Feedback on my first wheat recipe

[tom9d]

Greetings, folks! My first non-Mr. Beer batch is fermenting away nicely thanks in large part to the help of everyone here (thanks!), but now I can't help but start planning my next batch.

I let my girlfriend have some input into my next batch, and she requested a wheat beer. I don't generally drink wheat beers, so I'd appreciate some feedback on this recipe:

3lbs 8oz wheat DME
1lb extra light DME
3oz honey malt (steeping)

.5oz cascade pellets - 60 minutes
.75oz tettnang pellets - 45 minutes
.75oz cascade pellets - 15 minutes

1lb honey at flameout

Wyeast 1010

...and I'm still trying to figure out what flavorings I'm going to add. I was thinking of a couple of vanilla beans and some orange peel.

Thoughts? I'm using BeerSmith2, which really helped me with my first brew. My original recipe for this one had coming out too dark with just the wheat DME and honey malt, so I added the extra light DME to bring me down a bit. That look ok?

Est. OG - 1.046
IBUs - 16
SRM - 5.9
Est. ABV - 5.1%

Thanks in advance!

 

[strambo]

I'd bump the honey malt to 6oz, 3 may not noticeable. I just did a wheat with 8 oz honey malt and it is great. A little dark for the style but that doesn't affect flavor. I wouldn't add any flavor, see how this turns out first then tweak or add next time... Or add the vanilla and orange to the second half of the batch at bottling.

 

[tom9d]

I was kind of hoping someone would suggest upping the honey malt. How sweet did yours come out with 8 oz?

...and good idea re: adding flavoring at bottling. Sometimes I try to run before I can crawl

 

[brewski08]

I was kind of hoping someone would suggest upping the honey malt. How sweet did yours come out with 8 oz?

...and good idea re: adding flavoring at bottling. Sometimes I try to run before I can crawl

as a honey-head, i would DEFINITELY up the honey malt to 8-16 oz.

i would also change out the cascades with some hallertau. your current hop schedule seems a little too hoppy (for me at least) for a honey wheat beer. that's just me though.

follow your palate, my friend.

 

[tom9d]

Interesting. Good to know. I guess I got scared off a bit when I was searching the forum for posts on honey malts. Some people make it out to be this uber-potent grain that will radically alter your beer if you add just a little bit.

Also relieved to hear that schedule is hoppy. I was basically putting my faith in BeerSmith when I came up with the hop schedule, and it doesn't list honey wheat as a reference, so I was just using American wheat, which gives 15 IBUs as the low end of the bitterness range. Do you think I'm too bitter, or too heavy with aroma? Or both?

 

[brewski08]

Interesting. Good to know. I guess I got scared off a bit when I was searching the forum for posts on honey malts. Some people make it out to be this uber-potent grain that will radically alter your beer if you add just a little bit.

Also relieved to hear that schedule is hoppy. I was basically putting my faith in BeerSmith when I came up with the hop schedule, and it doesn't list honey wheat as a reference, so I was just using American wheat, which gives 15 IBUs as the low end of the bitterness range. Do you think I'm too bitter, or too heavy with aroma? Or both?

when i make honey wheats, i like them to be balanced between their gravity and IBUs in order to pick up the honey taste (and orange/corriander when added). with that being said, when i want a really large honey presence in my beers, i usually make my honey malt consist for 10% of my grain bill. with the recipe you have now, i would recommend 1 oz of honey malt if you want a fairly strong honey presence in your beer.

for the hop schedule, i would personally just add 1 oz of hallertau for 60 minutes. this should give you a good amount of IBUs (calculator not on hand)to balance out your malt IMO. i think the 15 minute cascade addition will give you a hop presence that i personally do not enjoy in my wheat beers.

please only look at my words as advice. i do not know what you enjoy to drink. if you boil hops for a longer period of time, you're going to extract their hop oils and bitterness into your beer. if you boil hops for a smaller amount of time, you're going to extract more flavor and aroma. keep this concept in mind.

 

[tom9d]

I don't like bitterness or hoppiness, so given all this feedback, I'm definitely going to tweak the hop schedule. Maybe .75oz of hallertau at 45 minutes and nothing more.

You mention 1oz of honey malt whereas others 6oz to a full pound. This seems like a pretty big discrepancy, so I'm wondering...does the fact that I'm going to be steeping the honey malt rather than mashing affect how much I use? In other words, when steeping, do I use more or less when to provide a honey flavor than if I was to mash?

 

[BigRob]

I'd consider changing your hop schedule a bit:

14 IBUs of Cascade at 60min
1/2 oz Tettnang at 20 min
1/2 oz Tettnang at Flameout


I really like Tettnang in wheats, it's not really that hoppy, just has a very pleasant flavour and aroma that melds seamlessly with a wheat beer.

 

[strambo]

8 oz is noticeable for the honey malt, I think the real honey at flamout plus bottling with honey would make it really stand out. Any mild hopping to 15 ibus will be good.