Amarillo American Wheat w/ 1968

[timmyo]

I'm very new to this. I've been reading on this site for around 4 years and feel like I've learned a lot. But nothing can take the place of experience and I have none. I would really love some feedback on this recipe. I would think that this recipe could be adjusted several different ways. I'm curious as to what you think it will be like as written. My main concern is that I never see recipes where the grains are in whole pounds. They are almost always in decimals of pounds. But I made this based on recipes that I "think" I would like and the Brewer'sFriend software that I used makes me think this might be what I want. So here it goes. Let me have it! I welcome all feedback!

3.5 Gallon Batch 5.0 Gallon Boil 90 Min Boil Stove Top

3# Red Wheat
2# Vienna
2# Flaked Oats
1# Honey Malt
1# Flaked Wheat

.25 oz Amarillo @ 60 Min
.75 oz Amarillo @ 15 Min
.75 oz Amarillo @ 5 Min
2.25 oz Amarillo Dry Hop

Mash around 152 F for 60ish Min
Probably dunk sparge in as much water as I can
Pitch 1968 ESB yeast around 65 F

 

[JohnSand]

Hi Tim, welcome!
I don't use a lot of wheat, so may not be the best source. I like honey malt, but find that 1# in a five gallon batch is plenty, and takes a little time to mellow. I started brewing with kits, they were simple and let me learn the process and become comfortable while I continued to study brewing. My first original recipe was a SMaSH (Single Malt and Single Hop), it was okay. When I create recipes now, I usually consult successful published recipes to guide me. I do this in cooking as well.
Good luck with it, keep us posted.

 

[timmyo]

Hi Tim, welcome!
I don't use a lot of wheat, so may not be the best source. I like honey malt, but find that 1# in a five gallon batch is plenty, and takes a little time to mellow. I started brewing with kits, they were simple and let me learn the process and become comfortable while I continued to study brewing. My first original recipe was a SMaSH (Single Malt and Single Hop), it was okay. When I create recipes now, I usually consult successful published recipes to guide me. I do this in cooking as well.
Good luck with it, keep us posted.

Does that mean that I should use less than 0.5# of honey malt and make sure I let it age an extra week or three?

Is there a good place to post recipe questions that will get a lot of feedback? Or am I in the right place?

Thank you for your feedback and knowledge!

 

[chickypad]

There is a Recipes/Ingredients forum that you might want to post in next time to get better feedback. There is also a Recipes section on the black top bar for proven recipes where you can search by style.

My 2 cents: I like American wheats to drink light and crisp so my advice would be based on that using just wheat and 2-row, maybe some Vienna, and drink them young. I wouldn't use all those oats which will make it seem fuller, or as I always see Yooper describe them as giving a slick mouthfeel, which I think is spot on. Now having said all that, with the 9 lb grainbill for 3.5 gals and the hop amounts it looks like you are not going for a traditional Am wheat anyway, and more of an imperial, malty but well hoppped sort of wheat beer? In that case you can ignore my advice.

Lastly it's kind of an interesting choice for yeast, are you just using what you have on hand? More common for an american wheat would be plain old US-05, or even a kolsh yeast (again thinking light and crisp, whereas the 1968 will probably be less attenuating). Or my personal favorite is Wyeast 1010. At any rate, have fun with it!

 

[Andre3000]

Mash around 152 F for 60ish Min
Probably dunk sparge in as much water as I can
Pitch 1968 ESB yeast around 65 F

Have you considered your brewhouse efficiency? At 65% that's still approximately 1.060 @ 3.5 gallons. Other than that, I'm a big fan of the recipe you've proposed but I would cut the honey malt in half. 11% is a lot. Make it up with Vienna.

I've been playing around with this yeast lately and it's quite interesting. I first used it with the zombie dust clone and it was absolutely stellar due to the high level of late hops balancing well with the sweetness of the crystal malts, higher ABV, and relatively lower attenuation of 1968.

