American Wheat Beer Hoppy Session Wheat Beer

[carlk47]

Did a “double batch” this weekend, really just 7 gals split in half to eventually fill 2 3gal kegs. The brew day was probably the smoothest I’ve had in a while and looking forward to kegging them soon. Will add the dry hops tonight at day 2. Cheers!

 

[mergs]

I just brewed a variation of this last weekend and kegged it. My main change was to use WLP351 Bavarian Yeast so this one is going to taste more like a dry-hopped Franziskaner Hefeweizen. Its still green in the keg and needs to condition but its turning out very nicely. I can see this being a regular offering in my kegerator. I've used Imperial's Dry Hop in braufessor's original NEIPA recipe from which this is based on and it works great for that and would work well for this one too.

 

[BBQB]

I just brewed a variation of this last weekend and kegged it. My main change was to use WLP351 Bavarian Yeast so this one is going to taste more like a dry-hopped Franziskaner Hefeweizen. Its still green in the keg and needs to condition but its turning out very nicely. I can see this being a regular offering in my kegerator. I've used Imperial's Dry Hop in braufessor's original NEIPA recipe from which this is based on and it works great for that and would work well for this one too.

I look forward to hearing how the final product tastes

 

[daevid]

I've been experimenting with flour. I brewed a sour beer using about 20% all-purpose wheat flour, and a Kentucky Common (that one is ready to bottle) using a *lot* of nixtamalized corn flour and some rye flour. It works just fine for BIAB, although next time I will go with a full-volume mash instead of trying a dunk sparge because the bag drained kinda slow (so just drain it once instead of twice.) I did have a lot of fines in the fermenter; even more than usual with BIAB, but it packed down pretty tight and I didn't lose that much beer to it.

Now I need to see if whole wheat flour makes a difference...

I know you didn't get a lot of love for this post, but I brew with flour in my setup. In fact, I pretty much exclusively use AP flour when wheat is called for. I also BIAB, and the first dunk sparge is generally slow but the second is normal, and my brewhouse efficiency is high.

I brewed this recipe for the first time in April with Citra/Mosaic, 2-row and wheat flour... fermented with WY2565 Kolsch. It is the first recipe I have ever firmly known "I am keeping this on tap at all times from now on".

Thanks, Braufessor. You've created a gem.

 

[carlk47]

How quickly are you all turning this around? My FG was 1.009 at day 9 so I started my cold crash and am planning to keg at day 11, might burst carb and hoping to drink at day 12/13! Would be one of the faster beers I’ve turned over if all goes well.

 

[Blazinlow86]

How quickly are you all turning this around? My FG was 1.009 at day 9 so I started my cold crash and am planning to keg at day 11, might burst carb and hoping to drink at day 12/13! Would be one of the faster beers I’ve turned over if all goes well.

10-13 days grain to glass is my typical process. I brew every other Sunday and like to prepare everything the day before. I only have one unitank. Cheers

 

[GearHead71]

How quickly are you all turning this around? My FG was 1.009 at day 9 so I started my cold crash and am planning to keg at day 11, might burst carb and hoping to drink at day 12/13! Would be one of the faster beers I’ve turned over if all goes well.

This is exactly what I did. Just kegged it today which was day 11 (my FG was also 1.009) and should be able to drink it in 2 more days.

 

[carlk47]

This is exactly what I did. Just kegged it today which was day 11 (my FG was also 1.009) and should be able to drink it in 2 more days. View attachment 629984

What PSI are you hitting it with and for how long to burst carb?

 

[GearHead71]

What PSI are you hitting it with and for how long to burst carb?

Not sure this is the correct way, but I've got it set to 30psi right now for 2 days. Then serving pressure will probably be around 10-12. Carbonation is one of the many things I should probably research more.

 

[Blazinlow86]

Not sure this is the correct way, but I've got it set to 30psi right now for 2 days. Then serving pressure will probably be around 10-12. Carbonation is one of the many things I should probably research more.

I don't think there's a "correct" way to burst carb. It's more a shortcut. If you don't get all foam pours you got lucky and did it "correctly". Cheers

 

[carlk47]

Batch #2, 12 days after brewing. This is only 24 hours at 30psi. It’s a 3 gal batch so I’m guessing it carbs faster than 5 gals.
Yum

 

[GearHead71]

Batch #2, 12 days after brewing. YumView attachment 630152

How does it taste? Looks great!

I'm a little worried about mine. It's been cold crashing in the keg and force carbing for about 36 hours but is really hazy and has a bad after taste. I can't put my finger on what it is. Hopefully just yeast/hop debris that still needs to crash to the bottom...

 

[GearHead71]

Smells great and the initial taste is good but the after taste is throwing me off. I'm hoping it goes away in a few days.

