Thoughts on Wheat Recipe?

I'm going to do an American wheat beer next so I can make something my wife will drink, too. Here is the recipe I plan on making.

Specialty Grains:
1lb Domestic 2 Row
1lb Red Flaked Wheat

6lb Wheat LME

1oz Cascade (60min)
1oz Cascade (5min)

1. Should I decrease the steeping grains down to 1/2 or 3/4 lb each?
2. The recipe I based this on used Williamette as the bittering hops and Cascade as the flavoring hops, but the AA is comparable between the two and my LHBS only sells 2oz bags so I figured I could use Cascade as the bittering hop. I don't want it too bitter though and BrewPal is telling me this hop schedule will give me 32IBU. Should I go .5oz Cascade to bitter, which will give me 21IBU?
3. I have an extra pale ale on SafAle05 right now and I was planning on washing that yeast for this batch since it did an amazing job attenuating down to 1.009 after a week. Any issues going from a Pale Ale to a Wheat with the same yeast?

I don't see any huge issue going from a Pale Ale to an American Wheat with that yeast. I think I'd drop the bittering addition down a little like you suggested.

Not really sure what you are doing with the grains? Is it a minimash? 2 row and flaked wheat can't be steeped. If you want to mash, you should bump the 2 row up to 2lbs. If you were planning on just steeping you will be safe to cut out those grains. Wheat extract is usually a mix of pils and wheat malts anyways.

I'm not big on wheat beers but here is what I have heard.

If you are using Wheat LME, it generally is a 60/40 split with Barley. You really don't need any steeping grains.

The SafAle will probably give you some fruity esters you may not want in this beer.

I would suggest a wheat beer yeast over s-05. I have made 2 wheats, no american wheats though, but thought the wheat beer yeast add to the flavor profile.

Thank you for the suggestions. From what I understand the enzymes in the 2 row will unleash some of the sugars in the wheat if I steep them. I also read that steeping the wheat will add some body, texture and head retention. It sounds like I'm off base here?

Dave: I'm trying to avoid the German/Belgian wheat yeast flavors and go with a cleaner profile that allows the wheat flavor to come through typical of an American wheat.

Looks like hes going for an American Wheat. I'd hesisate to use a German Wheat yeast in this. The US-05 is probably what he wants to use.

NorCalAngler said:

Thank you for the suggestions. From what I understand the enzymes in the 2 row will unleash some of the sugars in the wheat if I steep them. I also read that steeping the wheat will add some body, texture and head retention. It sounds like I'm off base here?

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Depends on how you do it, hence my steep vs minimash question. If you steep the grains in water like you would normally do a extract + steeping grain beer, you will just get a bunch of starch water. If you want to do the mini mash, there is nothing wrong with that. Just do a search. There is a lot of info here on how to do it properly.

Use an american wheat yeast. Mr. Malty swears by a kolsch yeast at 62 but I haven't tried it.

The LME has already had that done for you unless you're looking for a heavier mouth feel with the flaked wheat

White labs WLP320 American Wheat
Wyeast 1010 American Wheat

Thank you for the tips on the mini-mash; That's the way I'll go with these extra grains. This leads to a second question and it may be subjective. Will there be a noticeable difference in final beer quality by doing the mini-mash vs. just going extract only? Will the mini-mash add enough character to the beer to make it worth the extra time?

My first attempt at home brewing was a one gallon all grain kit so I'm familiar with the process of extracting the fermentable sugars from the grains. I made other mistakes like overcarbination and oxidation from improper siphoning, but I learned enough that I'm comfortable with mashing this small amount of grain.

I personally wouldn't see that big of a difference considering the amounts being used. Minimash is but a small step to an all grain where you will truly be in the drivers seat. Extract is just easier when your brew day is short. Either way your beer will be great i'm sure.

Minimash usually will improve a beer, but in this case I don't really think it will really make a difference.

Ok I'm going to take your word for it and take another route. Since I already have the grains, .5oz of extra hops and a 1 gallon carboy I'm going to make a 1 gallon recipe with the 2 row and wheat. At 75% efficiency it will be 5.6%abv which is high for a light wheat. Any suggestions on something fun I can try with this small batch?