sweetness and unfermentables in your finished beer.

Chris1272 said:

You should really boil for an hour at least. I wont bore you with the chemistry of why but if you want to have a lower hop profile then I would suggest just use less hops ie you don't have to use the whole package. just put the left overs in the freezer and save for another beer. or do that hour boil and put the hops in in the last 10 to 20 min of the boil. But the only real advice I can offer on your approach is to find a cooler of some sort to do your mash in. controlling the temp of the mash will help you control the level of sweetness and unfermentables in your finished beer.

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It's the first of many all grain brews I'm sure, thanks for the tips, I'm looking into a brew pot with a false bottom and thermometer on it, it's expensive though. I really enjoy the old school methods I've been using

I'd definitely avoid hot tap water, regardless of your old school approach.

BigRob said:

I'd definitely avoid hot tap water, regardless of your old school approach.

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Why, aren't you supposed to rinse the grains? And btw, I live in St Louis, and the tap water is perfect for brewing beer, all the local brew pubs use it straight from the tap.

jesus16x said:

Why, aren't you supposed to rinse the grains? And btw, I live in St Louis, and the tap water is perfect for brewing beer, all the local brew pubs use it straight from the tap.

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How hot is your tap water? I don't think you are getting enough or any sugars from you hot tap water, when sparging...
You want to rinse the grains with very hot water at or around 170...

Igotsand

No, sparging with cold water works about as well as sparging with hot water. I think sparging under the tap is extremely problematic but the temperature of the water is not the problem.

igotsand said:

How hot is your tap water? I don't think you are getting enough or any sugars from you hot tap water, when sparging...
You want to rinse the grains with very hot water at or around 170...

Igotsand

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Ummm, temperatures at or above 170 can release tannins into the wort, everything says this, the brew kits, the brew supplies guy, I'm thinking 170 is the threshold for bitter ****

remilard said:

No, sparging with cold water works about as well as sparging with hot water. I think sparging under the tap is extremely problematic but the temperature of the water is not the problem.

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So what's the issue then. I'm aware of some issues, but like I said, tap water in St Louis is perfect for brewing

i would say the amount of tannins released into your wort would be less an issue than the amount of sugar you might be leaving in your mash. Hotter water definitely loosens the grain bed and rinses sugars better if you're lautering- i guess if you batch sparge and stir, you are rinsing enough of it to make beer, but if you're not worried about hitting a specific style dead on, or reproducing a recipe or past brew to a tee, i wouldn't worry about any of it. I've used water right from the tap and had good results- you could crank your water heat up to about 145 and keep it simple. i definitely wouldn't worry about classification. Call it good beer and drink up.

Hot tap water is not something you want in your beer.

Hot water picks up more contaminants from the pipes in your house, for one. Not a huge problem for one or two batches, but over time things like the lead from your pipes/fittings are probably undesirable.

The next is that unless you're treating the tap water for Chlorine/Chloramines (if your water utility uses this) you will be risking some nasty tasting chlorophenols in the finished product.

spearko520 said:

i would say the amount of tannins released into your wort would be less an issue than the amount of sugar you might be leaving in your mash. Hotter water definitely loosens the grain bed and rinses sugars better if you're lautering- i guess if you batch sparge and stir, you are rinsing enough of it to make beer, but if you're not worried about hitting a specific style dead on, or reproducing a recipe or past brew to a tee, i wouldn't worry about any of it. I've used water right from the tap and had good results- you could crank your water heat up to about 145 and keep it simple. i definitely wouldn't worry about classification. Call it good beer and drink up.

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Yeah, I'm pretty pleased with tap water, if it's good enough for Schlafly and all the brew pubs in st Louis, it's good enough for me

turning water into beer definitely makes it more palatable to drink, and a little lead puts graphite in your pencil

So in my vast amount of impatientness and drunkenness, I cracked one open last night and it was awesome, subtle hints of chocolate and roastyness. It's gonna be delicious for mardi gras