IBU too high?

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blokeyhighlander

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I went to my LBHS to pick up some ingredients for my next brew, and I asked the employee for recommendations as I'm not at the point of being able to pick and choose for myself.

Anyhow, I ended up getting ingredients to brew a ten gallon Bavarian Wheat, which includes the following ingredients:

  • 12 pounds of Bavarian wheat LME
  • 1 pound honey malt steeping grains
  • 1 pound victory malt steeping grains
  • 1/2 cara-pils steeping grains
  • 1 packet of Safalse US-05 and 1 packet of Danstar Belle Saison (i'm fermenting two separate five gallon batches to see the difference in taste)
  • 2 oz of Colombus hops (60 minute boil)
    [*]2.5 oz of Simcoe hops (5 minute boil)

I'm a newbie to using brewing software, and when I punched the ingredients into Beersmith, I saw an IBU of 60+ when the style indicated it should be much lower than that. Does that hop schedule sound right for a ten gallon Bavarian wheat batch? I'm kinda scratching my head over here, especially when he suggested that I do late LME additions (which would increase IBUs even more, right?)

I'm doing a full boil in a 15 gallon pot.
 
I went to my LBHS to pick up some ingredients for my next brew, and I asked the employee for recommendations as I'm not at the point of being able to pick and choose for myself.

Anyhow, I ended up getting ingredients to brew a ten gallon Bavarian Wheat, which includes the following ingredients:



[*]12 pounds of Bavarian wheat LME
[*]1 pound honey malt steeping grains
[*]1 pound victory malt steeping grains
[*]1/2 cara-pils steeping grains
[*]1 packet of Safalse US-05 and 1 packet of Danstar Belle Saison (i'm fermenting two separate five gallon batches to see the difference in taste)
[*]2 oz of Colombus hops (60 minute boil)
[*]2.5 oz of Simcoe hops (5 minute boil)


I'm a newbie to using brewing software, and when I punched the ingredients into Beersmith, I saw an IBU of 60+ when the style indicated it should be much lower than that. Does that hop schedule sound right for a ten gallon Bavarian wheat batch? I'm kinda scratching my head over here, especially when he suggested that I do late LME additions (which would increase IBUs even more, right?)

I'm doing a full boil in a 15 gallon pot.

That does seem high for a barvarian wheat. If it's anything like a Hefeweizen, it should be 15 ibu max. Looks like you have a wheat ipa? Those aren't the typical noble hops used in most german weizens. Not sure about the yeast selection either but I can't say I'm that familiar with "Bavarian wheat" beer.
 
Neither one of those hops varieties are appropriate for a Bavarian wheat beer, but with an American ale yeast and a saison yeast, you're not making a Bavarian wheat beer anyway.

The recipe, except for the yeast are hops, is ok if you want to work with it and make a Bavarian beer, but then you need some noble German hops.

If you want to use the S05 and make an American wheat, it's not too bad although it may be more bitter than you want, as well as too "cat pee" from that much simcoe late in the boil.

I guess it's time to think of what you want. An American wheat? A hefeweizen? A saison? And then make the changes based on your goals for the beer.
 
those hops are all wrong for a Bavarian wheat. use classic German hops, like hallertau. also, you need a Bavarian wheat yeast. You're going to end up with an American wheat beer f you use the recipe shown there.

Columbus usually has a fairly high AA%, so it could very well put the ibus well out of the range for the style. you could probably cut that in half, and be much closer to style.
 
Two things. Don't go that high with your ibu's and don't use simcoe if you want a more authentic tasting Bavarian wheat. Simcoe is just to fruity / piney for a Bavarian. Use a saaz or hallertau or even goldings. I'd shoot for about 15-20 / 25 max ibu's. if your just playing around, add what you got! If your going for more of an authentic taste, switch it up.
 
This is one of the crazier recipes that I have seen recently. 12lbs of Bavarian wheat extract and American-IPA- Suitable-Hops with Saison yeast? Was the hombrew store having a yardsale? If you want to use these ingredients to make a bavarian wheat (which I would say is fairly impossible given the east selections as they are not very Bavarian) then definitely play along with beersmith and cut your hops way down.
 
Oh my, I'm cracking up over here.

This wasn't a Bavarian Wheat kit, Bavarian wheat LME is all they had left in stock and he picked some ingredients that he thought would go well with it, so yeah, it was a yard sale...

At this point, with all of these mismatched ingredients, I'm just thinking how I make this beer taste palatable with the ingredients I have. I don't care about making it authentic or like a certain style, but I certainly don't want a wheat IPA.

Should I just cut the hops down by 67%? I'm a little curious about Simcoe and cat pee, especially since I have two cats... How would you all recommend I scale back the hops?
 
I don't know you AA on the hops but I'd say around .5 Columbus & .25 simcoe at 60 min then add about .5 simcoe and 1oz Columbus at 5 min for an American wheat taste. I'd shoot for around 25 +/- ibu's (I like them hoppy, although you could go a bit higher). Use the US-05 yeast and you'll get something close to an American wheat.
 
I'm writing this in the car on my phone while my wife is driving so I'm not really able to comment very well on this recipe but the honey malt looks a bit heavy as well. Maybe the others can comment a bit better for you than I can right now. It will be a good beer but not a Bavarian wheat.
 
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