 

[Blazinlow86]

Fwiw the first time I brewed this it tasted abit funny. I really enjoy it now and have brewed it a few times. Cheers

 

[GearHead71]

Fwiw the first time I brewed this it tasted abit funny. I really enjoy it now and have brewed it a few times. Cheers

Any idea why?

 

[Blazinlow86]

Any idea why?

Not really sure. I used imperial juice for the first time originally so maybe it was that. Last time I brewed it with imperial dryhop and it had the samish flavor. I really enjoy it now though. Cheers

 

[carlk47]

So my first batch I forgot the day 2/3 dry hops and added them at 2 weeks, this beer was definitely more of a session NEIPA. This 2nd batch I placed the dry hops at day 2 and definitely has a lower and smoother hop flavor, now I understand the “hoppy wheat beer” recipe name. Both ways were excellent but this 2nd batch will be a crowd pleaser for sure [emoji106]

 

[carlk47]

On my 3rd batch of this already, this time with WY1318 and first time fermenting in kegs. Each has 3.5 gal fermenting which should yield 2 3gal kegs. This recipe is killin it, a huge fan favorite.

 

[Blazinlow86]

I really enjoy this recipe. I did a modified version with all Citra cryo hops and used imperial dryhop yeast and it was also fantastic. Cheers

 

[Braufessor]

On my 3rd batch of this already, this time with WY1318 and first time fermenting in kegs. Each has 3.5 gal fermenting which should yield 2 3gal kegs. This recipe is killin it, a huge fan favorite.

View attachment 634815

Just finished carbing up a batch this myself.... should hit the tap tomorrow

 

[mergs]

So an update on my post from June 3: @BBQB asked in fact. I am still choking down my first batch: there's a faint sulfur like taste (it was bad after week one). Its faded over time but its still there but manageable. I actually gave it to friends tonight and they enjoyed it but I was SO self conscious about the sulfur undertone. I used White Labs Bavarian Hefe yeast but I'm not sure I can blame that. I must have screwed something up (not enough rigorous boil, lid partially on while chilling in an ice bath <- prolly it!). I'm wondering if maybe I botched my water chemistry. Anyway its drinkable and OK now. I may try to use the same yeast if for anything to make sure its not the yeast and my process but we'll see.

Good news is since then I have done a Coconut Wheat beer variation of this recipes that I am really enjoying (no sulfur!). Its a take off of something I had from Ecliptic Brewing where it was ever so faint of a coconut taste. Mines even fainter so I'll bump up the dosage of coconut on the next batch just a tad. Oh, and I used the WL006 East Coast IPA yeast and its delish. I saw frightening oil slicks on the krausen during fermentation and thought it was infected, but boy I don't taste anything bad... I taste a dry hopped american wheat with a delicate coconut undertone that is lovely. This may be a winner once I dial it in. 5 gal batch:

6 lb American - Pale 2-Row 37 1.8 60%
2 lb American - Wheat 38 1.8 20%
1 lb Flaked Barley 32 2.2 10%
1 lb Flaked Oats 33 2.2 10%
5 oz dry unsweetened coconut Flavor Boil 1 hr.
1 oz CTZ Pellet 15.5 Boil 15 min 3.07
2 oz Citra Pellet 11 Whirlpool at 170 °F 0 min 29.96
2 oz Mosaic Pellet 12.5 Whirlpool at 170 °F 0 min 34.05
2 oz Citra Pellet 11 Dry Hop 3 days
2 oz Mosaic Pellet 12.5 Dry Hop 3 days
1 oz Azacca Pellet 15 Dry Hop 3 days

As you can prolly see I am blending @Braufessor 's original neipa and his session wheat in some ways but its been so fun experimenting between these two recipes because they both speak to me and dry hopping a wheat beer like a NEIPA just seems fine and dandy. Paulaner, at times, could use some dry hopping charges

 

[popquizkid]

So an update on my post from June 3: @BBQB I used White Labs Bavarian Hefe yeast but I'm not sure I can blame that.

Not sure which specific WL hefe yeast you used, but the Weihenstephan one can put off LOADS of sulfur in the first week of fermentation. It usually clears up within another week or two.

 

[italarican]

I brewed this without the Cara 20 or Flaked Barley and replaced the Citra w/ Wai-iti. I made this as a test batch before deciding if I'd brew it for a large welcome picnic we're hosting. This is definitely a winner, and I'll be brewing it for the picnic for sure! I'm calling it a Session White IPA, but tomayto/tomahto. It's amazing how clean and drinkable this is after 12 days.

Forgot to take a pic while the glass was full.

