Point me in a direction please

I have been over the different recipes here on the boards. What I am looking to do for my brew session this weekend is a wheat beer. The only wheat beer I have had has been from Boulevard. I thought it was a tasty beer. Now, being it was my only wheat I would not know what a “Great” wheat beer tastes like.

I want to brew this using just DME. No LME. I have done a Coopers kit in the past as my first brew and while it turned out OK I think the fact that it has you add table sugar and being liquid extract it has a bit of a twang to it. After a few pints I could not tell any longer….

I really have no clue as to what I need, so I would like a few ideas. I would like the wheat to have an amber color to it like the Cincinnati Pale Ale recipe did from John Palmers book. This beer looks very pretty, and the hydro samples say it will be very tasty as well.

As far as the other ingredients I really quite honestly have no Idea what I am doing. I have made a Beer Smith recipe. Please have a look at it and tell me where I am going to go wrong at. I know there will be a few things in here that are incorrect but please explain why as this will only be my third brew. I am attempting to actually learn why you choose ingreadients as you do. I would also like to give a shot at steeping grains as well along with DME and using no LME. Hops are another concern as I do not know how to choose them and why. The only thing I can tell you is that I do not care for very bitter beer. I would also like to stay very far away from Stout and Porters. They make my toes curl….

Like I said before, I am sure that I have made quite a few errors in this recipe, so please help me understand the hows and whys. Thanks, I greatly appreciate it!

Wheat Beer
American Wheat or Rye Beer

Type: Extract Date: 6/2/01
Batch Size: 5.00 gal Brewer: The Mad Hatter
Boil Size: 4.08 gal Asst Brewer: Dad, Tony
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Brew Pot (5 Gallon)
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: -
Taste Notes:

Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
6 lbs Amber Dry Extract (12.5 SRM) Dry Extract 60.00 %
2 lbs Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 20.00 %
2 lbs Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 20.00 %
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (60 min) Hops 28.0 IBU
1.00 oz Mt. Hood [6.00 %] (15 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
2 Pkgs American Wheat Ale (Wyeast Labs #1010) Yeast-Ale


Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.057 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.68 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.65 %
Bitterness: 28.0 IBU Calories: 43 cal/pint
Est Color: 10.2 SRM Color: Color


Mash Profile
Mash Name: None Total Grain Weight: 10.00 lb
Sparge Water: - Grain Temperature: -
Sparge Temperature: - TunTemperature: -
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE Mash PH: -

Steep grains as desired (30-60 minutes)

Mash Notes: -
Carbonation and Storage
Carbonation Type: Corn Sugar Volumes of CO2: 2.4
Pressure/Weight: 3.8 oz Carbonation Used: -
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 60.0 F Age for: 21.0 days
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F

Notes

Created with BeerSmith


Like I said before, I am sure that I have made quite a few errors in this recipe, so please help me understand the hows and whys. Thanks, I greatly appreciate it!

If you want to brew an extract wheat beer, keep it simple. This is really all you need...

6.00 lb Wheat Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 100.00 %
1.00 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 12.0 IBU
1 Pkgs Weihenstephan Weizen (Wyeast Labs #3068) or White Labs WLP300

Flaked barley really doesn't have any place in wheat beers. The amber DME should only be used in dark beers, never lighter beers. I actually don't recommend ever using amber DME...

Soulive said:

If you want to brew an extract wheat beer, keep it simple. This is really all you need...

6.00 lb Wheat Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 100.00 %
1.00 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 12.0 IBU
1 Pkgs Weihenstephan Weizen (Wyeast Labs #3068) or White Labs WLP300

Flaked barley really doesn't have any place in wheat beers. The amber DME should only be used in dark beers, never lighter beers. I actually don't recommend ever using amber DME...

Click to expand...

Same recipe using only 3% will result in a sweeter brew.

Since you are doing a 4 gal boil then you should only use 4 lbs in the boil and boil for 45 mins. Remove the flame and add the remaining malt and steep for 15 mins.

homebrewer_99 said:

Same recipe using only 3% will result in a sweeter brew.

Since you are doing a 4 gal boil then you should only use 4 lbs in the boil and boil for 45 mins. Remove the flame and add the remaining malt and steep for 15 mins.

Click to expand...

I was trying to keep things as simple as possible, but I agree with the late addition method...

homebrewer_99 said:

Same recipe using only 3% will result in a sweeter brew.

Since you are doing a 4 gal boil then you should only use 4 lbs in the boil and boil for 45 mins. Remove the flame and add the remaining malt and steep for 15 mins.

Click to expand...

So just so I am understanding correctly. 4 pounds of dry wheat extract fo 45 min, the add the remaining 2 pounds. Now when you say steem, are you meaning mixing in the 2 pounds of DME, or do you mean steap as in using steaping grains.

The steaping graings is what I would really like to try. Maybe I do not have the correct type of recipe for steaping grains?

Then what about the hops, I would think that you still keep them in the pot for the full 60 min?

Wouldn't that yeast strain cause more hefeweizen flavors?

If you want a clean taste (less or no noticeable banana and clove flavors), then use American wheat ale yeast. I make an extract version with 4 lbs of light DME and a can of muntons wheat LME and one oz of willamette hops for the full 60 minutes. It is darker than the style, but is chuggable. It is a good beer for those hot days spent in the yard. If you want more wheat taste, then up the wheat and decrease the light dme in proportion.

I would go with wheat dme though if they had it at my LHBS.

If you want more authentic wheat beer taste, then the recipe above sounds excellent. If you want something closer to an american wheat, then be sure you change the yeast and add some regular dme to get closer to style.

Beware of two things though. Explosive fermentation and Weizen-farts.

