First Recipe Approval?

[oldhat]

Hey there!

So...I originally posted asking for pale ale recipes yesterday, but I later got in talks with a brewery who are willing to give me some of the German Weissbier liquid yeast made in their labs and...well, I don't feel that I can really pass that up. I still want some paleness in the colour and citrus (in particular grapefruit) tones while keeping things as simple as possible (I've only used kits before, so getting in to grains and more elaborate schedules intimidates me a bit). So I found a recipe and fuddled with it a bit and here's what I have for five gallons:

4lbs wheat malt
2lbs pale malt

1oz Cascade hops (put in to boil at the 50min mark)
1oz Cascade hops (put in boil at 60min mark)

Boil for 60mins

Weissbier yeast

As you can see, not much to it. My goal was for simplicity while still creating a beer that will (hopefully) be nice and refreshing for the summer months.

Any and all help and advice would be appreciated!

 

[hamiltont]

Personally I'd go 50/50 with the wheat & pale malts.. If you want to taste the hops (citrus) you might consider adding some of the cascades between 0-10 minutes. Maybe 1/2 to 3/4 oz. Cheers!!!

 

[oldhat]

Good call on the 50/50 with the malts. As for the hops, would the total needed be 1 or 1.5oz then just put half in at the ten minute mark and the other later? Just clarifying what you meant.

 

[hamiltont]

Good call on the 50/50 with the malts. As for the hops, would the total needed be 1 or 1.5oz then just put half in at the ten minute mark and the other later? Just clarifying what you meant.

I'd go with .5 oz. @ 60 minutes for bitter & 1 oz. @ 10 minutes for flavor and up the Pale & Wheat malts to 4 lbs. each. BTW what's the AA for the Cascades? Cheers!!!

 

[oldhat]

I'd go with .5 oz. @ 60 minutes for bitter & 1 oz. @ 10 minutes for flavor and up the Pale & Wheat malts to 4 lbs. each. BTW what's the AA for the Cascades? Cheers!!!

I think Cascade goes from 4-7% AA

And sorry, once again still new to things. .5oz in boil for 60mins or at the 60min mark?

 

[hamiltont]

I think Cascade goes from 4-7% AA

And sorry, once again still new to things. .5oz in boil for 60mins or at the 60min mark?

.5 oz for the full 60 minute boil. I estimated the Cascades @ 6 % AA so with .5 oz. for the full 60 minute boil & 1 oz for 10 minutes you'll end up with ~ 23 IBU's, which is still a bit bitter for a wheat beer. Cheers!!!

 

[oldhat]

Would a bitter wheat beer taste bad? I'm not sure.

 

[dcp27]

hop much grapefruit do you want? if you want a good punch of it, I'd go with 1oz @15mins and 1oz @5mins. at 6%AAs that puts you around 15IBUs. if you just want a little, I'd go with 0.5oz @60mins and 0.5oz @5mins (~13IBUs)

 

[RitsiGators]

Usually recipes are written with notation for the hops to be added in minutes till the end of the boil. For example, .5 oz @ 60 minutes means that you would put .5 oz of the hops in with 60 minutes left in the boil.

That being said, I love hoppy beers so I would stick with your original idea of at least 1oz for the late additions as those give you more aroma and flavor from your hops.

Adding hops towards the beginning of your boil is going to give you more bitterness without as much flavor or aroma. Its not bad to have a bitter beer, it just depends on your taste and if you are trying to make a specific style.