Honey Wheat Critique

[RDbrew]

My buddy is getting married in a few months and I am planning on brewing this up for him as a special present. It is going to be my first self-formulated recipe so I plan on running a trial 1gal batch first just to see how it goes, but if anyone could look through here and let me know what they think as well it would be much appreciated.

The styles that he likes are typically on a sweeter / lighter side (i.e. no IIPAs this time) so I used a wheat as a base for its light feel but brewed with a non-hefe yeast.

Here is what I came up with for a 5gal batch:

OG:1.051
FG:1.008
ABV: 5.6%
IBU: 23.1 (not sure if this is a bit high for the style he would like but I think it will be offset by the extra sweetness)
SRM: 7.9


Steep 30 min @ 155F

0.5 lb Crystal 10L
0.5 lb Honey Malt

4.8 lb Wheat DME

1 oz Cascade [5.5%] @ 60min
.5 oz Cascade [5.5%] @ 10min

1 oz Sweet Orange Peel @ 5min
1 lb Orange Blossom Honey @ Flameout

Yeast: WLP001 California Ale


If anyone has any comments or ideas I look forward to hearing them!

 

[sweed]

Well it certainly looks good. What the expected OG and FG? At first I thought you just had the 4.8lbs of wheat dme until I saw the honey at the end.

 

[RDbrew]

I went ahead and edited it to include some more info.. .SRM, ABV, OG/FG.

Yea just the DME would be a bit too light!

 

[Anon]

Those additions sound awesome

 

[RDbrew]

Brewed a 1 gallon batch of this up to test... OG was almost right on money 1.052. Took a 2 week sample and read. SG 1.012 but had a very light / watery taste to it. Very thin

I'm guessing this must be from the honey? (its the only ingredient I never used before). Any ideas on how to remedy this (perhaps Carapils to add more body?) or should it blend better as it continues to sit?

 

[sweed]

Maybe take out the honey, that may make the FG to end up lower which will thin it out. Maybe you can use the honey for carbonation? If yuo take out the honey at the end, and up the dme, the OG will be the same (as long as the right about is substituted) but the FG will be higher/ a little more body. I havn't used carapills so I'm no help there!

 

[RDbrew]

Ended up adding .4 oz maltodextrin (so 2 oz per 5gal) during bottling. Brought the body up just enough.

Tasting notes: Lighter body, crisp w/ citrus hint. Good summer beer