Hoosierbrewer said:

Wouldn't that yeast strain cause more hefeweizen flavors?

If you want a clean taste (less or no noticeable banana and clove flavors), then use American wheat ale yeast. I make an extract version with 4 lbs of light DME and a can of muntons wheat LME and one oz of willamette hops for the full 60 minutes. It is darker than the style, but is chuggable. It is a good beer for those hot days spent in the yard. If you want more wheat taste, then up the wheat and decrease the light dme in proportion.

I would go with wheat dme though if they had it at my LHBS.

If you want more authentic wheat beer taste, then the recipe above sounds excellent. If you want something closer to an american wheat, then be sure you change the yeast and add some regular dme to get closer to style.

Beware of two things though. Explosive fermentation and Weizen-farts.

Click to expand...

That was going to be my next question reguarding the fermintation. With either of the yeast strands will I need a blow off tube? I currently ferment in the 6 gallon ale pale. If I do need a blow off tube, would the ale pale work? It does not have the stopper sized hole in it, it just has the small rubber grommet in it for the air lock.

Weizen-farts? That in itself tells me it would be a violation of the "Mad Law" to not share these at the office

I would use a blow-off tube. I will use a 6.5 gallon carboy with an 1.25 inch blow off into starsan next time.

Watch the temp of fermentation also. If you are at the high low side, you will get either more clove or more banana out of a german wheat yeast. 68 should be a good blend of the 2.

I checked the pale ale that I have in the secondary in my closet. I have a sticky thermometer on it and it is reading 68 to 70. I am thinking maybe that this one should ferment in the basement. Its much cooler down there, plus its still concrete floor so if there is an accident it wont be on the carpet. Lol. maybe this will be a good excuse to get some nice heavy shelfing down there for my carbous as well.

I am still lmao at the wizen farts...

I appreciate everyones input as well. thanks.

One other thing that I though of was the fermintation schedule. I do have a hydrometer and will let that tell me when it is done in the primary. but with this style of beer you should be able to follow the 1-2-3 method correct?

The Mad Hatter said:

One other thing that I though of was the fermintation schedule. I do have a hydrometer and will let that tell me when it is done in the primary. but with this style of beer you should be able to follow the 1-2-3 method correct?

Click to expand...

With weizenbier I follow the 10 days in primary and then straight into the keg/bottle method...

So there is no clearing stage at all then. That will be kind of cool.

1-2-3? 1 week primary, 2 week seondary, 3 week for keg/bottle? If so, it depends on when it starts to ferment. You should be done in 7 days if it starts in the first 24 hours. I tend to leave beers in the primary for 10-14 days, then move to secondary for 3-5 weeks and then keg with priming sugar for 2-3 weeks.

With a wheat, the german style yeasts will leave a lot of cloudiness so you do not get much from secondary for clarification. I would still move it to a secondary to let it age a little. American wheat should be a little cleaner of a beer so it helps to put it into a secondary. It should also depend on the amount of wheat in it.

If you're not very familiar with wheats I would suggest an American wheat. The Hefeweizen yeast suggested above is really tastey, but has a very particular flavor profile. If your looking for a easy drinking, session beer you might go with Wyeast 1010 or even 1056 (the Boulevard Wheat in the database lists US-05 which is the equivalent of 1056). By the way, if you go with 3068 and your ambient temps are 70 degrees you're going to get really fruity yeast flavors. The cooler you ferment the cleaner the taste.

tagz said:

The Hefeweizen yeast suggested above is really tastey, but has a very particular flavor profile.

Click to expand...

What exactly do you mean by this? As long as it does not resemble a Porter or a Stout I should be OK. the first stout I tried was a Bouavarde dry stout. It was, well stout I guess. I would like to avoid that type of beer. Yes...i am a wuss...

Hefeweizens are generally characterized by banana and clove notes. You may really enjoy it, but I didn't want you brew up a fruity, yeasty beer and be disappointed. Non-adventurous beer drinkers tend to enjoy American wheats because they have a really mild, sometimes tart flavor.

You may just want to read through the yeast descriptions before you dive in. Here's a link:

http://www.wyeastlab.com/rw_yeaststrain.cfm

I would find a store that will see you individual bottles in a sample pack. You could then try an American wheat, a Hefeweizen, and maybe a belgian wit to see which you like the best.

Thank you all for the advice in my first Hef. This is what I have chosen to brew for this weekend.

3.3# Briss Bavarian What Malt Extract
2# Wheat Dry Malt Extract
.5# Cara-Pils Malt
1oz Hallertau
.5oz Tettnang Hops
WLP300

My LHBS helped me out and said that this will be a great kit to try. I cant wait!

Well. After further review, I have decided to get everything moved into the basement. I have n nice sized room that is about ten by ten, fully insulated with a door and a nice ac vent dedicated for that room. I went to home depot, looking for some bulkhead fittings for my keggles, but to no avail they had none and neither did any of the others places in town. So I opted to grab some shelving. It is some nice stuff and very sturdy. I have to go back today and get more but I have a great start now. And I checked the temps on my stickt thermometers that I have on my pale ale, and there is nearly a ten degree difference in the closet I was suing and my new brew room downstairs. :rockin: I am thinking that the first batch that we made has the "Twang" to it that at first I thought it was just a hopped extract taste, but now I am convinced that I fermented in to high ov a tempertaure as it was mid 70's in there. Please forgive the bad cell phone picture...

Recipe looks good. The purists will say that you should nix the carapils but I think you'll have a tasty beer either way. The carapils will add a bit more body. Nice to have a brew room too. The temp difference in the closet will come in handy. Let us know how it turns out!