American Wheat Beer Kinda American Citrusy Wheat

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
3.00 lb Wheat Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 38.71 %
4.00 lb White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 51.61 %
0.75 lb Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 9.68 %
1.00 oz Glacier [5.60 %] (60 min) Hops 15.1 IBU
2.00 items Lemon Peel, Fresh (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
2.00 items Orange Peel, Fresh (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs Forbidden Fruit (Wyeast Labs #3463) Yeast-Wheat

Mash: 154 degrees for 60 minutes in 2 gallons. Sparge 170 degrees for 10 minutes in 2 gallons. Total boil size 3.5 gallons. (Lost .5 gallons due to grain absorbtion).

This beer ended up being really good and refreshing. Was a big hit with my friends. This one will definitely be on the regular brew list. I used the zest of two each large lemons and oranges. Also, I used the Glacier because I had some of it laying around. But I think cascade would have been really good in this too. The oddball thing about this recipe is the decision to go with Forbidden Fruit. I know it is not appropriate for an "American Wheat", but it worked out really well.

I tweaked this recipe some with the help of the brewer at the LHBS. He said that with the ingredients listed, there would be no conversion in the mash tun because nothing listed has enzymes to convert sugars.

3lbs Wheat Dry Extract
4lbs White Wheat Malt
1lb Flaked Wheat
2lbs Pilsner malt

1oz glacier (60 min)
1oz citra (5 min)
1oz sweet orange (5 min)
Wyeast Belgian Wheat Yeast (3942)

90 min mash @ 154
Batch sparge @ 170

Boil 60 minutes

Beer Smith says:

estimated OG: 1.067
estimated FG: 1.016

esp said:

I tweaked this recipe some with the help of the brewer at the LHBS. He said that with the ingredients listed, there would be no conversion in the mash tun because nothing listed has enzymes to convert sugars.

Click to expand...

Did he not notice the 4 pounds of white wheat malt? You might want to be cautious about his advice... White wheat malt is a base malt and has equal diastatic power as barley malts. Let me know how your recipe turns out... that will be nothing like mine, but I would be curious what it is like.

BigB: This recipe you have posted looks very good but I want to know what I would need to alter in order to make this an all grain batch. Sorry for such a NOOB question but I just learning about how to make some of the basic conversions. I like the refreshing sound of this recipe.

msa8967 said:

BigB: This recipe you have posted looks very good but I want to know what I would need to alter in order to make this an all grain batch. Sorry for such a NOOB question but I just learning about how to make some of the basic conversions. I like the refreshing sound of this recipe.

Click to expand...

All you would need to do is replace the 4 pounds of DME with 3 1/4 pounds 2 row pale malt and add 1.5 more pounds of white wheat malt. Obviously then you would just mash as normal.

IOW The recipe would be as follows:

5.5 lbs White Wheat Malt
3.25 lbs Pale Malt 2 row
3/4 lb Flaked Wheat
1 oz Glacier (60 Minutes)
The zest of 2 Oranges (I used navel oranges) (5 min)
The zest of 2 Lemons (5 min)
Wyeast 3463 Forbidden Fruit with 1 L starter (strongly recommend you not skip this)

Mash at 154 for 60 minutes in 13.5 Qts of water. Sparge as you desire ( I Batch sparge with 2 equal installments at 170). Final boil volume should be 6.5 gallons.

I have done this recipe before using the dehydrated orange and lemon peel available at the LHBS, but it is MUCH better using the fresh stuff in the last 5 minutes of the boil. I just made this recipe again last week. A couple friends like it so much, they brought over their equipment and we had a brewing party and made 3 batches of the stuff!

BigB,

Did you ever make this recipe using cascade hops instead of glacier and if so, which type did you like better?

Also, does the wheat grain have to be white wheat in order to have the same flavor? (I know th color may be different with standard wheat grain). There is no LHBS near me and the supplies I get come from a local liquor store. Thus, if I need white wheat I would have to order it which is OK. (I will probably have to order that type of yeast anyway.)

Typically the "standard" wheat is white. But white or red, it won't matter much. The red would give a little bit more of nutty flavor, but the citrus dominates this beer anyways.

No, I never made it with the cascade. Everytime I went to make this, I always forget about it. The hops are just bittering hops anyways. Many people are of the opinion that there is no flavor difference between different hops when they are used for bittering. Personally, I like Glacier as a bittering hop. I think it is kind of earthy. The cascade would likely accentuate the citrus. Just make sure you adjust for the AA's to not increase the IBU's too much.

Thanks guys,you answered my questions as well, ive been using wheat extract and have some belgian cascade and was deciding if to use these in a wheat or not due to the citrus, but i guess its a good idea considering that citrus is often used like lemon zest or orange. I also understand belgian cascade is not as citrusy as cascade.

I think I am going to try this recipe this weekend but take the citrus up a notch by using some Citra hops. What do you guys think?

Sound pretty good. I have never thought of using that yeast. I usually use 3944 for my wheats.

The combo of orange and lemon peel sounds nice.

I've always meant to try citra because it sounds like a nice addition. Let us know how it turns out. My last rendition of the recipe, I went all grain and eliminated the lemon peel and added crushed coriander (more of a traditional wit). I definitely prefer the lemon peel version though.

I thought I would add an update to this post. I've made this recipe several times, and I have usually tried to change something as an experiment... still always been happier with the original version. Recently a buddy of mine made his 5th batch of this... he always did the original version without any changes. However, his last batch he kegged. That version was so good! In fact, I thought it was better than any of the ones I made, and its my recipe! He and his other friends/family killed that keg in 10 days. Bastard... I wanted I couple more pulls off that keg.

Hey BigB this guy looks great! Just a quick question. How much does the citrus come through? Zesting 2 oranges and 2 lemons seems like it could be overpowering...

Suprisingly, the citrus is not overpowering at all. The citrus comes through, but is well balanced against the malt.

Well I have already ordered the grains and yeast, but I am brewing a recipe very similar to this tomorrow. Your wheat to other grain ratio is a bit higher than mine, and I'll be using US-05 though. That's the biggest difference. BUT! Where before I was planning on using 1 lemon and 1 orange, I'll bump it up to 2 each. So thanks for that. (also I'm using cascade hops) Ok, so it's sounding less similar than I thought, but still, looking at a citrus-y summertime wheat beer, I think yours is a winner!

I like your modification. I was actually considering using US-05 on a batch. Also, I've always meant to get around to using the cascade. Let me know how yours turns out and what the recipe was.

The recipe I brewed was:

4lbs 2-row
3lbs Wheat Malt
.5lbs Carapils
.5lbs Honey Malt
1oz Cascade
Zest of 2 lemons, 2 oranges
1tsp Coriander (last minute decision)
US-05

Poor efficiency got me to 1.040. They honey malt left it too dark I think, though it is still only 5.8 SRM. I'll report back and let you know how the cascades blend with the citrus. I'd like to brew yours with cascades and the wit yeast though. All fermenters are full now...

What efficiency are you assuming in this recipe? I brewed this last night and got a 1044 OG, which was about 60%. I think you'd have to hit like 85% efficiency to get to 1054...

davidg410 said:

What efficiency are you assuming in this recipe? I brewed this last night and got a 1044 OG, which was about 60%. I think you'd have to hit like 85% efficiency to get to 1054...

Click to expand...

75%. I calculate 1.044 as being less than 60%. Neither I or my buddy has ever had any trouble hitting the numbers either. Might want to check your crush and mash pH. Did you do all grain or the PM version?

I did the PM version.

I've never tested pH in my brews. This is only the 3rd PM i've done since i switched from using all extract.