American Wheat Beer Hoppy Session Wheat Beer

[deadwolfbones]

Just bottled mine. Tastes great. Got down to 1.007 with the CML kolsch yeast, which is a bit drier (and higher ABV) than I wanted—about 4.4%. Still within range, though.

 

[deadwolfbones]

When I bottle, I usually end up with one last bottle that's not quite full of beer, and more full than usual of yeast and hop debris. Decided to crack said bottle from this batch after 4 days:

It's good! Needs a bit more time to fully carbonate, but the appearance is spot on and the taste is great. As expected given the FG, it's a bit thin on the palate, but very refreshing. Thanks for the recipe, @Braufessor.

 

[cheesebach]

It's good! Needs a bit more time to fully carbonate, but the appearance is spot on and the taste is great. As expected given the FG, it's a bit thin on the palate, but very refreshing. Thanks for the recipe, @Braufessor.

Glad to hear it! Mine went from 1.043 down to 1.009 with WY1318, so I've been a little nervous about it being a bit too dry. I'm planning to have a taste tonight to see how I did. Considering adding a bit of lactose to help round it out a bit if it seems like it needs it - hopefully it'll be great without it though!

 

[deadwolfbones]

Glad to hear it! Mine went from 1.043 down to 1.009 with WY1318, so I've been a little nervous about it being a bit too dry. I'm planning to have a taste tonight to see how I did. Considering adding a bit of lactose to help round it out a bit if it seems like it needs it - hopefully it'll be great without it though!

Even if it's thin, it should still be tasty. I had a S-04 batch (Irish stout) finish at 1.008 recently, so I think even strains known for finishing high aren't 100% reliable. I probably just need to mash way higher than I think.

 

[Andre3000]

I went grains to glass in a shameless 6 days with this recipe, hence the name. Reasons: It was only a 4 gal batch, I pitched a massive 1318 starter, spunded with closed transfer, and I had nothing to put on my hoppy tap .

I actually really like this recipe. It's probably one of my favorite NEPA style brews that I've made. Perfect at 4% too. It won't last long.

 

[jschm19]

Picked up the grains and yeast for this one today, should be brewing it tomorrow night. Thought I had Centennial but I have Columbus and Cascade as well as Warrior. Thinking about going Columbus if I don't make it to the LHBS tomorrow on my way home.

 

[jschm19]

Picked up the grains and yeast for this one today, should be brewing it tomorrow night. Thought I had Centennial but I have Columbus and Cascade as well as Warrior. Thinking about going Columbus if I don't make it to the LHBS tomorrow on my way home.

Brewed tonight and I ended up with 6.25 gallons in the fermenter at 1.047. This was my second brew on the Robobrew so I'll take a few points high. Went with Cascade to 20 IBUs and did a 10 minute hop stand at 160. Keeping all post boil hops the same. I'll try to report back in 2-3 weeks.

 

[trevelynzx]

Brewed this up today. realized when the boil was starting that i had forgotten to mash the flakes oats and barley. ugh. did a 20 minute BIAB and added the volume to the last 25 min of the boil.

got me thinking... do flakes oats/ barley need to be mashed? there’s no conversion needed... or am i thinking about that wrong?

 

[Ray_Finkle]

Just transferred this recipe to the keg today. Smelled and tastes great already.

 

[cheesebach]

Brewed this up today. realized when the boil was starting that i had forgotten to mash the flakes oats and barley. ugh. did a 20 minute BIAB and added the volume to the last 25 min of the boil.

got me thinking... do flakes oats/ barley need to be mashed? there’s no conversion needed... or am i thinking about that wrong?

The flaked grains do need a mash in order for the starches to be broken down and converted into fermentable sugars. It drives me a little crazy anytime I see a homebrew store selling an extract recipe that includes oats with the specialty grains as part of a hot steep step before the boil. One of my first brews was an extract oatmeal stout that was written like this, and it ended up looking like murky mud water due to all the starches left in the wort. It sort of cleared (and improved) after 2 months in the keg, but there was at least 1/4" of sludge at the bottom of the keg when it kicked.

HOWEVER, I'm not sure how big an issue not mashing the oats would really be in this style of beer. It will most likely be cloudier and possibly have a higher FG, but it might not really be detrimental in a low abv hazy wheat ale? I'm guessing it will still make a good beer. Either way - let us know how it turns out!

 

[deadwolfbones]

Wanted to mention that mine started turning brown in the bottle after ~2-3 weeks. Made me sad, but oh well, more incentive to start kegging.

 

[Ray_Finkle]

Came out to 4 percent ABV. Has great aroma an easy drinkable beer. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

 

[Andre3000]

This recipe is amazing Braufessor. I've made it three times since I first posted in this thread; two kegs got absolutely crushed with rave reviews at a party I had. My only sub is using all flaked oats instead of the other flaked adjuncts.

