Learn from my mistake, while helping me...pls

[MrHooligan]

Long story short, winged a recipe at LHBS, proceed with immediate regret driving home.

I purchased:

10lbs double crushed (5# german malt / 5# munich*)
*This is where I made my mistake. My previous Wheat Beer was an Ed Wort Bav. Hefe and this should have been 5# pils) I've used 1lb of munich in my IPAs (thanks Ed Wort), but 5 is a far more than 1. 4 more by my scientific calculations


My goal was a low abv, light wheat, that was refreshing. I had considered adding tangerine rind for additional citrus flavor.

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I also have in my inventory:

8# 2 row
.5# honey malt

Amarillo 1oz
Cascade 1 oz
Citra lots
Simcoe even more

US-05 packet
WLP300 hefe yeast

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Should I combine the dry ingredients and do a 10 gal batch?


I know that the 8# 2row could be used for a SMASH or PA/IPA with all those hops. The thing is, I have 15 gals of various APA/IPA's that are being bottled today.
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Any input is valued....


**Lesson - Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Recipe Formulation

 

[Starbug]

Well, with limited experience and a ton research on the inventory and styles in that range the first thing that comes to mind is if you want a wheat beer, you're going to want a few lbs of wheat malt, looking at John Palmer's How to Brew and a ton of recipes on BeerSmith's site I'm seeing most of these Hefeweizens use from 30-60% wheat malt. Beer Advocate and BYO say 50% or more wheat . I've seen several other members say that rice hulls may be good to use to prevent a stuck sparge on brews with over 35% hull-less grain like wheat, oats or rye and also that when using rice hulls that a good rule of thumb is 10% of the hull-less grain weight you're using.

Munich malt has a very distinct and malty characteristic. If the aim is for a light, refreshing german style hefeweizen, I'm not sure munich would be the right addition. I'm reading on BYO that a good recipe would be 50-70% wheat malt, 30-50% high quality pilsner and 0-5% light colored dextrin malt. Dextrin malt enhances foam, head retention and mouthfeel but doesn't add color or flavor. I'm curious what type of malt you mean by "German malt" if it's pilsner, you're golden, if it's 2-row, I'm hearing it'll still make a great brew, if it's something else, situational. In the forums I noticed somebody say he brewed one and nobody in his brew club noticed the diff in the 2 row, a response mentioned a 90m boil instead of a 60 to account for the pilsner malt. The while the honey malt could contribute to foam and head retention it would also add a lot of uncharacteristic sweetness in dextrin malt's stead.

A traditional style german hefeweizen would use noble hops in small amount primarily at a bittering stage but, depending on your preferences, I would personally consider using what you have in this situation. Kona Brewing's Wailua Wheat is a great, refreshing wheat beer that has a passion fruit flavor to it. Citra has tropical fruit and citrus characteristics. Amarillo is described as flowery, spicy with citrus and orange aroma. Cascade is said to have a grapefruit quality and is floral, spicy and citrusy. Simcoe has a pineyness that I would avoid for this style.

If i wanted to take a walk on the wild side I'd use the 1oz Citra to bitter at the 60 (I'd wait til the 60m mark even if you do a 90m boil) and play with .25-.5 oz of individual or mix of Cascade for grapefruit, Amarillo for floral, tropical and citrus and Citra for musky tropical fruit and citrus ("think mango, papaya and pineapple") for flavor/aroma additions around 15-5 min. Personal preference, if it was easy to store the leftover hops, I'd either use .25 Citra at 15min, .25 Amarillo at 5, or, knowing me, split the amarillo into the citra at 15min. Again, for the style, half an oz that late may add a lot of character for the style, a quarter may be a safer way to roll. If you wanted traditional go for an oz of a noble hop at the 60 and leave it at that.

I would definitely go for the WLP300. That strain was noted to have some banana flavor and a small amount of clove flavor but you can generally fine tune a bit with weizen yeasts - warmer temperatures give more banana & bubblegum flavor, cooler end of the spectrum promotes more spicy clove flavor.

Well, I hope some of this is of some help to ya. Let us know what you decide to go with and how it turns out!!

 

[ol-hazza]

Chuck it all in!!!

Ok maybe not all of it but most of it.

Not sure what german malt is exactly, but you can easily use 50% munich malt.

Its not going to make a wheat beer but hey. (as mentioned earlier you would need some wheat or that.)

If you want something not apa/ipa use the hefe yeast, keep the ibu's to about 30 and go easy on the late additions.

Trust me you arent the first person to make up a grain bil and immediately regret it only to have it turn out just fine in the end. We didnt get different styles by making. The same beer as the last person did.

 

[Starbug]

I agree. Great things are made by breaking the boundries a bit and playing outside the comfort zone but, honestly, I don't see a lot of chance for error with those ingredients, just the possibility at a few different styles.

50% munich malt with any mix of the others (making some assumptions about the german malt), looks like the base for a Dunkel but those tropical and fruity hops and that weizen yeast could add a really neat spin to it. I'm curious how that would turn out, actually.

 

[okbecker]

Brew it up strong create a new category - "Wheatless Weizen Bock" !!

 

[riderkb]

When you say German malt, do you mean german wheat malt? If so then the only real problem is the likelihood of a stuck mash. I like malty medium or low gravity beer with a heavy dose of Munich. It will probably clash with the clove from the hefe yeast, but you can use your other yeast instead.

Adding orange peel or other flavorings is a bad idea. Keep it simple.

 

[chickypad]

I am also thinking that German malt is wheat since you were planning a hefeweizen, in which case looks like you've got the makings of a Dunkelweizen to me if you go with the WL300. You could throw in some dark crystal or a touch of dark roasted malt for color if you have any. I personally wouldn't go too overboard with the American citrusy hops so as not to compete with the yeast, but that's your call if you're wanting to experiment and not entering it into competition.

 

[giraffe]

If you got 50% german wheat and 50% munich, you basically got a dunkelweizen. Like a lighter schnider example. It wont crash with the clove.

Brew the recipe you brought home, with the wlp300 it will be good and still refreshing. Just breadier. Really, you are fine.

 

[MrHooligan]

Thank you for the awesome feedback to everyone who stopped in to offer.

First things first, the german was in fact german wheat.

That being said, I was informed that I was spot on for a dunkle with 50/50. I brewed it that Friday, mashed low and slow, had no issues with stuck sparge.

Went with very small cascade additions, as it was the lowest alpha I had in my inventory. Rough estimate was 1/5 oz at 60 min, 1/7 of an ounce at 15min.

Pitched hefe yeast yesterday and it's happily fermenting.

Used the remaining 8# 2row with all remaining hops immediately after a quick rinse, all while bottling 15 gallons.

Busy day! Thanks for all the advice guys. Wish I was able to share some of the haul with y'all..