Citrus American Wheat

[jmtonkin]

I'd love some input on this recipe! I'm going to brew in the next couple of days, and as this is my first recipe, I'd love some input to see if I missed anything, or should add anything.

Thanks!




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[jmtonkin]

I just realized that I posted this in the wrong location! If someone could move this to the "Recipe/Ingredients" category, that'd be great!


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[RonPopeil]

More Citra late. Do .25oz at 10 and .75oz at 0.

 

[jmtonkin]

And leave the 60 minute addition?


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[RonPopeil]

it seems like you don't want it so bitter so you could probably get away with it. Consider bittering with a good bittering hop. Magnum would work if, in fact, you are trying to keep bitterness down. Magnum is super smooth so I would bitter to around 15 IBU's with it and then add citra to taste (not IBU).

 

[jmtonkin]

it seems like you don't want it so bitter so you could probably get away with it. Consider bittering with a good bittering hop. Magnum would work if, in fact, you are trying to keep bitterness down. Magnum is super smooth so I would bitter to around 15 IBU's with it and then add citra to taste (not IBU).

It looks like if I do 0.15oz of the Magnum and the Citra for 0.25oz at 10min. and 0.75 at flameout, I'd end up with about 24 IBU. Do you think I need the bittering hops? I am looking to keep the IBUs relatively low on this one so the orange flavor can really come through.


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[RonPopeil]

I've tried making beers with nothing but late hops to bitter and, from experience, i would say you will need 3-4x more than what has been recommended to achieve an appreciable bitterness using that method.

 

[jmtonkin]

I'm sorry, I meant to add the 0.15 Magnum at 60 minutes. Do you think that would be enough?


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[stpug]

You're looking at a BU/GU ratio of about 0.33 with your original recipe for an upper-end wheat beer. At this ratio you may find your beer to be a tad on the sweet and/or flabby side, but that may be what you're after.

The general ratio range for wheat beers is about 0.38-0.55
Generally, the upper ratio is suited to upper-end gravities, low ratio for lower-end gravities.

Where you're about 2/3rds to the high-end, I'd go with a mid- to upper-ratio of maybe .45-.50. However you get there is up to you, but from a "balance" perspective this should keep things even-keel. It may be as simple as upping your late hop additions if you want a bigger citra presence, or simply upping your bittering addition. I guess it depends on if you want a hoppy citrusy wheat beer or just a citrusy wheat beer. Something to think about anyway.

 

[RonPopeil]

Might be too little. Try it and see how you like it.

 

[jmtonkin]

You're looking at a BU/GU ratio of about 0.33 with your original recipe for an upper-end wheat beer. At this ratio you may find your beer to be a tad on the sweet and/or flabby side, but that may be what you're after.

The general ratio range for wheat beers is about 0.38-0.55
Generally, the upper ratio is suited to upper-end gravities, low ratio for lower-end gravities.

Where you're about 2/3rds to the high-end, I'd go with a mid- to upper-ratio of maybe .45-.50. However you get there is up to you, but from a "balance" perspective this should keep things even-keel. It may be as simple as upping your late hop additions if you want a bigger citra presence, or simply upping your bittering addition. I guess it depends on if you want a hoppy citrusy wheat beer or just a citrusy wheat beer. Something to think about anyway.

I don't want an especially hoppy wheat bear. I know it's nothing like it, but I'm hoping for something SIMILAR to Blue Moon. I want the IBU to be similar to Blue Moon.





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[RonPopeil]

that's like 8 IBU.

 

[jmtonkin]

Do they just add flavoring hops?


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[RonPopeil]

Probably the opposite really. Probably just a dash of bittering hop and let the spices do the work.

You might be more interested in doing a flavored wheat than something with citra.

 

[jmtonkin]

Probably the opposite really. Probably just a dash of bittering hop and let the spices do the work.

You might be more interested in doing a flavored wheat than something with citra.

What do you mean by flavored?


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[RonPopeil]

Look into flavored wheats and look into zombie dust clones. I think you're caught somewhere between those two ideas. If you want to buy 4-5 ounces of hops you could try the zombie dust clone.

What do you mean by flavored?


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Like how there's cherry wheat and pomegranate wheats. You might want a pineapple or passion fruit wheat beer.

 

[jmtonkin]

Wow! That's a lot of hops!


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[RonPopeil]

Wow! That's a lot of hops!


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Yeah but it's all used late in the boil. You need that much to get the bitterness since it's all late. When you use that much hop you get interesting flavors.

 

[jmtonkin]

I'm doing some orange zest, coriander and cardamom. Is that along the lines of flavored?

Later this summer I'm planning on doing a brew and then racking it onto a lot of strawberries, so if this works out, I may try it with this recipe.


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[RonPopeil]

Not really. Those spices are all typical to the style.

 

[jmtonkin]

Well, I brewed this yesterday, and let's just say, things could have gone much better.

This was my first AG, and I was doing BIAB. My strike water was about 153°, and my mash held right at 148° for the entire hour; I was very pleased with that! However, once my 60 minute mash was done, I realized that I forgot to add half of my grains. I was being so careful, and meticulous and I was so mad at myself for making such a stupid mistake.

I took out the first half of the grains, added the second half, and then let it go for another hour.

Other than that, everything went pretty smooth. I added 0.1oz at 60 minutes, 0.25 at 10 minutes and 0.65 at flameout. I think I might have added you much cardamom, because that's pretty much all I smelt. It also tasted VERY bitter/sour/acidic, so I'm really hoping that mellows out.

If my math is correct, even with the failure in the mashing, I got about 60% efficiency, though.


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[stpug]

IMO, it's really hard to estimate how a final beers bittering balance will be based on the wort sample. They all taste quite bitter to me regardless if it's 15 IBUs or 80 IBUs; not to mention that you lose quite a bit of bittering to yeast post-fermentation.

Cardamom is a spice that's very easy to overdo. I should have mentioned but generally the rule for "spices" is: Less is more (afterall, you can always add more if it's not enough but you can't take it out).

 

[jmtonkin]

I'm really hoping that the flavors mellow out. I don't know if "bitter" would be the correct word. It was pretty bad though. I'm remaining hopeful!


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