Wheat IPA...

[Lowry0031]

So I have been pondering a recipe for quite a while now and I came up with a Wheat IPA. The ingredients are below:

3.3 lbs Coopers Wheat LME
2 lbs Munton's Plain Wheat DME
1 oz. Northern Brewer Hops (Flavoring)
2 oz. Columbus Hops (Bittering)
2 oz. Cascade Hops (Dry hoppin')
White Labs Liquid Hefeweizen Yeast 320

How do you think this one will turn out?

 

[dcp27]

waaay too too much bittering for that amount of malt. definitely tone that way down. otherwise looks fine. personally, I love columbus so I'd use some late or in the DH

 

[FiddleTilDeath]

I disagree, if you like hops, this might not be far off. should be a sessionable delicious hoppy beer. I don't however think you have enough malt/OG for it to be an IPA though, looks more like a hoppy wheat beer. I call them HopWeizens!

I make a wheat beer (Summit Hopweizen!) that contains:
6lbs northern brewer wheat LME
4oz summit hops
wyeast american wheat

this is a recipe that I will be repeating...
this beer was the first homebrew in my kegerator and everyone loved it, even people who thought they didn't like beer. and this is with 4 oz of super high AA summit hops.

the key for this beer I think is the 60 30 15 5 hop schedule. this is after my previous wheat beers have not had enough hops for my taste. they came out balanced and delicious but I actually want a BIG hop accent for my wheat (or any) beers.

 

[dcp27]

I disagree, if you like hops, this might not be far off. should be a sessionable delicious hoppy beer.

except the current schedule puts this >100 IBUs which is over the top for a beer of this size. it'll be undrinkably unbalanced. the bittering add needs to be at least halved.

 

[FiddleTilDeath]

except the current schedule puts this >100 IBUs which is over the top for a beer of this size. it'll be undrinkably unbalanced. the bittering add needs to be at least halved.

It really is quite quaffable and delicious, no matter the hypothetical IBUs. Part of the reason I stopped using kits is they always needed way more hops, at least to my taste.

 

[Lowry0031]

Hmmm sounds good. I really like the Brewer's Best HopNog 2010. I forget what hops were in that one but it had some grains (8 oz Carapils, 8 oz Caramel 40L) and 6.6 lbs of LME with 1 lb DME.

I definitely think I need more LME. I was trying to keep this brew under $50 but at this rate, it doesn't look like it.

Any more suggestions?

 

[FiddleTilDeath]

Creating your own extract based recipes like this are pretty cheap if you use northern brewer LME from northernbrewer.com - $14.50 for 6 lbs of wheat LME. I use my LHBS for random need NOW stuff and I buy all my ingredients online . . . using those canned LME things just get super expensive super quick when you're not buying a kit.

 

[Lowry0031]

Well, what if I back off the Bittering hops and go with what I have?

Do you suggest adding specialty grains?

 

[edb23]

Well the more experienced guys may have better ideas, but I've been playing around with honey malt lately (it's real cheap on midwestsupplies.com) and it adds a pretty subtle sweetness that might help to balance some of the bitterness everyone's concerned about

 

[FiddleTilDeath]

I don't think you have too many hops, as long as you desire a hop-forward beer. Spread the additions out over the boil to bridge bitterness, flavor and aroma. Maybe try 1/2 oz or less additions?

 

[Lowry0031]

I don't think you have too many hops, as long as you desire a hop-forward beer. Spread the additions out over the boil to bridge bitterness, flavor and aroma. Maybe try 1/2 oz or less additions?

what would be a good hop schedule?

 

[dcp27]

the bittering add depends on your boil size and whether you plan to add any extract late, but as for the rest I'd go with something like this:
1oz Northern Brewer @15
1oz Columbus @0
2oz Cascade @Dry hop
Personally, I'd put the IBUs around 30 total. I'd check out 3floyds gumballhead, brooklyn-shneider hopfenweisse, or lagunitas lil sumpin sumpin since those seem like what you're trying to accomplish

 

[Lowry0031]

2.5 gallon boil.

when you say @15 is that 15 minutes into the boil?