I went for a fourth round and I realized i was out of Mosaic! Disappointment. So I cracked open the El Dorado in its place. It's on day six and I gotta say I'm not overly excited about it, thought I think it will improve. Think this was a bad choice? What else can I use in Mosaic's place? I've got Azacca, Amarillo, Cascade, Huell Melon, Mandarina Bavaria, and Simcoe.

 

[Braufessor]

This recipe is amazing Braufessor. I've made it three times since I first posted in this thread; two kegs got absolutely crushed with rave reviews at a party I had. My only sub is using all flaked oats instead of the other flaked adjuncts.

I went for a fourth round and I realized i was out of Mosaic! Disappointment. So I cracked open the El Dorado in its place. It's on day six and I gotta say I'm not overly excited about it, thought I think it will improve. Think this was a bad choice? What else can I use in Mosaic's place? I've got Azacca, Amarillo, Cascade, Huell Melon, Mandarina Bavaria, and Simcoe.

Awesome - glad it has been turning out well for you. I have not used El Dorado much..... maybe only once or twice. I seem to remember it coming off as more "dank" to some degree. I bet it will come around for you - might be different, but, I bet it is still pretty good. Local brewery here just did an all El Dorado IPA and I really liked the samples I had out of the fermenter on that one.

Since this is a pretty light beer, I like the brighter, fruit forward type hops. The ones you listed seem like great possibilities.....

I would be intrigued with something like Cascade at 30 minutes and then Huell Melon and Mandarina Bavaria for the flame out and dry hop.

Or, Cascade at 30 and then Simcoe/Amarillo for flame out and dry hop - that is a pretty classic combo that is always good....... Amarillo/Azacca might be a good option too.

Could also stick with the Centennial at 30 and then Citra/Amarillo or Citra/Azacca or 100% Citra or Citra/Simcoe or Citra/Cascade or Centennial/Cascade..... any of those would be great too.

Also - The last few times I have brewed this with 2565 Kolsch Yeast and it really turned out well. I brew a fair number of Kolsch's, and this is a good beer to run that yeast through. Combine that with the Huell Melon and Mandarina Bavaria, and maybe german pilsner and german wheat and you could have yourself a pretty nice german session NE IPA for a twist on it.

 

[Andre3000]

Awesome - glad it has been turning out well for you. I have not used El Dorado much..... maybe only once or twice. I seem to remember it coming off as more "dank" to some degree. I bet it will come around for you - might be different, but, I bet it is still pretty good. Local brewery here just did an all El Dorado IPA and I really liked the samples I had out of the fermenter on that one.

Since this is a pretty light beer, I like the brighter, fruit forward type hops. The ones you listed seem like great possibilities.....

I would be intrigued with something like Cascade at 30 minutes and then Huell Melon and Mandarina Bavaria for the flame out and dry hop.

Or, Cascade at 30 and then Simcoe/Amarillo for flame out and dry hop - that is a pretty classic combo that is always good....... Amarillo/Azacca might be a good option too.

Could also stick with the Centennial at 30 and then Citra/Amarillo or Citra/Azacca or 100% Citra or Citra/Simcoe or Citra/Cascade or Centennial/Cascade..... any of those would be great too.

Also - The last few times I have brewed this with 2565 Kolsch Yeast and it really turned out well. I brew a fair number of Kolsch's, and this is a good beer to run that yeast through. Combine that with the Huell Melon and Mandarina Bavaria, and maybe german pilsner and german wheat and you could have yourself a pretty nice german session NE IPA for a twist on it.

Exactly what you're saying, it's quite dank. But even today it's much improved. I can't get over how much keg conditioning does for beer's drinkability. It's amazing.

I'm going to have to get creative with some of the above because my local bulk hop supplier is out of Citra!! So thanks for the suggestions.

I'm off to the brew store this weekend and that's one style I'd like to experiment with try so I'll grab some 2565. Do you ferment it colder? I know it can go quite low. Also, do you have any other kolsch recipes you're willing to share (maybe a topic for another thread).

 

[Braufessor]

Exactly what you're saying, it's quite dank. But even today it's much improved. I can't get over how much keg conditioning does for beer's drinkability. It's amazing.

I'm going to have to get creative with some of the above because my local bulk hop supplier is out of Citra!! So thanks for the suggestions.

I'm off to the brew store this weekend and that's one style I'd like to experiment with try so I'll grab some 2565. Do you ferment it colder? I know it can go quite low. Also, do you have any other kolsch recipes you're willing to share (maybe a topic for another thread).

