Need advice/input on a Wheat Ale recipe

Here's a recipe I want to try. Any advice/input about changing amounts is fine with me. I've only been brewing for a little while and this will be my first extract without following a recipe, I've only ever deviated a little on recipes that i've followed. It's just based on others I have seen.

This is supposed to be for a 23 L batch, so approx 6 gal.

Here it is:

-4.4 lbs Light LME
-1 lb Weizen (60% wheat/40% barley)
-1 lb Canadian 2 Row (steep until water is 160 degrees)
-1 lb Flaked Barley (steep until water is 160 degrees)
-1 oz East Kent Goldings hops 60 min
-1 oz Saaz (or should I us Citra?) 10 min
-2 oz orange peel
-1 oz clementine peel
-Safbrew WB-06

I would add the orange & clementine at the end of the boil to just draw a bit of the flavour and to kill any nasties that may be there.

Thanks in advance for any advice

5 minutes left in the boil is a great time to add your orange peel. 2oz is possibly a little on the high side. I used 3oz one time and it almost had a bittering effect on the beer, it was kind of weird. The only time I have used the WB-06, my beer turned out to be very much a heffe. I wasn't really going for that so much, but if you are then I think it's a great choice. I've never used flaked barley in a wheat, but I bet it will be good. Let us know how the recipe turns out, I'd say you have a pretty solid start here. Maybe a little light on actual wheat, but that's the fun in creating your own recipe.

5 minutes left in the boil is a great time to add your orange peel. 2oz is possibly a little on the high side. I used 3oz one time and it almost had a bittering effect on the beer, it was kind of weird.

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Using whole orange peel will have a bittering effect. Rather than the whole peel, you should use only the zest (that's the colored outer part of the peel/rind). That's where the aromatic oils are. The white pith underneath the zest is very bitter - go on, taste it - and should not go in your beer. It doesn't contribute any fruit flavor. So don't use the dried peel from your lhbs, take fresh zest from fresh fruit.

Rather than worrying about ounces, think in terms of how many fruits you are zesting. Put 1 in the boil, at <5 minutes (flameout is best), after fermentation is done put 1 or 2 in the fermenter for 5-7 days. The post-fermentation zest should be soaked in a little vodka for a couple of days before it goes in the fermenter (yes, put the vodka in the fermenter too).

Captain Damage said:

Using whole orange peel will have a bittering effect. Rather than the whole peel, you should use only the zest (that's the colored outer part of the peel/rind). That's where the aromatic oils are. The white pith underneath the zest is very bitter - go on, taste it - and should not go in your beer. It doesn't contribute any fruit flavor. So don't use the dried peel from your lhbs, take fresh zest from fresh fruit.

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Makes good sense, fresh zest it is!

Never use the orange peel in bags you might find at your LHBS. They are garbage compared to fresh zest. My favorite zests to use are from large navel oranges or seville oranges. Seville can be pretty hard to find though but the zest packs a punch that your average, run-of-the-mill orange just lacks. But as I said, navel oranges are good in a pinch.

I'd go all wheat extract for a wheat beer. You really only have a little bit of wheat in there, I probably wouldn't call it a wheat beer. Remember the wheat extracts are only about half wheat anyhow.

Also you should probably up the extract for a 6 gallon batch. Not including your steeping grains, your OG would be 1030. Normal range for an american wheat is 1040 to 1055. If you take the DME up to 3# you would get 1046.

The max you could get out of the steeping grains would be ~12 points. So 4.4# LME, 3# DME + steeping grains at 100% eff would get you 1058. More likely you'll hit around 1050

This is what I finally decided to go with.

3 kg Light LME
.5 kg Wheat DME
.25 kg High Malt Glucose
.5 kg Canadian 2 Row (steep for 45 min @ 155)
.5 kg Flaked Barley (steep for 45 min @ 155)
1 oz East Kent Goldings hops
1 oz Citra hops
2 medium sized naval oranges (just the zest and little bit of the rind for bittering and flavour)
Nottingham Ale Yeast

OG was 1.055. FG was 1.008. It turned out to be a very very good beer. I'll be making it again before summer.

How strong was the orange flavour that came through off two oranges ?
I have just added the Zeist of 1 to my all extract wheat and was worried it would be to over powering ??

Actually it wasn't that strong at all. I found the citra hops gave off a nice citrusy aroma and really nice flavour that went along well with the bit of orange flavour that came through.