Hey Upper-Midwest, help me formulate a crack'd wheat (New Glarus) clone

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snailsongs

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For those who haven't had this beer, I can't describe exactly whats so great about it, but it's delicious. The hops work really well with the spice from the yeast, and give it a nice refreshing bite....emminently drinkable for almost 6% alcohol.....

in typical fasion, New Glarus give very little info about this beer:
http://www.newglarusbrewing.com/Beers.cfm?BeerCategoryID=2&BeerID=38

here's my first stab at a recipe:

crack'd wheat
Bavarian Weizen/American Pale Ale

Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5.00 gal

Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.00 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 50.0 %
3.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 30.0 %
2.00 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 20.0 %
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50%] (60 min) Hops 19.0 IBU
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50%] (30 min) Hops 11.3 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50%] (30 min) Hops 7.3 IBU
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50%] (10 min) Hops 5.3 IBU
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50%] (5 min) Hops 2.9 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50%] (Dry Hop 10 days) Hops -
1 Pkgs Hefeweizen Ale (White Labs #WLP300) Yeast-Wheat

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.057 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.014 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.5 %
Bitterness: 45.9 IBU

so, do you think this will approximate the original atleast? any input or suggestions are appreciated. thanks HBT! :mug:
 
Looks good to me. You may want to up the wheat a little more to a 60/40 mix. Also, if you can get your hands on red wheat, it'd help you out a lot. I'm not sure if there's something you can add to "clone" red wheat.

I'd mash low and ferment low at first. I would almost treat this like a belgian beer. Ferment in the low 60's to start and slowly raise your temps to very low 70's right at the end of fermentation.
 
I've had Cracked Wheat many times -- brought a case home when visiting my folks in WI this summer.

I think you've got a really good recipe there. Classic Hefe grainbill & yeast but with the Vienna to add a bit of color because it is a smidge darker than the most traditional hefes but with a strong APA hop profile. Amarillo & Cascade sounds right to me. Brew this & let us know how it turns out. I'd love to brew this if it turns out anywhere close!
 
I guess I'll give this a go soon....I've got a Kolsch on deck for this week, so maybe next week I'll get this one into the boiler.

anybody have an idea about mash temps? I'm thinking 151-152.
 
I'm skipping the kolsch to brew this tomorrow. making a quick starter right now. any last comments?
 
All I'll say is good call on skipping the kolsch! Considering I have a lot of Amarillo on hand and I love wheat beers, I'll track your progress. Good luck!
 
quick update......The day 9 sample immediately brought to mind crack'd wheat, which was unexpected because the odor was pure yeast funk. This is going to be good no matter what, but I think I'm on the right track clonewise. dry-hopping to commence in another 9 days.....kolsch to commence in 24 hours (finally).
 
Well, a few things went wrong with this experiment, but I ended up with a really enjoyable beer that my wife will have tapped out of the keg soon.....First mistake was to let the ferm temp get up to near 70 on day 2 of active fermentation. This robbed my crack'd wheat of it's clove character and gave it more of a banana thing......second, I have been using whole hops since moving to Oregon and I have been having trouble getting the same bright hoppiness out of them that I always have with pellets. I have also been reading up on water treatments since Eugene has nearly distilled tap water (It's a lot like Pilsen water). The hop flavor is there but this is lacking the clean bitterness and assertive aroma that I was going for. This ultimately turned out to be a good thing because an assertive hoppiness would have clashed with the banana flavors from the yeast (I learned that I really like that banana wheat beer thing.....mmmmmm), but I didn't end up with crack'd wheat, I ended up with a super flavorful, fruity hefe with just a touch more hop presence than would be expected, and it is quite good.

so, my next attempt will be with hardened water, a higher IBU % of late addition pellet hops in some hardened water, and a lower fermentation temp (around 61-62)...also, colorwise could use a couple more SRM's....I will report back when I get around to attempt #2.
 
