Critique my WHEAT recipe!

I'm making Sam Caligione's Wildflower Wheat (Chamomile Wheat) beer and this is what I came up with.


BeerSmith Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Chamomile Wheat
Style: American Wheat or Rye Beer
TYPE: All Grain
Notes: 2 ounces of chamomile for 60 minutes and use hops on hand to achieve 15 IBU's.

Recipe Specifications
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Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 7.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.058 SG
Estimated Color: 3.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 11.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
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Amount Item Type % or IBU
6 lbs Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 54.55 %
4 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 36.36 %
.80 oz Willamette [5.50 %] (60 min) Hops 14.5 IBU
1 lbs Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 9.09 %
2 oz Chamomile flowers (60 Minutes)
1 Pkgs American Hefeweizen Ale (White Labs #WLP320)

I already sent in the order for this from AustinHomeBrew, but I'd still like to hear your opinions.

The only change I could really make at this point is to use Cascade for the bittering addition instead of Willamette because those are the hops I have on hand right now.

Thanks,
Jacob

Not much to critique. Looks good. Let us know how it turns out.

annasdadhockey said:

Not much to critique. Looks good. Let us know how it turns out.

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What I wanted to hear. I've never brewed with tea, but I'm very excited to see how this turns out.

Would you use Cascade or Willamette's in this recipe?

,
J

I'm sure this will be a tasty beer, but if you're going for a style correct American Wheat the yeast is a little off.

From White Labs:

Unlike WLP300, this yeast produces a very slight amount of the banana and clove notes.

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From BJCP Guidelines:

The clove and banana aromas common to German hefeweizens are inappropriate.
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AnOldUR said:

I'm sure this will be a tasty beer, but if you're going for a style correct American Wheat the yeast is a little off.

From White Labs:


From BJCP Guidelines:

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I would agree with this but the addition of Chamomile makes this beer a spiced beer so the banana and clove could be appropriate.

King of Cascade said:

I would agree with this but the addition of Chamomile makes this beer a spiced beer so the banana and clove could be appropriate.

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And Sam isn't one to care too much about following guidelines while making excellent beer.

AnOldUR said:

And Sam isn't one to care too much about following guidelines while making excellent beer.

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Not to style…yes
Excellent beers…not so much

I just can't seem to drink more than a pint of some of those crazy beers like Midas Touch or Theobrama.

Sam’s brewers make interesting beers but they all seem gimmicky to me and some of the traditional style beers are not nearly as solid as they were in the past.

With that said, I like the use of Hefe yeast in this beer. The Chamomile and yeast flavors should go well together. As far as Hops, I think the Cascade would lend a nice orange, citrus flavor to complement the beers other flavors.

Well, I think all of the recipes Sam has came up with and published in Extreme Brewing seem pretty solid. There are a few that I don't think I'd make, but this one just seemed to make sense to me. Who wouldn't like the mellow flavor of a wheat beer with a bit of calming properties from the tea leaves? I think it'll be perfect on those warm Texas nights that will be coming fairly soon.

I'll probably take pictures and post on here come brew day.

J

just my personal preference I'm not a fan of American Hefeweizen Ales ...

I like more banana & clove in my wheats... Chamomile would be a good addition to a big banana & clove producing yeast like wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan Weizen™

just my 2¢.

starrfish said:

just my personal preference I'm not a fan of American Hefeweizen Ales ...

I like more banana & clove in my wheats... Chamomile would be a good addition to a big banana & clove producing yeast like wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan Weizen™

just my 2¢.

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I think it goes both ways. I personally am not a huge fan of those hardcore slap yo momma clove/banana beers. I think it's because I went on a Hefe/Wit brewing binge a while back and I got burnt out. For an American wheat, I would typically use a neutral ale yeast like Nottingham, but one of the guys at the LHBS convinced me to try this American Hefe yeast last fall and I actually enjoyed it's more relaxed clove/banana flavor.

Once again, this is one of the reasons why home brewing is so awesome. It's all about personal preference and customizing your brews to meet that preference.

UPDATE!

I finally got around to brewing this bad boy and holy crap am I glad that I did. I hit my #'s perfectly and although I was a bit worried about the chamomile being too strong, it's an AMAZING flavor. I can't wait for this baby to be in my kegerator! If anyone want's to see, I'll post some pics.

HalfPint said:

UPDATE!

I finally got around to brewing this bad boy and holy crap am I glad that I did. I hit my #'s perfectly and although I was a bit worried about the chamomile being too strong, it's an AMAZING flavor. I can't wait for this baby to be in my kegerator! If anyone want's to see, I'll post some pics.

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So, how did this turn out and what yeast did you end up using?