Beginner Doing BIAB Wheat Beer. How does my recipe look?

[polishdude20]

I'm new to brewing and I'm planning on brewing some wheat beer using the BIAB method. I've done some research online and have come up with a recipe that seems to be the general consensus on how to make a basic wheat beer and before I go and buy the ingredients, I was wondering if I could get some feedback?


So I'm looking to brew 5 gallons. From what I've seen, considering boil off and grain water absorption, most strike water recommendations would be around 7 gallons.

Add about 0.25 of a Campden tablet to water to remove chloramine.

The recipe is as follows:
5.5 lb of Wheat Malt
4 lb of Pilsner Malt
0.5lb of Flaked Wheat
0.5 lb of Rice Hulls

Mash at 152 F for 60 Mins

Then boil:
0.75 Oz of Hallertau at 60 min
1.5 Oz of Bitter Orange Peel 10 Min
0.5 Oz Coriander 5 Min
0.5 Whirfloc Tablet 5 min

As for Yeast:
WLP380 HEFEWEIZEN ALE IV

Then I'd siphon the wort into my glass carboy and give it a good shake for aeration.

Does this sound sensible? Are there quantities that I'm vastly under or overestimating?

 

[VikeMan]

It looks like you have combined a Hefeweizen recipe with a Belgian Witbier recipe. That's great, if that's what you want. But what is your goal? (They really are two distinct, unrelated styles.)

 

[polishdude20]

It looks like you have combined a Hefeweizen recipe with a Belgian Witbier recipe. That's great, if that's what you want. But what is your goal? (They really are two distinct, unrelated styles.)

Oh I was going for a Belgian Witbier but I think some ingredients got mixed up in my searches and I bunched them together. What would you substitute to get a Witbier?

 

[VikeMan]

A Wit grain bill would typically use Pilsner Malt, Unmalted Wheat (not wheat malt), and Flaked Oats.
And you would normally use a Witbier yeast strain, such as White Labs WLP400 .

ETA: Don't skimp on the campden. This is a 5 gallon batch, but you'll be treating more than 5 gallons of water.

 

[RM-MN]

Wheat beers are notorious for getting a low mash efficiency and thus a low OG due to the LHBS not crushing the grain well enough. Wheat is smaller and harder than barley so it usually does not get crushed well. Unless you have your own mill and can set it closer for the wheat I would not recommend this as an early in your brewing beer.

 

[polishdude20]

Wheat beers are notorious for getting a low mash efficiency and thus a low OG due to the LHBS not crushing the grain well enough. Wheat is smaller and harder than barley so it usually does not get crushed well. Unless you have your own mill and can set it closer for the wheat I would not recommend this as an early in your brewing beer.

I think I can just ask the brewing equipment store to crush the grains finer no?

 

[VikeMan]

Wheat beers are notorious for getting a low mash efficiency and thus a low OG due to the LHBS not crushing the grain well enough. Wheat is smaller and harder than barley so it usually does not get crushed well. Unless you have your own mill and can set it closer for the wheat I would not recommend this as an early in your brewing beer.

All true enough, but he's trying to put together a Wit recipe, and if he used flaked wheat, it won't be milled anyway.

 

[VikeMan]

I think I can just ask the brewing equipment store to crush the grains finer no?

You can ask. Some will and some won't. But I'd recommend flaked wheat anyway, rather than raw wheat kernels, if you're not milling your own grains. (Flaked wheat doesn't need to be milled.)

 

[polishdude20]

You can ask. Some will and some won't. But I'd recommend flaked wheat anyway, rather than raw wheat kernels, if you're not milling your own grains. (Flaked wheat doesn't need to be milled.)

Ah ok. Yeah I see another recipe that called for flaked wheat but it also indicates to even get the flaked wheat ground. Is that a thing? Will that help?

 

[VikeMan]

Ah ok. Yeah I see another recipe that called for flaked wheat but it also indicates to even get the flaked wheat ground. Is that a thing? Will that help?

Marginally, maybe. Most people (like 99.9%?) do not grind/crush flaked wheat and it's not necessary.

 

[polishdude20]

Marginally, maybe. Most people (like 99.9%?) do not grind/crush flaked wheat and it's not necessary.

Ok thanks.

 

[luis.salas]

Unmalted wheat would be the one that can be bought in the supermarket?

 

[Gruel]

You could also simplify to just pilsner and wheat malt, leave out the orange peel and coriander, and brew a Hefeweizen. I usually get 70% overall efficiency (5 gallon of 1.05 OG out of 10 pounds grain) with the normal mill setting at my store.