@Andre3000 sorry man - been busy. I will get you the Kolsch recipe shortly.

 

[zonkman]

I went a lighter on the flameout hops (1 ounce each instead of 2). Exactly the beer I was after. Has all the delicateness/fragrance (hop and grain)/lightness and also refreshing as hell with moderate bitterness and lingering mineral aftertaste. The kind of beer that has even non-beer-drinkers grabbing a second. Many thanks Braufessor.

 

[Braufessor]

@Andre3000
Sorry for the delay. Here is what I do for my Kolsch

Grain..... Basically, you want base malts and any combo is honestly probably fine. I used this last time around:
50% Weyermann Pilsner
25% Briess Gold Pils Vienna
25% Rahr 2 Row

Hops:
60 min. = 15 IBU Tettnang
30 min. = 6 IBU Tettnang
10 min. = 3 IBU Tettnang

2565 Kolsch Yeast

Water
100% RO with Gypsum, CaCl, Epsom Salt and Canning salt to get around:
Ca = 50
Sulfate = 75
Chloride = 40
Mg = 5
Na = 15

Also, Lactic Acid to get 5.25-5.30 mash pH

I calculate the minerals that I will need for the mash and sparge water..... but, then I add all of them to the mash and none of them to the sparge.

1ml lactic acid in RO sparge water.

Ferment in the 60-62 range.

The one thing I don't love about 2565 is it takes forever to clear..... great tasting, but can be a struggle to get that brilliant clarity.

 

[JohnConnor]

Huh, funny. I just came across this post. I've got something along this line fermenting as we speak. I did 60%wheat malt, 35% pils and 5% honey malt. Hopshot at 60 and Idaho 7 in the whirl. I'll be dry hopping with Idaho and a touch of amarillo. Fermented with US05 cool (63 for the first 4 days... kicked it up to 65 yesterday/67 tonight to help it finish). Water profile pretty close to yours. Kind of an american wheat-ish.

I was thinking of using a more fruity yeast but opted for something a little cleaner. Do you like what 1318 adds? I was thinking possibly ESB might be nice to?

 

[dukedevil0]

Just brewed this on Saturday. I left out the Cara 20 as Braufessor said he's done lately. 30 min boil, got 1.040 OG, decided to cut down to 1/2 oz Centennial at 30min, and pitched a starter from harvested 1318. I put in the dry hop charge at 30 hours since it was really active for 24 hours and my tilt hydrometer showed a significant gravity drop already. Will report back!

 

[Braufessor]

Just brewed this on Saturday. I left out the Cara 20 as Braufessor said he's done lately. 30 min boil, got 1.040 OG, decided to cut down to 1/2 oz Centennial at 30min, and pitched a starter from harvested 1318. I put in the dry hop charge at 30 hours since it was really active for 24 hours and my tilt hydrometer showed a significant gravity drop already. Will report back!

I just kegged a batch of this a few minutes ago..... tasted great out of the fermenter. Now, just waiting on carbonation. Been 6 weeks or so without this on tap, so definitely looking forward to it again.

 

[dukedevil0]

I just kegged a batch of this a few minutes ago..... tasted great out of the fermenter. Now, just waiting on carbonation. Been 6 weeks or so without this on tap, so definitely looking forward to it again.

Can't wait to taste it.

Have you done a batch with a reduced or moved Centennial addition? If so, any thoughts?

 

[Braufessor]

Can't wait to taste it.

Have you done a batch with a reduced or moved Centennial addition? If so, any thoughts?

I pretty much always use 1 ounce of centennial at 30....... seems to be about the right amount of bittering/flavor.

 

[dukedevil0]

I pretty much always use 1 ounce of centennial at 30....... seems to be about the right amount of bittering/flavor.

Thanks. I keep toying with trying a no boil method and thought about sacrificing the Centennial all together. Instead I split the difference. We'll see how the 1/2 oz turns out. I'm guessing it will be damn tasty either way!

 

[Braufessor]

Thanks. I keep toying with trying a no boil method and thought about sacrificing the Centennial all together. Instead I split the difference. We'll see how the 1/2 oz turns out. I'm guessing it will be damn tasty either way!

I am guessing you are right - Let us know

 

[deadwolfbones]

Updating again: I cracked some more bottles of this and they are most certainly not brown. Not sure what happened with the ones that were, but maybe just not a great seal or more oxygen introduced at bottling. The one I had today was still tasting great (and very hoppy) at 3+ months. No haze left, though!

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

I came up with a similar recipe this spring and it's a beer I really love. 75% marris otter, 12% dark wheat malt, 6.5% munich II, 6.5% flaked oats. OG 1.043, 23 IBU. Ca 100 SO4 150, Cl 50, mash ph 5.3. Mashed at 150, fermented with Omega yeast "pub" at 64, FG 1.008.