I recently made a blonde ale with it according to my Helles recipe and it also turned out quite well, albeit sweet.

You could mash a bit lower to encourage it to attenuate, say 149. Like others have mentioned, the concern with 1968 is if it attenuates on the low end and with the wheat it may make for a fairly perceptively sweet beer. That said if you've already bought the yeast, you aren't going to make bad beer with it! Next time I might chose 1056.

Of course this is all just my opinion. By far and away the best thing about homebrewing is experimentation! Good luck and let us know what you decide and how it goes.

 

[JohnSand]

Does that mean that I should use less than 0.5# of honey malt and make sure I let it age an extra week or three?

Is there a good place to post recipe questions that will get a lot of feedback? Or am I in the right place?

Thank you for your feedback and knowledge!

Yes, I would cut the Honey Malt to a half pound.
It will condition in the fermenter, keg, or bottle.
I can move this to another section if you like.
You're welcome, glad to help. We have many helpful brewers here, and many methods and viewpoints.

 

[timmyo]

Thanks for the input! I'm using 1968 because I really like 3 Floyds beer and I want to see how it turns out. I must be missing something or don't understand something. I'm not expecting a really high abv. I'm hoping for around 70% efficiency but I'm not sure what to expect. The software says it'll be around 5.9%.

 

[chickypad]

Your calculations might be okay then. I get more like 79-80% efficiency on my 3 gal BIAB batches so 9 lbs of grain sounded like a lot to me. I also wasn't taking into account the lower attenuation of the 1968 so I was thinking you were going to end up with a 7.5-8.0% beer. Looks like you'll be more like 1.065 to 1.020, so that would get you about 5.9%. It still sounds kinda sweet to me but if those are the range of the Gumballhead specs I guess it must work because that is a popular beer. What IBU's are you targeting?

 

[timmyo]

Your calculations might be okay then. I get more like 79-80% efficiency on my 3 gal BIAB batches so 9 lbs of grain sounded like a lot to me. I also wasn't taking into account the lower attenuation of the 1968 so I was thinking you were going to end up with a 7.5-8.0% beer. Looks like you'll be more like 1.065 to 1.020, so that would get you about 5.9%. It still sounds kinda sweet to me but if those are the range of the Gumballhead specs I guess it must work because that is a popular beer. What IBU's are you targeting?

It is somewhat based on a Gumballhead clone I found here. But I was hoping to get more body with the oats. Not sure if I want it to be slick. Maybe I'll brew it without the oats this time or next time. I also added a lot more wheat than what the Gumballhead called for. I love wheat beers so I figured more would be better. I forgot to include rice hulls in my recipe. The software says it's going to be between 37-38 IBU's.

 

[timmyo]

Have you considered your brewhouse efficiency? At 65% that's still approximately 1.060 @ 3.5 gallons. Other than that, I'm a big fan of the recipe you've proposed but I would cut the honey malt in half. 11% is a lot. Make it up with Vienna.

I've been playing around with this yeast lately and it's quite interesting. I first used it with the zombie dust clone and it was absolutely stellar due to the high level of late hops balancing well with the sweetness of the crystal malts, higher ABV, and relatively lower attenuation of 1968.

I recently made a blonde ale with it according to my Helles recipe and it also turned out quite well, albeit sweet.

You could mash a bit lower to encourage it to attenuate, say 149. Like others have mentioned, the concern with 1968 is if it attenuates on the low end and with the wheat it may make for a fairly perceptively sweet beer. That said if you've already bought the yeast, you aren't going to make bad beer with it! Next time I might chose 1056.

Of course this is all just my opinion. By far and away the best thing about homebrewing is experimentation! Good luck and let us know what you decide and how it goes.

I have no idea what to expect from my efficiency. I guess I'm hoping for it to be close to 70% If 1968 has a low attenuation, does that mean that even if I have a hight efficiency, the abv will stall at a certain point or it won't turn the sugars into alcohol???

