Dunkelweiss... A classic

Getting Ready to brew another dunkelweiss. It is the standard extract kit from northernbrewer.com. Any advice on what I can do to get it to be a bit more robust or any tricks that you have done in the past that have turned out well?

I bet if you posted the recipe people would be able to help.

3.15 lbs munich malt syrup (60 min)
3.15 lbs Wheat malt syrup (15 min)
1oz Tettnang (60 min)
Danstar Munich Wheat Beer Yeast is what is recommended by Northern Brewer but I plan on using Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes instead.
Also have a pound of left over Simpsons Medium Crystal crushed malt from Northern Brewer that I was considering for some extra complexity.

- sorry this wasn't in the first post, obvious brain fart haha

BilltownBandit said:

3.15 lbs munich malt syrup (60 min)
3.15 lbs Wheat malt syrup (15 min)
1oz Tettnang (60 min)
Danstar Munich Wheat Beer Yeast is what is recommended by Northern Brewer but I plan on using Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes instead.
Also have a pound of left over Simpsons Medium Crystal crushed malt from Northern Brewer that I was considering for some extra complexity.

- sorry this wasn't in the first post, obvious brain fart haha

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Don't use dry yeast in a Weissbier. It's one of the few times where the liquid version really makes a difference, IMO. Get yourself some WLP300. You won't regret it.

For sure, I knew right away that I wouldn't want to use the dry yeast.

I'm not sure I'd use Belgian yeast in a Dunkelweizen, stick with a heffe strain. Kick it up with some chocolate malt.

These guys are right, use a hefe yeast, the 3522 will make this anything but a dunkleweizen. Also, with the munich malt extract, it should have some nice body to it. I would add 1/8 or 1/4 lb of chocolate malt to give you the robust flavor you want.

Thanks guys. I like the ones I have made, but they were missing something in the middle. chocolate malt sounds like a great remedy for that.

I just made Jamil's dunkelweizen yesterday. used WY3068. I made it once before and it was a solid beer. I'd definitely use some roasted malt, debittered carafa if possible. couple-1-2-3 ounces is all you really need.

I'm probably a minority here, but actually like the Danstar Munich for a Dunkel. It doesn't have the stronger banana/clove of other Heffe strains which goes well with the chocolate malt IMO.

smalliewader said:

I'm probably a minority here, but actually like the Danstar Munich for a Dunkel. It doesn't have the stronger banana/clove of other Heffe strains which goes well with the chocolate malt IMO.

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It is a bit cleaner-tasting. It's not a bad strain, especially for dry yeast (it blows away WB-06 in my opinion).

I just prefer WLP300.

I'd like to try Danstar Munich. I've had good experiences with other dry yeasts.

That being said, +1 for WLP300. It's a monster! And it sounds like if you ferment at the low end you'll not get too much flavor?

I love wlp300, but when you don't have a keezer or fridge to ferment really low in, the Munich works well for low tech brewers using swamp coolers.

what about Wyeast 3638 Bavarian Wheat? I have used it for hefe before and had great results...

I just made a dunkel last week using
3.15 lbs munich malt syrup (60 min)
3.15 lbs Wheat malt syrup (15 min)
1oz Tettnang (60 min)
just like the NB recipe but I laso added 8oz of Carapils & 8oz of Carmel 20 steeped for 45min @ 155. but most important to me in a Dunkelweisin is the Yeast. I used Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan same as I use for my Hefemeizen this summer.

So I ended up brewing this one the other day and made the awesome mistake of getting tanked on my pineapple hef and newly kegged fat tire clone (both turned out great btw). I took all of your suggestions with the choc. steep etc. However, in my drunk state a higher abv and honey note sounded good. Good to the tune of 2 pounds with 5 minutes left in the boil. She is fermenting fine, IM sure the yeast just love the simple sugars, but is this going to be a fatal mistake? Or should I be optimistic?

i'm sure you'll be fine, might take it "out of style" if your getting it judged but i'm sure it will taste just fine. I often add 1lb of honey to my beers to up them a bit.

keep ferment temps down

What do you guys think of the northerbrew extract kit(listed above in this thread) versus the morebeer.com kit?
The morebeer.com kit is:
6 lb. Bavarian Wheat DME
8 oz. Caramunich
4 oz. Pale Chocolate
4 oz. Carafa Special II
1 oz. Perle hops

No matter which kit I go with, I'll be sure to use a good liquid yeast like Wyeast 3068.

Thanks,
Andy

I guess maybe that first post made me look like a morebeer.com advertising troll, but I assure you I'm not. I'm a new homebrewer with only a couple brews under my belt and my wife is crazy about Dunkelweisen's.
I guess it really comes down to the Munich LME and Wheat LME versus the Bavarian Wheat DME(with the grains as a bonus). So whatdoyathink?

Thanks,
Andy