Bohemian Pilsner/Wheat lager Cross

[permo]

I have a nice big starter of WLP830(German Lager) yeast spinning away right now and I am trying to make a nice lager beer that will be crystal clear and ready for summertime.

I will be doing a 15 gallon batch and I am going to use Pilsner malt as the base and German Halertauer hops in the kettle. I know I can make a great beer with only pilsen and Halertauer. I am thinking of maybe adding %10 malted white wheat to the grist. Do you think this would add a nice breadiness and softness to the beer or should I just leave it alone as a bohemian pils?

 

[friarsmith]

The pils malt should provide some subtle bready flavors depending on your water and mash procedure. The wheat should improve head retention, but I think at 10% its flavor will be barely noticeable.

FWIW, I made a 70:30 (German Pils:White Wheat) Lager last spring fermented w/ 34/70 and added orange zest at flameout. The wheat flavor was somewhere between subtle and noticeable. It cleared out beautifully after lagering a few months and was delicious. Reminiscent of a Munich Helles w/ a touch of wheat & orange.

 

[SanPancho]

new style in germany is webopils. pils and wheat brewed separately, then blended in the cellar at pretty much 50/50 if i recall. was supposed to be popular, never had any when i was there though.

 

[shaky6]

For what it's worth, dredging up old talk, I haven't been able to find a mention on Google search for a "webopils" besides this one.

 

[Comfort_Zone]

At that level you'll just get awesome head formation and retention. As you get higher and higher the beer actually becomes super dry in my experience. Not that I mind!

 

[dmtaylor]

Interestingly, recent genomic studies have proven that WLP800 Pilsner "Lager" yeast is actually Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ale yeast), AND that WLP320 American Hefeweizen yeast is a VERY close relative. So....... I wonder if this "webopils" style could/should be brewed using WLP800 or even WLP320? Fermented at any temperature you like. Seems a logical conclusion if I were brewing it.