Dunkelweizen recipe some suggestions for a newb?

[FuelshopMcgee]

Hey guys just finished my 2nd batch ever both of which were extract recipe kits. I had a good time doing it and I want to continue with the hobby. I was looking at Deathbrewers partial mash DIY https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-partial-mash-brewing-pics-75231/ and I wanted to give it a shot. While reading his post I found this recipe for a dunkelweizen

Grains:
3 lbs Wheat Malt
2 lbs Munich Malt
¼ lbs Chocolate Malt (pale chocolate is wonderful in this recipe)

Extract: 3 lbs Wheat Dry Malt Extract

Hops: 0.75 oz Tettnanger, hallertau or saaz (at ~4% AA)

Yeast: WLP 300

ferment in the mid 60s if you can

One of the things I have fallen in love with over here in Germany (where im stationed) is the dunkel's so I would love to give this a shot...Im still learning beer tools and made this recipe based off of his just going off of what I could find on Midwest and trying to keep everything within the style...The orange peel I dont imagine is part of the traditional but I wanted to just try it out. I think orange and chocolate were made to be together so hopefully that comes through some what..

Grains
carawheat (weyerman) 3 lbs
munich 10L 2 lb
Pale Chocolate (Thomas Fawcett & Sons) 1/2 lb

Extract
Munton & Fision wheat DME 3 lbs

Hops & extras
Hallertau pellet hops 1 oz (60 min boil)
dried sweet orange peel .50 oz boiled for 15 min

Yeast
White Labs Hefeweizen IV Ale Yeast WL380

Not sure about this one I couldnt find WLP300 so not sure if I'm on the right track or not....I have also only used dry yeast so far so making a starter will be a new experience for me I hope I have all the equipment needed for one...


ALSO I am afraid to by the liquid yeast because I am in Germany and mail can take forever to get to us. There are no LHBS near me that I know of and ive looked on hobbybrauer.de and cant seem to find them...Is there a dry yeast that can do this recipe any justice?
Any help at all would be appreciated before I hit the checkout button

 

[undallas]

Since you are in germany, you can probably get a couple bottles of Weihenstephaner hefeweissbier that has live yeast in there. This is the same strain as WL300.
You just need to build a starter (just search for starter and you'll find tons of threads about it)

dry yeast is no match for the real thing... hefe is almost about yeast with malt. Hop just support it a little flavoring.

Go for it and try your recipe... this is the fun part of homebrewing... experiementing.

 

[FuelshopMcgee]

yeah thats the thing I have not found anywhere near me that sells brewing supplies..I have not seen that beer in any of the loca stores but I will keep an eye out for it...The idea of using a beer for its yeast is new to me can you elaborate? I imagine its a bottle conditioned beer that has a large amount of yeast settlement on the bottom you drink most of it leaving about 1/2 inch and then use that???

 

[DeathBrewer]

The WLP380 is my go-to yeast for dunkelweizens. It gives more of an apricot flavor and doesn't have quite the banana that WLP300 has.

I use the WLP300 in my "banana bread ale" dunkelweizen.

I would stick with liquid yeast regardless. If you get it through the mail, just make a starter to ensure it's viability.

I'm not partial to orange peel or any citrusy flavors in my hefeweizens, but give it a shot, it might be great.

The rest of the recipe looks perfect. Pale chocolate is AWESOME.

 

[FuelshopMcgee]

nice..I am not a fan of big chunks of fruit in my weizen beers but I do like subtle citrus hopefully I'm not going overboard with it...and I was actually shooting for less banana because it seems that every other beer I pick up around here is loaded with it and I need a break...Right on thanks for all the help guys my stuff is on order and if im lucky it will be here in a week or so (military mail is extremely unpredictable)

 

[TrojanMan]

I just made a dunkelweisen, though I did it all-grain.

Your technique looks solid and I'll see if I can give you any pointers as far as recipe goes.


* Using the Weyermann roasted wheat malts makes it delicious. Excellent products. They have chocolate wheat as well as the carawheat if you want to replace the chocolate malt.
* Careful of diastatic power if you want to get the most from your grain. If you're just looking for color and some character then that's fine, but your most efficient extraction will include some 6-row or other high-enzyme malt to offset the wheat.
* You may want to skip the orange peel. My first hefeweisen used orange peel and anise. It came out wonderfully, but I realized quickly that I'd rather get the recipe down and then go tweaking it. Since then, I've used spices sparingly even if it's in the style. Heironymous in "Brew Like a Monk" offers the advice: If you can identify the spice by name, you've used too much. IMHO, hefe/dunkel doesn't need spices. Of course, it's your beer so feel free to experiment as you will.

Just be aware that orange peel in the boil comes through as more of a spice, not really a orange-y flavor. If you want that "chocolate orange" flavor, I think you're better off twisting a peel into the glass to release some oil (rub the rim with the twisted peel too) and then pouring. True, it'll impair head formation a bit, but it'll give you a fresher flavor. Just a thought.
* I'd increase the hop rate a bit. The dark malts will obscure some of the bitterness, so I like to bump the dunkel up to about 18-20 IBU as compared to the 13-15 for hefeweisen. That works out to about 1 to 1.25 oz. of noble hops in a 60-min boil. Less if you're using pellets, though. I also add in hops for aroma and flavor, just because I think Hallertau is delicious. Maybe that's my American palate getting the better of me.

