"Prehistoricism" Wheat Wine Recipe

This beast is in primary and bubbling like it's possessed. Thought I would share the recipe now, and if it's good (in 10 months) I'll enter the recipe into the database.

The beer was inspired by two things: Sac Brewing Company's "Old Pappy" wheat wine, and the album "Prehistoricisms" by Intronaut (trippy, extremely jazzy and extremely aggressive prog-metal).

Any comments are welcome and encouraged, even if they are criticisms!

Brewdimus Beers' "Prehistoricism" Wheat Wine
Recipe Type: Partial Mash
Yeast: WLP007
Yeast Starter: Yes
Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter: Champagne yeast @ bottling
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.2
Original Gravity: 1.113
Target Final Gravity: ~1.030
IBU: 69 (hehehehehe)
Mash efficiency: 72%
Boiling Time (Minutes): 90
Ferment schedule: 1-2 weeks primary, 2-4 months secondary (dry-hop + bourbon oak cubes), 4-6 months bottle aging

Grain bill:
4# Bavarian Weizen DME (late addition)
4# Extra Pale DME (2# late addition)
4# Domestic 2-Row
3# Red Wheat Flakes
1# Caramel Wheat
1# CaraMunich 45L
Mash 120 minutes @ 149-150

Hops:
1 oz. Centennial 90 minutes = 33 IBU
1 oz. EKG 60 minutes = 18.5 IBU
1 oz. EKG 30 minutes = 9.5 IBU
1 oz. EKG 15 minutes = 5 IBU
1 oz. EKG 2 minutes = 3 IBU
Dry-hop with 1 oz. EKG in secondary

Ferment at 60F, ramp to 70F at end of primary fermentation

Additional:
1/2 oz. American Oak Cubes, soaked in Maker's Mark, 2-4 months in secondary



That's it.

Well, it seems like nobody has anything to input to this, but here's an update anyway:

Been in primary for a week and the bubbles are finally slowing. Left it at about 60F ambient (63 in fermenter) for 5 days, moved it to 67F ambient (69F in fermenter) for the past 2 days.

At 5 days I took a sample and it was at 1.040, so it's 9.5%ABV already! :rockin: And it was still bubbling, I expect I will make 1.030 without any problem and perhaps even go under! So attenuation has been GREAT and FAST!

In 1 more week I will add to secondary, racking onto some hops and bourbon-soaked oak cubes.

Question: if I reach 1.030 I will be at 10.5% ABV, should I add some sugar or anything to go even higher?

Wow, thats some beer. I've only had one wheat wine, but it was mighty tasty. Honestly, if it does reach your desired gravity, I'd leave it. At 10.5%, those yeast are pretty stressed and close to pooping out. Adding more sugar at this point probably wouldn't produce the desired effect.

Sounds like a plan. I'm always down with a plan that involves LESS work.

Checked it just now, it IS at 1.032! And it's still bubbling, at a rate of maybe 4 per minute! I expect it to finish out at exactly 1.030 when I rack to secondary, meaning that the finished product is gonna' be somewhere in the vicinity of 11.5% alcohol. YES PLEASE.

So I'll rack it in a week, on top of some more EKGs and 1/2oz. of bourbon-soaked oak chips, and then I will forget about it until summer.

Just to make sure I'm reading things right...

You checked after 5 days and the SG was 1.040. Left it another few days and it was down some more. Then you are going to leave it for another week, then secondary? Only 2 weeks in a primary?

This big of a beer would benifet from staying on the yeast for at least three whole weeks. I'd give it some more time. Also, consider dry hopping and oaking closer to kegging/bottling. Letting it age for that long on hops and oak might produce some funky flavors. It is easy to over oak. Those flavors also fade with time, so you will benifet from doing it closer to when you will be drinking it.

Here's my 2 cents. Leave it on the yeast for a total of 1 month. Rack to a secondary, flush with CO2 if you can and let it age for a few months. A week or so before you are ready to bottle/keg, throw in the burbon soaked oak and hops. After 3 days, start sampling. When it is oaky enough, siphon right out into a keg or your bottling bucket.

Alright, I'll leave it for a month on the yeast. No danger of autolysis? (Honestly, I don't even know what that means, I just hear people getting worried about it once in a while).

And second, what is flushing with C02? What's the purpose, and how would I do it?

Autolysis is pretty much when the yeast cells start rotting. The effect is that of roadkill. I'd say don't let it sit anywhere that your temps will get excessive (under 80) and you will be fine for 4 weeks.

Flushing the secondary with CO2 is a precaution to minimize the exposure to oxygen. Too much contact with air can cause a stale flavor, so it can be a good thing to do especially for long term aging. It is mostly something that people who keg do because they have a source of CO2 at hand, however I keg and I have never done it. A quick squirt of gas from a CO2 tank will flush the air out of a fermenter and then stay put since CO2 is significantly heavier than air. After fermentation beer is saturated with CO2 for the temp. A little agitation makes it come out of solution, so after racking it should make a little CO2 hat for itself in a matter of minutes. Even more comes out with an increase in temperature, and I often secondary warmer than I primary.

I've never had a wheat wine, but I'm very intrigued!

Sounds interesting. I might have to try to find one of those "Old Pappy's" to get an idea what a beer like this would be like.

Just bottled PREHISTORICISMS two days ago!

I sampled it at bottling and it tastes ABSOLUTELY DIVINE. The smell is otherworldly, soft bourbon and oak and a great bit of wheat character with a VERY CLEAN finish, due to the neutral yeast. There is absolutely no cloying sweetness at all, which I was worried about just because of the nature of the thing.

It was in primary for one month, secondary for four months with .5oz bourbon-soaked-oak and 6oz of bourbon added straight in, and I intend to let it age in the bottle for at least three more months. It finished out at a very healthy 1.029, giving it approximately 11.8% alcohol; adding 6oz of 80proof bourbon surely added to the ABV but I'm not exactly sure by how much, so I'm calling it 12% before carbonating and 12.5% at finish.

I'll be sure to update you guys when its done, but so far it smells and tastes like the best brew I've ever created!

Awesome dude!!!

I've had the Ol' Pappy's.... and I was super bummed the last time I visited and it wasn't available.

How close is your recipe to Ol Pappy? I really enjoyed the sort of caramel flavor I got from it. I am definitely planning on brewing this.

Keep us updated.

How'd this turn out?

I am going to make this recipe in March during my R&R. It should be done aging right around the time I come home from deployment. I will put it into the unit's "Welcome Back" party at my house the weekend we get back. Thanks for the recipe!

AwesomeSquad said:

How'd this turn out?

Click to expand...

I was wondering the same thing.

I've been looking for a wheat wine recipe that I can use some honey in, got 3 pounds.