I actually do NOT do a bittering addition, I put 1oz mosaic and 1oz azacca (per 5gal) in after the boil and my temps are below 180 and whirlpool for 15-20 minutes, combined with a 2oz dry hop in the keg this has plenty of bitterness for my palate. I did 10 gallons in April, dry hopped one with mosaic and one with citra. The mosaic keg got crushed when I hosted big brew day in May, that was an absolutely amazing beer. The citra keg has a much sharper citrus bitterness to it, it's good but I preferred the mosaic dry hop. I got another 5 gallons of this one fermenting now for my annual Oktoberfest party in a few weeks.

 

[dukedevil0]

I am guessing you are right - Let us know

Almost carbed up. Tasty, light, and incredibly drinkable beer. It will go fast! Thanks Braufessor!

 

[specharka]

I’m hoping this one won’t be as orange-y as the last hoppy wheat I made. Brewed this one yesterday:

1.060 OG, 45 IBU, 4.5 SRM

49% Weyermann Pilsner
29% Great Western White Wheat
14% Briess Flaked Wheat
6% Simpsons Golden Naked Oats
2% Rice Hulls

30 min @ 148F, 30 min @ 160F, 10 min @ 167F

0.50 oz Magnum @ 60 min
1.50 oz Citra, Amarillo & Galaxy @ 30 min HS
1.50 oz Citra, Amarillo & Galaxy @ 4 day DH

Inland Island “Norwegian Farmhouse” INIS441

119 Ca : 8 Mg : 20 Na : 103 SO4 : 146 Cl : -19 HCO3
Mash pH 5.30

 

[SailorJerry]

@brandtrepair

 

[specharka]

Seven days, grain-to-glass.

 

[Blazinlow86]

Gonna brew this coming up. I can't get any "white" wheat but have lots of wheat on hand. Any opinions on whether it will make much difference? Cheers

 

[popquizkid]

Gonna brew this coming up. I can't get any "white" wheat but have lots of wheat on hand. Any opinions on whether it will make much difference? Cheers

I assume you have red wheat? I don't think it will make much difference at all.

 

[Blazinlow86]

Yup red wheat seems all the Canadian retailers carry. Cheers

 

[heckofagator]

Hi all, I'm interested in trying my first sour and would like to do a hoppy sour. Thinking about doing a kettle sour with some probiotics. Any reason this recipe wouldn't work well for a base? Sounds good to me.

 

[Braufessor]

Hi all, I'm interested in trying my first sour and would like to do a hoppy sour. Thinking about doing a kettle sour with some probiotics. Any reason this recipe wouldn't work well for a base? Sounds good to me.

Should work great for that.... I actually did something similar. I used similar grain bill, mashed, collected wort, boiled for 15 minutes, chilled, lacto-kettle sour overnight. Next day, brought it up to boil, used essentially the same hop bill as above, fermented with 1056 I think. Dry hopped at day 2-3. Then a few days later, I zested 1 grapefruit, 1 lemon, 2 oranges and a tangerine.... Added that to the fermenter for the last 5-7 days or so until it finished out. Bottled it in 750ml bottles to about 2.8-3 volumes - it was a great summer beer. Crisp, refreshing, tart, tropical.... Will be doing it again this spring.

 

[jimmyjusa]

Got this on the brew schedule with El Dorado, Centennial, and Calypso.

Did you ever brew this? I have these hops so I'm interested in how it turned out

 

[deadwolfbones]

Did you ever brew this? I have these hops so I'm interested in how it turned out

Sure did. Ended up using a slightly different hop schedule, as you'll see in my subsequent posts.

But, TL;DR, it came out really well but some bottles oxidized pretty fast. Others stayed good for months. All eventually lost the haze.

 

[jimmyjusa]

Sure did. Ended up using a slightly different hop schedule, as you'll see in my subsequent posts.

But, TL;DR, it came out really well but some bottles oxidized pretty fast. Others stayed good for months. All eventually lost the haze.

Thanks, i went back up and read through the posts. I wonder if this is where the oxygen absorbing caps are more necessary or useful? I'm not really sure of the difference between those and regular caps and how they work but just a thought. I have some lallemand London esb yeast that is supposed to be a lower flocculator that may do well with this. Looks like you didn't end up using the calypso in your batch, have you tried it again with those hops? I think i may try doing the centennial for bittering the calypso/ el dorado for the rest or maybe calypso/ belma.

 

[deadwolfbones]

I use those. I don't think it makes much of a difference in this case. I think it's more about oxidation during bottling and transfer (more surface area exposed than during a single transfer to a keg).