German wheat recipe too "simple"?

[Brew2Be]

Hi HBT. I am trying to put together a straight forward, thirst quenching, easy drinking german wheat and I have been looking around, especially in the book "Brewing Classic Styles" by John Palmer.

One of the recipes there only had one hop addition and I was thinking I could do the same, but since this is my first wheat I am unsure about how the recipe will turn out.. Any opinions will be greatly appreciated. Here is my recipe:

Stats:
est. O.G: 1.048
est. ABV. 4.6%
SRM: 3.4
IBU: 12.9
IBU/O.G: 0.267
Batch size: 6 liters (1.6 gallons)

Ingredients:
Wheat malt 1.2 kg
Tettnang @ 60 AA: 4.5% IBU contribution: 12.9
Yeast: Safbrew Wheat WB-06

Thank you in advance

 

[RonPopeil]

wheats aren't known for their hop presence so just enough to bitter is perfect. I do think you'll need some barley to get your mash to run at the very least. Consider a few hundred g of base malt. Pils would be first pick.

 

[LLBeanJ]

German wheats are usually simple recipes.

I agree with RonP that you need some malted barley. Your OG is in the right neighborhood, so you just need to end up with a malt bill that is comprised of maybe 50/50 wheat/pils or maybe even 60/30/10 wheat/pils/light Munich (or regular Munich) if you like a little more maltiness. IBUs should be around 10-15, which is where you're at.

 

[BigEd]

Hi HBT. I am trying to put together a straight forward, thirst quenching, easy drinking german wheat and I have been looking around, especially in the book "Brewing Classic Styles" by John Palmer.

One of the recipes there only had one hop addition and I was thinking I could do the same, but since this is my first wheat I am unsure about how the recipe will turn out.. Any opinions will be greatly appreciated. Here is my recipe:

Stats:
est. O.G: 1.048
est. ABV. 4.6%
SRM: 3.4
IBU: 12.9
IBU/O.G: 0.267
Batch size: 6 liters (1.6 gallons)

Ingredients:
Wheat malt 1.2 kg
Tettnang @ 60 AA: 4.5% IBU contribution: 12.9
Yeast: Safbrew Wheat WB-06

Thank you in advance

Recipes don't have to be complicated to be good and most German beers have simple recipes. As RonPopeil posted, however, they're not quite that simple as this brew uses both barley and wheat malts. The single hop addition is correct. Try a ratio of 60/40 pils/wheat for the grist.

 

[jmh286]

At the very least you would want to add some rice hulls. I normally do 10% barley (I usually go for Crystal 20 for color) and half a pound of rice hulls in a 5 gallon batch. I've never had a stuck sparge with this recipe and I always enjoy my results.

 

[Qhrumphf]

You are referring to wheat malt, and not wheat malt extract, right? If you're using wheat extract, that's already going to be a blend (I think it's usually 50/50) of wheat and barley and I think you're in pretty good shape as is.

If you're using wheat malt, these guys are spot on in that you'll need some barley in there, or at least rice hulls, and probably both. Alternatively, you could do a 100% wheat mash if you do it brew-in-a-bag.

When I do a Hefeweizen, I do it just as simple. I do about 55% German wheat malt, 45% German pilsner malt, and a single noble hop bittering charge. I do, however, think the style benefits from a multi-step decoction mash, and that can get complicated.

 

[Brew2Be]

Recipes don't have to be complicated to be good and most German beers have simple recipes. As RonPopeil posted, however, they're not quite that simple as this brew uses both barley and wheat malts. The single hop addition is correct. Try a ratio of 60/40 pils/wheat for the grist.

You mean 60% wheat and 40 % pils, right? I am asking because I thought a wheat beer would have wheat as its main ingredient

 

[Brew2Be]

At the very least you would want to add some rice hulls. I normally do 10% barley (I usually go for Crystal 20 for color) and half a pound of rice hulls in a 5 gallon batch. I've never had a stuck sparge with this recipe and I always enjoy my results.

Are the rice hulls necessary? Thus far I have never used them (I am using a modified BIAB approach)

 

[LLBeanJ]

With BIAB you won't need rice hulls.

 

[Brew2Be]

You are referring to wheat malt, and not wheat malt extract, right? If you're using wheat extract, that's already going to be a blend (I think it's usually 50/50) of wheat and barley and I think you're in pretty good shape as is.

If you're using wheat malt, these guys are spot on in that you'll need some barley in there, or at least rice hulls, and probably both. Alternatively, you could do a 100% wheat mash if you do it brew-in-a-bag.

When I do a Hefeweizen, I do it just as simple. I do about 55% German wheat malt, 45% German pilsner malt, and a single noble hop bittering charge. I do, however, think the style benefits from a multi-step decoction mash, and that can get complicated.

Thanks for the input. Now it makes sense why the recipe in the book I am reading about recipes used only wheat - it was extract. I am using a modified BIAB approach with all-grain so I guess I could do it. Why is it important to add rice hulls / malted barley (pilsner malt)?

Will the beer suffer alot from not doing a multi-step decoction mash? I am looking to keep things as simple as possible and creating a refreshing wheat beer.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Thanks for the input. Now it makes sense why the recipe in the book I am reading about recipes used only wheat - it was extract. I am using a modified BIAB approach with all-grain so I guess I could do it. Why is it important to add rice hulls / malted barley (pilsner malt)?

Will the beer suffer alot from not doing a multi-step decoction mash? I am looking to keep things as simple as possible and creating a refreshing wheat beer.

Wheat lacks the husk material that barley has. As a result, it can make lautering in a traditional mash tun very difficult to impossible when there's a high enough percentage of it. Adding rice hulls will provide husk material without providing any other contribution, but I'd think for 100% wheat you'd need a ton of them. Barley will also provide husk material, but additional flavors.

If you want to to 100% wheat (no barley, no rice hulls) you can do it with BIAB if you want to since you don't have to worry about a stuck sparge. However, I would still opt to put some barley in there to keep it a bit more traditional.

If you target anywhere from 50-70% wheat, the rest a very light continental pilsner malt, and throw in at least couple handfuls if not a half a pound of rice hulls, mash it fairly low single infusion (or better yet do a proper step decoction mash), and make sure you boil for 90 minutes, you should be in pretty good shape.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Whoops, didn't see the second part. I don't think the beer will SUFFER from not doing a decoction mash, and you can make a perfectly good Hefe without one. But I think it adds that extra little bit to take it from a good one to a great one.

 

[del]

I did a BIAB wheat using 50 % wheat malt and 50 % wheat flour. It came out very thirst-quenching, really easy to drink and with a nice slight acidity. However, I found it a little too thin, so it might be worth including 20-30 % barley.

Anyway, check out my writeup in this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/50-50-wheat-malt-ap-flour-beer-437962/