* Good yeast is crucial. Don't be afraid to reculture from commercial bottles, it's actually very easy. Get a #2 stopper and an airlock. It fits in the neck of a beer bottle wonderfully. Get ready to drink a beer and sanitize the fitting, airlock and, if you're real gungy, the neck of the bottle you're going to drink. Have your sterile wort ready to go, about enough to fill the botle up halfway (so for a 16-oz. Weihenstephaner, about 7-8 oz of starter). Open the beer and pour it down to the last ounce or two where you would normally swirl the last little bit to get the sediment. Swirl it as normal, but then add your sterile wort to the bottle to bring it up about halfway. Remember the inside of the bottle is already clean and sanitary. Place the stopper and airlock on it and leave it for about two days, swirling as often as you think of it. You'll have a few ounces of viable yeast slurry in no time. It's recommended that you bring that ammount up again so you can pitch a full pint of slurry, but it'll work as it is well enough if you don't mind underpitching a bit.

 

[Bob]

carawheat (weyerman) 3 lbs
munich 10L 2 lb
Pale Chocolate (Thomas Fawcett & Sons) 1/2 lb

Are you sure you want to use that much Carawheat? I wouldn't - with that much caramel malt, I'd fear it's ending up awful sweet. I think you're better off with Weyermann's Dark Wheat Malt instead.

Cheers!

Bob

 

[DeathBrewer]

Woah, he's right. I didn't see the quantities. carawheat is a crystal malt.

 

[944play]

I think Weihenstephan may use a bottling strain....
Yeasts from Bottle Conditioned Beers

 

[FuelshopMcgee]

again HBT here to save the day...I did not understand completely the cara wheat I will order the darkwheat malt as well..unfortunately I already put my order in but I will hold ontothe carawheat perhaps work it in as well but not use nearly that much...thanks guys

 

[FuelshopMcgee]

I dont have beertools pro on this computer but do you guys think it would be interesting to add some portion of the carawheat? I've never used it before and im not sure what ratio would be acceptable but perhaps I'll give it a try!

 

[Bob]

I think adding a bit of Carawheat would make for an interesting beer. Weyermann on their website says not to exceed 15% of the grist with Carawheat. I wouldn't exceed a pound in five gallons.

Prost!

Bob

 

[FuelshopMcgee]

sounds good I will try it out...

I think I need to do a bit more research on ingredient types before I go building up another recipe though...Does anyone have a good link to familiarize myself with common ingredients so I know what im ordering...

To be completely honest I was going off of what deathbrewer had put for his recipe then changing things simply for the fact that beertools made them look fine and they sounded good...

 

[krunner]

Does anyone have a good link to familiarize myself with common ingredients so I know what im ordering...

This page has helped me learn a GREAT deal about the differences in grains, has some great links on it https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/ingredient-guides-redux-107308/

 

[stevesbeer]

Fuelshop.....I was stationed there in the 80's and am green with envy. I just whipped up your recipe except my LHBS had a hard time finding the carawheat so we split 1.5 lbs of light wheat malt and 1.5 lbs of crystal malt and I used a Briess Bavarian Wheat DME. Can't wait to enjoy this one and will let you know how it turns out. I've been trying to imitate the Warsteiner Dunkel on tap at my local German Pub....it's my favorite and my last brew I used an Iron Mountain LME porter mix with a bit of flavoring hops and added a few lbs of amber DME and it was sure close!

Thanks for the recipe!

 

[FuelshopMcgee]

Stevesbeer its great to hear from another Spang veteran! What was/is your career field here? I would love to hear some good beer spots from you and see if they are still around! I am a fuel shop guy but I recently moved over to QA which is probably the best move I've ever made. I havent seen the warsteiner dunkel on tap but I will keep my eyes open for sure. As far as the recipe goes its probably a good thing you didnt find carawheat if you saw a few posts down from mine the guys figured out how much I was using and said it will be way to sweet (im still learning). Report back and tell us how yours turned out as your a bit ahead of me already. Here is my recipe as it sits now.

Grains
carawheat (weyerman) 1.0 lbs
Dark Wheat (Weyermann®)- 2.0 lb
munich 10L 2 lb
Pale Chocolate (Thomas Fawcett & Sons) 1/2 lb

Extract
Munton & Fision wheat DME 3 lbs

Hops & extras
Hallertau pellet hops 1.0 oz (50 min boil)
Hallertau select hops .5 oz (5 min boil)
Hallertau Select (Germany) Pellet Hops .5 oz (dry hop)
dried sweet orange peel .25 oz boiled for 15 min

Yeast
White Labs Hefeweizen IV Ale Yeast WL380

Prost!

 

[stevesbeer]

Hey Fuelshop
It has been a long time but there was a quiet little place where you had to walk to about a mile from the base which had a "dunkel" on tap....always good. No idea what the name was! I was in Civil Engineering Power Production....I am still in the power system industry! I am partial to porters and my first brew was a porter LME kit that turned out great! I almost made it back to Germany in 1995 as a SMSGT but turned down the line number and assignment for retirement.......sometimes I wish I hadn't.
Enjoy Germany and bring home some good recipes!

 

[FuelshopMcgee]

Im sure I speak for most everyone when I say there is no shame in serving your country for 20 years and turning down a few more years for retirement! Im back and forth on the fence every single day with my plans for the future...

All of my ingredients showed up and the yeast made it here w/in 4 days of mailing so I think everything should be good. I will report back after the boil day...I plan on putting this 5 gal batch in a 6 gal bb for primary do you guys thing it might be a little explosive on the fermentation or should I be good?