Pyramid Clone

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Spludge

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Anyone have a Pyramid Hefe clone recipe using malt extract?
I'm assuming I will have to use dry malt in order to get a lighter color as all hefe's I've done with liquid malt have turned out way too dark.
We're planning on putting a bunch of raspberries in the secondary
Thanks for any replies
 
My Tetrahedron American Pale Wheat:
Tetrahedron American Pale Wheat

Beer: Tetrahedron American Pale Wheat Style: Weizen/Weissbier
Type: Extract w/grain Size: 5 gallons
Color: 8 HCU (~6 SRM) Bitterness: 29 IBU
OG: 1.048 FG: 1.012
Alcohol: 4.7% v/v (3.7% w/w)
Specialty Grain: 8 oz. American crystal 40L
Boil: 60 minutes SG 1.080 3 gallons
1.5 lb. Light dry malt extract
4.5 lb. Wheat extract
Hops: .8 oz. Millenium (14% AA, 60 min.)
.5 oz. Cascade ( @5min)
.5 oz. Willamette ( @5min)
Yeast: Wyeast 1010 @ 60-65F
Prepare a 3l starter.

Notes:

From Pyramid's site
Plato 11.75 = OG 1.047
ABV 4.9%
Pale, Munich, Wheat, Caramel 40
IBU: 30
Bittering: Alchemy
Aroma: Willamette, Cascade

Now, "alchemy' is their trademarked blend of Warrior, Millenium, and possibly others. Bittering hops are less important flavor-wise than aroma hops, they're more to add IBUs. So I just went with Millenium (you could split them if you want if you adjust the IBUs appropriately).
 
Sweet, I have some extra Cascade and Willamette so that works out perfect. Also the dry malt should help keep it a little lighter.
Should I start with two packets of liquid yeast? I've heard people like to overpitch hefes......?
Thanks for the recipe :mug:
 
Sweet, I have some extra Cascade and Willamette so that works out perfect. Also the dry malt should help keep it a little lighter.
Should I start with two packets of liquid yeast? I've heard people like to overpitch hefes......?
Thanks for the recipe :mug:

Per my recipe, prepare a 3l starter. Pitching 2 packets is a more expensive way of accomplishing the same thing.

That's just pitching at the regular rate (1 packet would be severe underpitching), if you want to overpitch like some people do then you'd want a bigger starter (or more packets if you're going the expensive route).
 
I tried this beer for the first time last summer and WOW, what a good beer, crisp and refreshing. i'll have to give this clone it's day in court, i have the aroma hops, all i need are the bittering and the DME, can probably recycle the yeast from the hefe in my primary right now as well.

How close would you say this came to the actual beer?
 
I haven't brewed it yet.

The hops and IBUs and OG and ABV are pulled directly from Pyramid's site, so they ought to be spot-on.

Upon further investigation (apparently confirmed by a source at Pyramid--not my source, someone else's), a 60/40 wheat/barley ratio is closer to what Pyramid uses, so adjust the 6 lbs of DME to hit that (e.g. if your wheat DME is 60/40, use 6 lbs of it and no light DME. If your wheat DME is 65/35, use 5.5 lbs of wheat DME and .5 lbs of light DME).

That leaves the yeast and fermenting temperature as the main variables. Wyeast 1010 is an American Pale Wheat that's the closest easily available (White Labs American wheat would work fine too).

If you're more ambitious, try cultivating a starter from the yeast in a bottle of Pyramid. However, their brewmaster John Donehower has said that they actually use a lager yeast (didn't specify the temps) so that could be pretty ambitious given the need for temperature control.

Whatever yeast you pick, I understand that they pitch a _lot_ of yeast to get a pretty neutral ester profile and high attenuation, so definitely make at _least_ a 3l starter and bigger may be better. With an American wheat yeast, low 60s is a reasonable guess at fermentation temperature (higher would be more estery, out of character for an American wheat like Pyramid).
 
Actually, please scratch this recipe for the moment. Either I saved the wrong info or they've altered the info on their site. New recipe forthcoming in a few minutes.
 
Okay, my deepest apologies for this if anyone brewed it; the hops schedule above is for the entirely different (hoppier) Widmer American wheat and _not_ Pyramid--I was researching both at the same time and crossed up my notes.

Pyramid - Hefeweizen notes:
Original Gravity: 12.5
Alcohol By Volume: 5.20%
Malts: 39% 2 Row Pale Barley, 60% Malted Wheat,1% Caramel
Hops: Nugget, Liberty, Mt. Hood

Also, Pyramid Breweries, Inc. Brewer Interview - Brew-Monkey.Com has an interview with Pyramid's brewmaster that yields more useful information.

Nugget is obviously the bittering choice. 18 IBUs is the target given other sources. As noted above, 60/40 wheat/barley is what Pyramid has confirmed. So, here we go (formulating for my local wheat DME which is 65/35 and 43 gravity points--please adjust yours for your own DME to preserve the wheat/barley ratio and OG).

Tetrahedron American Wheat
Size: 5 gallons
Bitterness: 18 IBU
OG: 1.050
Boil: 60 minutes (3 gallon partial boil)
5 lb. 5 oz. Wheat extract
8 oz. Light DME
Hops:
.5 oz. Nugget (12% AA, 60 min.)
.5 oz. Liberty (4% AA, 5 min.)
.5 oz. Mt. Hood (4.5% AA, 5 min.)

Yeast: Pitch a _lot_ of yeast (I'd prep a gallon starter, 3l minimum). American wheat yeast 1010 from Wyeast is a good choice.

Pyramid's version uses a lager yeast, which would be much more difficult to work with if you can't temperature-control your fermentation.
 
Wow, are you some sort of recipe Jedi?
Thanks for your efforts, I will be brewing this tomorrow so I'll let you know how she turns out:cross:
 
I'm working on a hefeweisen that was recommended to me but I'm really looking forward to trying this one next. I'm really new at this so bear with me. When you get this made can you include any additional items like fermentation temp or other things you might think of?
 
I'm working on a hefeweisen that was recommended to me but I'm really looking forward to trying this one next. I'm really new at this so bear with me. When you get this made can you include any additional items like fermentation temp or other things you might think of?

I'm not sure how long it'll be until I get to this, as I have a Kristalweizen in secondary now and a witbier up soon and only need so many wheats around at one time.

Pyramid uses a lager yeast. That's going to have to have strict temp controls and ferment in the low 50s (give or take depending on the strain), and then require lagering at near-freezing for a couple of weeks.

For something easier and in-style, I'd sub an American wheat yeast (Wyeast 1010, for instance) and ferment at 60F or as close as you can get. Or maybe a pretty clean ale yeast (e.g. Safale US-05) down in the very low 60s.

You want a pretty clean yeast, certainly _not_ a hefeweizen yeast like you'd use to make a real hefe--those are going to have way too much of the big banana and clove flavors.
 
HOW DID THIS RECIPE TURN OUT???

i found another recipe for Pyramid Haywire Clone

here it is......

Extract conversion was a little better:

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.76 lb Wheat Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract 59.98 %
3.08 lb Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract 38.89 %
0.09 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 1.14 %
0.50 oz Nugget [13.00 %] (60 min) Hops 18.3 IBU
1.00 oz Liberty [4.30 %] (10 min) Hops 4.4 IBU



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.056 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.015 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.44 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.65 %
Bitterness: 22.7 IBU Calories: 43 cal/pint
 
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