aging an imperial wheat

[rexbanner]

I have an imperial wheat nearing the end of primary now and I was curious as to whether this beer is worth aging. Here's the recipe:

8 lbs 2 row
6 lbs wheat
1 oz warrior @ 60
og of 1.072

It was also supposed to get an oz of cascade @ 10 and an oz of citra @ flameout but I was too high to remember. I actually decided that this was a good thing because I thought that maybe this beer could do with a bit of aging, and then I'd add the cascade and citra as hop tea right before this bad boy hits the keg. Hop flavor fades over time, so adding the hops at the end of the boil would be kind of pointless since they would just fade away.

Should this beer be aged? Wheats don't seem like they ever need much aging, but this is a big beer. It will be in primary for at least 1 month. What do you think? 2 weeks secondary? 1 month? My beers always ferment nice and cold so off-flavors are never an issue.

 

[JonK331]

You could age it but it will clarify. I'd at least taste it young though.

 

[jimmythefoot]

i aged a 1090 dunkel for like 5 weeks and then kegged. first thing i realized that it needed more time to mellow out in the corny. second my psi was set at 10 psi, way to low. this stuff tasted better at around 14 or 15 psi. i had a glass the other day and it was a nice mellow dunkel. drink it young and notice the barley.
here was my recipe
10 lb wheat LME
1/2 lb carapils
1/2 crystal 80
1/4 lb of roasted barley
trappist yeast, 1 vial
cent. hops at 50 min, 25 min, 5 min.

next time i would up the cara to 1 lb and change the crystal to 120 and up to a whole lb also. also would put an oz of cent weighted in a bag in the keg.

 

[jtakacs]

i have an imperial wit that wasn't bulk aged, but its getting better and better each one i crack from the bottle... age has certainly helped make it a better beer.

 

[rexbanner]

i have an imperial wit that wasn't bulk aged, but its getting better and better each one i crack from the bottle... age has certainly helped make it a better beer.

Cool. Did you use a fast-flocculating yeast? I used 05, so it's probably reasonably clear right now.

 

[jtakacs]

3944... mid range, didn't care about clarity and wanted a lot of yeast character. i let hit FG and bottled at 3 weeks. its clearer than i thought it would be, but certainly not clear.