 

[dcp27]

nope, 15mins left, its a flavor add. btw, just adding that 2nd oz of columbus @20mins puts you a lil over 30IBUs with this schedule (nearly 50IBUs if its used @60). you could go that route (hop-bursting, heres an article on it: http://www.mrmalty.com/late_hopping.htm ), which will net you more flavor/aroma, but it gives a softer bite than that comes from the longer boil adds.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

I just made a 3 Floyd's Gumballhead clone recently and it has been bottle conditioning for 2 weeks. I had to try it this weekend and it was absolutely awesome!

Specialty Grains: 1 lb of 2 Row and 1 lb of Torrified Wheat steeped at 155
degrees for 30 minutes

Extract: 7 Lbs of Wheat DME

4oz Amarillo Hops- 1oz (60 min), 1oz (30 min), 1oz (5 min), and 1oz (DH)

Used WLP001 Yeast.

It turned out 7.35% ABV, quite a bit higher than the original version at 5.8% and the IBU's were higher in mine....somewhere in the mid 60's, but I don't have the specs with me at work. It was my first Hoppy Wheat beer, but it is great and will be a staple in my arsenal from this point forward! :rockin:

 

[Lowry0031]

Hoppopotomus, good stuff.

Hopefully, my first Hoppy Wheat turns out as good as yours sounds.

My schedule is as follows:


Boil

Add 3.3# Wheat LME

Boil

60 1 oz Columbus

45 1 oz Columbus

30 .5 oz Northern Brew & 1# Wheat DME

15 .5 oz Northern Brew & 1# Wheat DME

Hopefully, with all of your advice, this turns out. I will post updates

 

[dcp27]

that schedule will give you a bitter beer, not a hoppy beer, theres a very big difference. your flavor adds are ok, but a 45 min add is just an underutilized bittering add and you also have no aroma add unless you plan on dry hopping still.

if you havent seen it yet, check out this chart: https://cdn.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=7238&cat=all&ppuser=14092
its not accurate, but more of a generalization on what adding hops at different times does

 

[Hoppopotomus]

+1 on the bitterness and lack of hop aroma and finish. If you are looking for a wheat beer with higher IBU's, but light on hoppy aromatics and finish, then you are on the right track. If you are looking for something with a nice hoppy aroma and finish, not just bitterness, then I would change the hop schedule. The longer hops is boiled, the more the essential hop oils responsible for the aromatics will evaporate. I totally agree that the 45 minute addition is an underutilized bittering addtion that is not necessary. It's all a matter of preference, but I don't gather that you are looking for just a bitter wheat beer, or maybe you are? If I were you, I would used 1 oz. of Columbus for the full 60 minutes and 1 oz. for 30 minutes. I would then reserve a full ounce of the NB for the last 5 minutes and then dry hop with another ounce. This will give the beer a hoppier nose and will work much nicer with the bittering effects of you early hop additions for flavoring. Keep in mind, I have never used NB hops, so I'm not exactly sure if it is a great aromatic hops or not, but if it's more of a flavoring/aromatic style of hops, then it should work great. Again, it's really based on your preference. Cheers!

that schedule will give you a bitter beer, not a hoppy beer, theres a very big difference. your flavor adds are ok, but a 45 min add is just an underutilized bittering add and you also have no aroma add unless you plan on dry hopping still.

if you havent seen it yet, check out this chart: https://cdn.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=7238&cat=all&ppuser=14092
its not accurate, but more of a generalization on what adding hops at different times does

 

[Lowry0031]

The brew is finished :/


I'm dry hoping 2 oz of Cascade. Should I have a longer than 2 week dry hop/secondary?

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Cascade should be great for dry hopping. My suggestion would be to allow full fermentation in the primary and then rack to a secondary, dry hop, and wait for 7 to 10 days. Not sure if 2 weeks is necessary, but with 2 oz., I'll let someone with more experience answer that for you. A lot of guys dry hop in the primary, but I use a secondary.

The brew is finished :/


I'm dry hoping 2 oz of Cascade. Should I have a longer than 2 week dry hop/secondary?

 

[dcp27]

The brew is finished :/


I'm dry hoping 2 oz of Cascade. Should I have a longer than 2 week dry hop/secondary?

its a matter of preference i think. some feel that anything that will be extracted from the dry hops is done within 5-7 days, some think it takes longer, some claim extraneous time (>2 weeks) will give grassy notes (never experienced this)