This will be my first attempt at All Grain.............Thanks for this recipe btw.....I have high hopes. Here is what I'm going to try. Lemme know what you guys think.

5 lbs weyerman pale wheat
2 lbs rahr red wheat
3 lbs weyerman pilsner
1 lbs weyerman vienna

.75 oz cascade at 60
.5 amarillo at 15
.5 amarillo at 10
.25 cascade at 5
.5 amarillo at 5
2 oz amarillo dry hop

White labs WLP380 (going for clove)

mash at 154 for 60 mins

IBU-32 (tinseth)
Post boil O.G. of 1.059
ferment around 62-65 If basement temps a few more weeks!!!

any tips etc are very welcome!! Cheers!
 
This will be my first attempt at All Grain.............Thanks for this recipe btw.....I have high hopes. Here is what I'm going to try. Lemme know what you guys think.

5 lbs weyerman pale wheat
2 lbs rahr red wheat
3 lbs weyerman pilsner
1 lbs weyerman vienna

.75 oz cascade at 60
.5 amarillo at 15
.5 amarillo at 10
.25 cascade at 5
.5 amarillo at 5
2 oz amarillo dry hop

White labs WLP380 (going for clove)

mash at 154 for 60 mins

IBU-32 (tinseth)
Post boil O.G. of 1.059
ferment around 62-65 If basement temps a few more weeks!!!

any tips etc are very welcome!! Cheers!

Your recipe looks pretty good. Here are a few of y thoughts:

1. I bittered mine to atleast 45IBU's and I felt it wasn't really hoppy enough. Next time I may actually use chinook instead of cascade to get a bit more hop intensity in there...crack'd wheat is fairly hoppy.

2. Red wheat isn't really any darker in SRM than white wheat (maybe 1 degree or so) and you don't have anything to darken it up to match the crack'd wheat color. I would go 6lbs red wheat and 5 lbs pale malt (or 2-row) for a base + something to add color and flavor. I was planning to experiment with a little caramel 40l next time instead of the vienna....gonna try a base that's a little more like an APA than I came up with the first time around, but with lots of wheat.

3. You are using a different strain than I did but that one will give lots clove to at low temps.....just make sure you keep them low.

good luck with this and report back.
 
Thanks for the tip man!! I do love cracked wheat, well i love all the NG wheat beers. lol

I have already ordered these ingredients, so this is what Im going with..........this is my first AG brew also. I'm hoping to brew this weekend OR before.

I'll keep you updated as to how it comes along!

thanks again!
 
Thanks for the tip man!! I do love cracked wheat, well i love all the NG wheat beers. lol

I have already ordered these ingredients, so this is what Im going with..........this is my first AG brew also. I'm hoping to brew this weekend OR before.

I'll keep you updated as to how it comes along!

thanks again!

Then don't sweat it. what you have there will produce a good beer. Good luck on your first AG! are you doing the stovetop method or did you acquire a mash tun/propane burner/etc. set-up?
 
I got a converted keg for a kettle, I'm assembling a mash tun (cooler setup with SS braid} as we speak!

thanks for everything.......keep me posted as your trials continue and I'll do the same! I would also Love to get a clone of their dancing man wheat nailed down cause that I flat out Great beer!!

CHEERS!
 
I moved to Oregon from central WI last year and I really miss new glarus brewery.....and central waters too for their satin solstice and bourbon barrel imperial stouts - I believe they were some of the best in the world.
 
Never had cracked wheat but is sounds awesome. Living on the east coast doesn't allow us a ton of access to great western brew.

I was thinking if you used 1/8 # chocolate wheat or less say as little as an ounce. That could give you the color you are looking for. Or to skip the tiny bit of toastiness associated with the ChocoWheat, what about a small bit of Carafa I, II or III? These might work.

WW
 
any updates. putting a consolidated recipe together for a soon to brew batch and want the best of everyone's experiences.

thanks

sheldon
 
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