 

[jimmyjusa]

I brewed this without the Cara 20 or Flaked Barley and replaced the Citra w/ Wai-iti. I made this as a test batch before deciding if I'd brew it for a large welcome picnic we're hosting. This is definitely a winner, and I'll be brewing it for the picnic for sure! I'm calling it a Session White IPA, but tomayto/tomahto. It's amazing how clean and drinkable this is after 12 days.

Forgot to take a pic while the glass was full.View attachment 635395

I just used wai-iti hops in a blonde this morning. Excited to see how it turns out

 

[italarican]

I just used wai-iti hops in a blonde this morning. Excited to see how it turns out

This was my first time too. I'm getting some really nice & clean blueberry/strawberry notes. It is a very delicate hop. I imagine the shelf life will be short, even by dry-hop standards, but I'd only put it in a beer I planned to finish quickly anyway.

 

[jimmyjusa]

This was my first time too. I'm getting some really nice & clean blueberry/strawberry notes. It is a very delicate hop. I imagine the shelf life will be short, even by dry-hop standards, but I'd only put it in a beer I planned to finish quickly anyway.

Sounds like it will be good

 

[Adamj626]

I brew 6.5 gallons to account for loss going from Kettle to fermenter and fermenter to keg - I leave behind trub, hop material, yeast, etc. So, I end up with a full 5 gallons going into the keg at the end. I get about 84% mash efficiency. Adjust grain bill to fit your system, efficiency, etc.

Grain Bill:
I will include % of grain bill and amounts I use for 6.5 gallons.

Shoot for approximately 1.040-1.043 OG
Looking for 3.9-4.1% ABV or so

43% Rahr 2 Row (4 lbs)
43% Rahr White Wheat (4 lbs)
5.5% Flaked Oats (.5lbs)
5.5% Flaked Barley (.5lbs)
2.5% Cara 20 (.25 lbs)

Mash @ 155 for 60 minutes.

** You could probably even simplify this to something as basic as 50/50 2 Row and Wheat or Something like above but even drop the cara 20 altogether. I am sure you could sub in other base malts like pilsner, etc. I will probably play with it some more along the way, but I have brewed it 3 times as above and it is very good as is.


Hops:

30 minutes: 1 ounce Centennial (22 IBU)
Flame out: Start chiller and get wort down to 160 or below - 2 ounces each of Citra/Mosaic
Dry hop: On day 2-3..... 1 ounce each of Citra/Mosaic. Dry hops go in loose and remain until kegged on day 12.

** I would not add more hops, but I would consider going to 1 ounce each at flame out. Or, maybe going 1/2-3/4 ounce centennial at 30. If you want it a bit less hoppy, cut back a bit on first two additions. More hops might make it too harsh for such a low ABV beer though.

Water:

Use 100% RO Water for mash and sparge.
Shoot for around 50/50/50 on Calcium/Chloride/Sulfate

I add .3 grams/gallon gypsum and .3 grams/gallon CaCl to mash and sparge water.
I add .5 ml of Lactic Acid per gallon of mash water
I add .1 ml of Lactic Acid per gallon of sparge water

B'run Water Numbers for me:
Ca: 48
Mg:0
Na:8
Sulfate:45
Chloride:55
Bicarbonate:16
pH:5.30

Water - the simple version:
*Use 100% RO water
*Per 5 gallons of mash water and per 5 gallons of sparge water.
*Use a 1/4 tsp. for measuring.
*Add a heaping 1/4 tsp of both gypsum and CaCl to both mash and sparge.... This is approximately 1.5 grams of both gypsum and CaCl to both mash and sparge.
*Add lactic acid as listed above (or, add 2-3 ounces acidulated malt to grain bill.)
*That will basically get you right in the ball park

Yeast/Fermenation:

I use 1318 on this..... probably not "authentic" wheat beer, but looks, tastes, and works great. I might play around with a kolsch yeast, german ale yeast or american wheat yeast in the future.
I start it around 65 and let it free rise to 68-72.

I add dry hops on day 2-3, loose, and they stay in until I keg on day 12 or so.

Other Notes:

I have brewed this 3 times now and it is really a great beer. Quickly becoming a crowd favorite with the regulars in my basement. I made notes of a couple areas I will likely keep playing with, but this is a great session ale as it is. Going to be even better come summer....View attachment 554768

I’m late to the party, but I just brewed this beer with a different hop bill and it’s really great. Thanks for the recipe.

 

[mtnbrew]

Just brewed this last night with some cita, mosaic and melon hops for the last additions. Also, split my 10 gallon batch between Nottingham and us-05. 8 hrs in the carboy, the Nottingham is tearing it up!

