Recipe help/pointers needed - Dunkles Weissenbier attempt no. 1

[ksga]

Howdy doody everybody.
I'm trying to brew up a recipe for a dark wheat beer - hoping for something reminding me of a year spent north of Frankfurt (just enough time to get addicted to Andechs, Weihenstephaner and all the rest )

I've been browsing around for a recipe, but most often I end up with something missing in my LHBS.

Here's what I'm contemplating:

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: WLP351 - Bavarian Weizen
Yeast Starter: 2500ml (no stir plate)
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.5
Original Gravity: 1.057
Final Gravity: 1.013
IBU: 15
Boiling Time (Minutes): 90
Color: 39 EBC
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 18C, rising to 21C during primary (first 7 days) - dropping slowly to 19C (7 days), settling at 20C after 21 days total

Grain
2,15 kg(4,75 lbs) Pilsner Malt 3,7 EBC (Weyermann)
2,15 kg(4,75 lbs) Wheat malt, pale 3,9 EBC (Weyermann)
0,35 kg (0,75 lb) Caramel/Dark Crystal malt 425 EBC (Muntons)
0,35 kg (0,75 lb) Carawheat 98 EBC (Weyermann)
0,35 kg (0,75 lb) Melanoiden 59 EBC (Weyermann)
0,25 kg (0,5 lb) rice hulls

Mash at 67C (152-153F) for 60 min
Mashout at 76C (168F) for 10 min

Full wort boil

Hops
40g (1,4 oz) Saaz 3.3%AA for 60 min

What do you think.. Will I end up in Weizen-heaven or that other place???

 

[Tippsy-Turvy]

Not sure about the dark crystal. I'd replace it with Chocolate Malt which is what many of the Bavarian hefe producers use for the darker wheats. It's potent though so aim for ~2-5% of your grain bill.

Personally, I wouldn't use such a large starter (if at all) for a hefe and when using WLP yeast. The vitality of their lab-produced yeast is significantly higher than self-harvested yeast which is what most yeast calculators assume you are using in their calculations.

 

[jjeffers09]

For your grist I would recommend chocolate wheat in place of dark crystal and some munich or carafa special II, also a touch of torrified or flaked wheat at .5-1lbs (.22-.45kg)
* edit and I prefer pale malts vs pils and Red wheat (or winter wheat) vs white wheat.

I like your yeast, but your fermentation is a little to low
18.8C is the floor on this yeast in my experience
21.6C is the ceiling and once brought there you should leave it and let it drop temp naturally from there

My favorite results was
20C for 14 days
21.4C for 7 days
Bottled and held at 24C for 10 days for carb @ 3.7vols

 

[ksga]

Just wanted to give a bit of feedback on this one...
I ended up adjusting the recipe a bit (thanks Tippsy-Turvy and jjeffers09):

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: WLP351 - Bavarian Weizen
Yeast Starter: 2500ml (no stir plate)
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.5 (21 liters)
Original Gravity: 1.055
Est. Final Gravity: 1.014
IBU: 19
Boiling Time (Minutes): 90
Color: 49 EBC
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 20°C, 14 days - 21,5°C, 7 days (3 weeks total)

Grain
2,50 kg Wheat malt, dark 16 EBC (Weyermann)
2,00 kg Pilsner Malt 3,7 EBC (Weyermann)
0,30 kg Carawheat 120 EBC (Weyermann)
0,30 kg Munich I 15 EBC (Weyermann)
0,10 kg Carafa Special II 1150 EBC (Weyermann)
0,10 kg Chocolate Wheat 1000 EBC (Weyermann)

Mash scedule (adopted from Weyermann's Amber Weizen recipe)
Mash in 37°C, 20 min (acid rest)
50°C, 35 min (protein rest)
63°C, 5 min (Beta)
68°C, 20 min (Alpha/Beta)
72°C, 30 min (Alpha)
77°C, 10 min (Mash out)

90 min full wort boil

Hops
50g (1,4 oz) Saaz 3.3%AA for 60 min

The brew ended up just the way I was hoping for (a nice first also I just had my first geyser - guess I should pay a bit more attention when cleaning bottles )
Smooth, cocoa/coffee notes - nice lasting foam.
For sure not the last attempt at this one

View attachment Dunkelweizen_No1.bsmx