I can mash lower if you think that's a good idea. Or I can at least try to!

Thanks!

 

[timmyo]

There's also a really good chance that I'm trying to combine too much into one beer. The more I look at other recipes and think about it, the more I think I'm cramming too much into one recipe. Maybe no honey malt in this one. Maybe I should do less than half of the oats.

 

[RM-MN]

I forgot to include rice hulls in my recipe

With BIAB you don't need rice hulls, the bag itself forms the filter.

I guess I'm hoping for it to be close to 70% If 1968 has a low attenuation, does that mean that even if I have a hight efficiency, the abv will stall at a certain point or it won't turn the sugars into alcohol???

Different yeasts have differing ability to eat the variety of sugars in the wort. Some of them cannot eat maltotriose and that leaves you with a higher final gravity. The difference between OG and FG determines how much alcohol is produced. Unless your expectation is to get drunk quickly this isn't a major item. I like the taste of beer and its ability to quench my thirst. I sometimes brew a low alcohol beer intentionally so I can have a beer and still be safe to run equipment.

 

[RM-MN]

Part of the problem in planning for the brewhouse efficiency is that we don't know who is milling the grain and that milling is the biggest factor in efficiency. Most LHBS that mill grains for you will have the mill set rather coarse so that the people with conventional mash tuns won't get a stuck mash. That coarse setting will let a lot of the wheat go through without being crushed and that means that your wheat beer will be in the 50% efficiency range instead of in the 70's to 80's. If you plan to do several wheat beers or rye beers, you need your own mill so they get crushed properly. I use a Corona mill and it works well for BIAB and being that I have it set tight, I expect my brewhouse efficiency to exceed 85% for most brews. These mills do not have to be expensive.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ktaxon-G...t-Mill-Crank-Cast-Home-Kitchen-Tool/168845401

 

[timmyo]

Part of the problem in planning for the brewhouse efficiency is that we don't know who is milling the grain and that milling is the biggest factor in efficiency. Most LHBS that mill grains for you will have the mill set rather coarse so that the people with conventional mash tuns won't get a stuck mash. That coarse setting will let a lot of the wheat go through without being crushed and that means that your wheat beer will be in the 50% efficiency range instead of in the 70's to 80's. If you plan to do several wheat beers or rye beers, you need your own mill so they get crushed properly. I use a Corona mill and it works well for BIAB and being that I have it set tight, I expect my brewhouse efficiency to exceed 85% for most brews. These mills do not have to be expensive.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ktaxon-G...t-Mill-Crank-Cast-Home-Kitchen-Tool/168845401

I

You're probably right. I should lower my expected efficiency in my software and add some base malt.

I'll try and get a mill soon. Thanks for the help!

 

[Steveruch]

1968 drops out pretty quickly and if you want higher attenuation you need to rouse it a couple of times, or more, to keep it working.

 

[timmyo]

Part of the problem in planning for the brewhouse efficiency is that we don't know who is milling the grain and that milling is the biggest factor in efficiency. Most LHBS that mill grains for you will have the mill set rather coarse so that the people with conventional mash tuns won't get a stuck mash. That coarse setting will let a lot of the wheat go through without being crushed and that means that your wheat beer will be in the 50% efficiency range instead of in the 70's to 80's. If you plan to do several wheat beers or rye beers, you need your own mill so they get crushed properly. I use a Corona mill and it works well for BIAB and being that I have it set tight, I expect my brewhouse efficiency to exceed 85% for most brews. These mills do not have to be expensive.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ktaxon-G...t-Mill-Crank-Cast-Home-Kitchen-Tool/168845401

I got that exact mill from Walmart. I'm worried about using it though. It is painted and every time I touch it my fingers turn grey/silver. Is it safe to use? Is there a way to "clean" this so that I can start using it?

 

[RM-MN]

Wash it good in hot soapy water. What is getting on your hands is probably oils that it was packed in. It should be just cast iron. Mine has no paint on it nor does it show paint in the picture.