 

[mtnbrew]

Kegged up 10 gallons of this yesterday! Samples tasted great. The one we fermented with Nottingham was a tropical fruit bomb, from the nose all the way through the taste. The us-05 brew was muted, wheat taste up front and the tropical fruit notes came in way at the end. Looking to see how these taste once cold and carbed. So far, these are going to be some great beer!

 

[jimmyjusa]

Kegged up 10 gallons of this yesterday! Samples tasted great. The one we fermented with Nottingham was a tropical fruit bomb, from the nose all the way through the taste. The us-05 brew was muted, wheat taste up front and the tropical fruit notes came in way at the end. Looking to see how these taste once cold and carbed. So far, these are going to be some great beer!

Thanks for the update, I seem to prefer Nottingham over us05 personally in the few batches I've tried splitting.

 

[mtnbrew]

Ok! This beer has come into its own! The us-05 version of this at week 3 is amazing!! Its a mango/peach bomb, with a easy drinking body, nice mouth feel. This beer needs 3 weeks if u use us-05. Not loving Nottingham with this beer as much.

 

[Dr.Jay]

So im planning on brewing this soon. I have no problems with the malt or hops, but I dont have access to the kolsch yeast. I can get all major dry yeasts, including lallemand new england, us05 and notty like some people mentioned before in this thread. I also have access to some liquid yeasts from a yeast bank, like Kveik Voss or hornidal o White labs 001, etc. Do you recommend I go with the always trusty Us05? Thanks

 

[z-bob]

So im planning on brewing this soon. I have no problems with the malt or hops, but I dont have access to the kolsch yeast. I can get all major dry yeasts, including lallemand new england, us05 and notty like some people mentioned before in this thread. I also have access to some liquid yeasts from a yeast bank, like Kveik Voss or hornidal o White labs 001, etc. Do you recommend I go with the always trusty Us05? Thanks

I think K-97 is a dry kolsch yeast.

 

[Dr.Jay]

I think K-97 is a dry kolsch yeast.

Yeah, I looked for that one a while ago, and none of my local stores have it. sucks to be me.
Following the original yeast in this post, the dry option for the 1318 would be a s04 right?
Never used Kveik before, maybe its not the best yeast for this recipe?

 

[jimmyjusa]

Yeah, I looked for that one a while ago, and none of my local stores have it. sucks to be me.
Following the original yeast in this post, the dry option for the 1318 would be a s04 right?
Never used Kveik before, maybe its not the best yeast for this recipe?

With about 50 different kveik cultures it's really dependent on which one you are talking about. Most commercial ones are isolated strains from original cultures. I know David heath has a few videos on YouTube. Voss is pretty universal according to him.

 

[Dr.Jay]

With about 50 different kveik cultures it's really dependent on which one you are talking about. Most commercial ones are isolated strains from original cultures. I know David heath has a few videos on YouTube. Voss is pretty universal according to him.

They offer 2 kveiks that are supposed to be omega yeast hornidall and Voss

 

[jimmyjusa]

Omega's hothead is supposed to be very clean, voss has citrus/orange profile, hornindal can have a more tropical and overripe fruit if I remember correctly. I think all could work fine, just depends on which hops you end up using. I know omega's strains are all isolated strains

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Yeah, I looked for that one a while ago, and none of my local stores have it. sucks to be me.

Strange - K-97 is one of the standard Fermentis ones, at the very least somewhere stocking US-05 and S-04 should be able to get it for you.

Following the original yeast in this post, the dry option for the 1318 would be a s04 right?

Lallemand are bringing out a dry version of 1318 in the next few months but for if you can't wait then for these purposes you want a yeast with a bit of ester production so actually Lallemand New England is probably the closest match, although S-04 will do.

But post 1 also talks about an "American Wheat" yeast, which implies a milder hefe yeast - and so I'd suggest the ideal dry yeast for this recipe is actually the former Danstar Munich (not Munich Classic), which has now been rebranded as Lallemand Wit.

 

[Dr.Jay]

Strange - K-97 is one of the standard Fermentis ones, at the very least somewhere stocking US-05 and S-04 should be able to get it for you.



Lallemand are bringing out a dry version of 1318 in the next few months but for if you can't wait then for these purposes you want a yeast with a bit of ester production so actually Lallemand New England is probably the closest match, although S-04 will do.

But post 1 also talks about an "American Wheat" yeast, which implies a milder hefe yeast - and so I'd suggest the ideal dry yeast for this recipe is actually the former Danstar Munich (not Munich Classic), which has now been rebranded as Lallemand Wit.

Thanks. I think ill have to do more than one batch of this beer and try diferent yeasts. Ill start with a us05 or new england and then try others.

 

[sniak]

This looks great!
If I were to bottle this, how much corn sugar per gallon should I add for bottle conditioning and carbonation?