 

[Cro Magnon]

Hey I just did my first BIAB wheat beer after asking for recommendations here in the beginners forum. I was also confused about what style it would fall into. The good folk here told me that what essentially differentiates a Belgian from a Hef or an American wheat is the use of Belgian wheat which adds distinct fruity notes. In the end I just did 60% Pale malt (Belgian) and 40% wheat malt...nothing else! Used only Cascade at 60, 15 and 0 mins for 16 IBUs and Fermoale AY3 (supposedly and English ale yeast used for a wide variety of styles) and it came out forgen delicious! If you go with pilsner, and use wheat yeast however, you'll be much closer to a hefeweizen. I'm still confused about which styles use the orange peels and coriander. Also I think the Belgian and German wheats have the banana and clove notes while the American should not have these.

 

[Cro Magnon]

Forgot to add that if you are doing BIAB, you don't need the rice hulls. They serve no prupose. Those are only to prevent a stuck sparge if you are using a mash tun because the wheat grains don't have husks...resulting in a higher chance of a stuck sparge.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

The good folk here told me that what essentially differentiates a Belgian from a Hef or an American wheat is the use of Belgian wheat which adds distinct fruity notes.

AFAIK, Witbier (Belgian wheat beer) typically uses plain unmalted wheat (I've never heard of a Belgian variety that adds fruitiness). At a homebrew level, this is most easily achieved by using flaked wheat (which as mentioned above can be bought at the supermarket which is cheaper than LHBS). The main distinction, and to get the fruitiness, is to use a wit yeast like WLP400.

I'm still confused about which styles use the orange peels and coriander. Also I think the Belgian and German wheats have the banana and clove notes while the American should not have these.

Witbiers often have orange peel and coriander. German wheats never do. American wheat can have whatever it wants (but is typically less yeasty and more hop-forward)! German wheats have banana and clove notes (from the yeast) while Belgian wheat (witbier) tends more towards a fruity/spicy/bubblegum flavour profile (hard to describe, but quite different to the pronounced banana and clove in German hefeweizen).

 

[Cro Magnon]

AFAIK, Witbier (Belgian wheat beer) typically uses plain unmalted wheat (I've never heard of a Belgian variety that adds fruitiness). At a homebrew level, this is most easily achieved by using flaked wheat (which as mentioned above can be bought at the supermarket which is cheaper than LHBS). The main distinction, and to get the fruitiness, is to use a wit yeast like WLP400.



Witbiers often have orange peel and coriander. German wheats never do. American wheat can have whatever it wants (but is typically less yeasty and more hop-forward)! German wheats have banana and clove notes (from the yeast) while Belgian wheat (witbier) tends more towards a fruity/spicy/bubblegum flavour profile (hard to describe, but quite different to the pronounced banana and clove in German hefeweizen).

Ah got it! So:

American: Pale malt + Wheat malt + any yeast + any notes + ( think higher IBUs)
Belgian: Pilsner + unmalted wheat + belgian type yeast + orange, coriander + banana/clove notes
German: Pilsner + malted wheat + (yeast) + NO orange and coriander and NO clove banana notes.

Is that a half decent summary?

 

[VikeMan]

This seems to come up from time to time. Here's a cheat sheet.

 

[Cro Magnon]

Oh nice! This is gold!

 

[Gruel]

Also, remember that unless the Erzherzog of Bavaria's henchmen are already hot on your trail, you can brew whatever you want. But if you suspect they are, then better not be caught brewing a Weizen!

 

[Cro Magnon]

Also, remember that unless the Erzherzog of Bavaria's henchmen are already hot on your trail, you can brew whatever you want. But if you suspect they are, then better not be caught brewing a Weizen!

Holy scheizer....my doorbell just rang...do I need to blend it with bud light to save my family now?

 

[Gruel]

Personally, I think it's why a lot of people moved to Amerika.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Personally, I think it's why a lot of people moved to Amerika.

Really? They'd move to another country just to get wheat beer?

 

[Lefou]

I had to leave the States over 20 years ago to get a good German wheat beer. Naturally, I didn't stay and was just visiting. Back then the US didn't really have any good commercial wheat/witbiers, in my opinion. The Germans in Munich thought I was odd bringing a backpack full of Erdinger through airport customs but they didn't confiscate it.

 

[Gruel]

I'm usually (well, when I was still traveling...) bringing apple cider (ebbelwoi?) mustard back from Frankfurt, and, oddly enough, Bavarian Weisswurst(*). But not Weissbier, even though I think they sell it right there in the duty free shop.

(*) Back home, the customs lady asked me whether I knew that canned was the only way meat products are allowed back into the States? Of course I did...