New all grain weizenbock recipe - comments/suggestions wanted

I am about to brew my second wiezenbock recipe and would like to get some comments. I am trying to brew something like Aventinus. The last time I did this was with extract and it worked pretty well but it had a little extract twang and not enought hops (ended up about 8 ibu).



Malt or Fermentable
%grist lbs ozs name ppg °L
52% 8 8 German Wheat Malt Dark info 37 7
31% 5 0 Belgian Two-row Pale info 37 1
9% 1 8 Munich Malt info 37 9
6% 1 0 Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L info 34 40
2% 0 4 Melanoidin Malt info 37 20
1% 0 2 Chocolate Malt info 34 475

boil 60 mins 0.75 Hallertau Hersbruck info pellet 3.5 AA
boil 15 mins 0.75 Hallertau Hersbruck info pellet 3.5 AA

Wyeast 3333 German Wheat

According to beercalculus I should get:

OG 1.082
FG 1.022
SRM 16
IBU 11.4
ABV 8%

The IBUs seem a bit low for the style, I'd probably bring them up to ~20-25.

I'd probably split the crystal and use a higher L version (120, Extra Dark, Special B etc...) for half of it to give you some more dark fruit flavors.

Otherwise looks good to me.

I have updated the recipe a bit based on what the particulars were at the lhbs for the products. It ends up a bit lighter in color but with a few more IBUs (16.5). From what I've found online, Aventinus is about 17 IBUs. The last time I made this with extract, it was my second batch and I put too much extract in without adding more hops and it was about 8 IBU so I definitly don't want to make that mistake again.:

% LB OZ Malt or Fermentable ppg °L
52% 8 8 German Wheat Malt Dark info 37 7
30% 5 0 Belgian Two-row Pale info 37 4
9% 1 8 Munich Malt info 37 5
6% 1 0 Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L info 34 40
2% 0 4 Melanoidin Malt info 37 30
1% 0 3 German Carafa II info 28 400
16 7

Batch size: 5.5 gallons
Original Gravity 1.082 (1.073 to 1.085)
Final Gravity 1.022 (1.019 to 1.024)

Color 18° SRM / 36° EBC (Light Brown to Medium Brown)

Mash Efficiency 75%

hops
use time oz variety form aa
boil 60 mins 0.75 Hallertau Hersbruck info pellet 3.8
boil 15 mins 1.5 Hallertau Hersbruck info pellet 3.8

Boil: 6.5 avg gallons for 60 minutes

Bitterness 16.5 IBU / 3 HBU
Wyeast Bavarian Wheat (3056)

Mash process - 158* 45 minutes

I've been reading your blog for a while now - very enjoyable and informative. I also like reading about DC - I lived there in the late 80s (old town Alexandria to be exact). Thanks for the input.

Patirck said:

I've been reading your blog for a while now - very enjoyable and informative. I also like reading about DC - I lived there in the late 80s (old town Alexandria to be exact). Thanks for the input.

Click to expand...

Glad you've enjoyed the blog. Hope the recipe turns out well.

Yes, definitely up your IBUs - your expected FG is 1.022 - quite sweet.

Personally, I would probably drop the crystal malts and replace then with 2-row - you will get plenty of complexity from the munich/melanoidin/chocolate malt. Aventinus only uses 3 malts (60% wheat, ~39% pilsner and a little over 1% chocolate) and look at how complex that flavor is!

Also, are you step mashing or single infusion? Either way, I would aim for a fairly fermentable mash to try and get that FG into the mid to high teens.
Edit: IMO that mash temp is way too high...

I'm thinking I might add the aroma hops at the 20 minute mark which should put the IBUs in the 18.3 mark.

I've already bought and crush the grains so at this point it's a done deal. Where did you see the grain bill info for Aventinus? I've been looking for something like that for a while.

I uped the temperature and reduced the time - short and high versus long and low - I was told this would add more body. I do a single infusion in a rubbermaid MLT. Will a longer and lower mash make for a lower FG?

Well adding hops at the 20 minute mark would be more for flavor and less aroma. I would just up the bittering hops - most recipes for this style will only have a bittering addition.

In regards to the mash temp, yes that is generally true, the higher the mash temp the faster the conversion and the fuller the body. But, all at the cost of having less fermentable sugars. In your grain bill you already have quite a few unfermentables (namely the high amount of crystal malts) so you will already get some body from that. And the fact that German weizen yeast has generally a low to medium attenuation, I fear that if you mash that high you will have a cloyingly sweet beer in the end.
I would recommend a mash temp of about 150-152 for 60 minutes.

The Aventinus information comes from the fantastic book, Brewing with Wheat by Stan Hieronymus - I highly recommend reading it. Here's a bit more information on the beer...

OG: 1.076
ABV: 8.2%
ADF: 82%
(that means FG would be: around 1.013)
IBU: 16

It is also mashed with a step-decoction mash that is quite complicated.

I did not get the book but I did try a triple decoction - it was quite an adventure. I ended up around 1.071.

I am going to have to put that book on my xmas list.