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HomeBrewMasterRace

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Hi All,

I'm working on a new beer recipe and was interested to see what you all think. It's currently fermenting so it's going to be more of an explanation so we'll see how this goes.

I started out with 7.5 lbs of American Wheat (american because i started making it on the 4th)
3 lbs of Pilsner
3/4 lb of crystal 60

1 Lb honey

I made sure i ended up with a finished wort size of about 7.5 gallons before boil. I planned to end at about 6 gallons so my gravity would land at 1.055.

I used .75 oz of Hallertau for a 90 minute boil, and for the last 10 minutes added the remaining .25 oz when i dropped in the wort chiller.

At flameout I used the lb of honey that i had purchased and mixed it in. Rapidly chilled it to 68 then pitched my yeast in which i have chose WLP 380.

It's now been 1 week and i went to take the gravity, it landed at 1.015 so i had decided that i needed to impart a bit more fruity aroma so i decided to dry hop with 1oz of Citra hops and also added 3 lbs of Mango.

I'm going to give it another week then give it a try and see if it's ready to bottle. Once the gravity is steady i plan to bottle with 4.5oz of priming sugar. I'm attempting to account for the extra volume here.

I was hoping you all may be able to give some feedback on anything you think i should add additionally.

I'll keep you all posted. I did try just the honey mango hef earlier today and i have to say, even flat it was a pretty solid beer. Noting that it had not yet finished fermenting as there's still a light krausen on top.

Cheers
 
I'm trying to replicate a mango hef I had from a local brewery. It has very strong clove undertones with a subtle mango flavor.

I thought about just making it with an ale yeast, but I wasn't sure how to replicate the clove in that situation.
 
I'm trying to replicate a mango hef I had from a local brewery. It has very strong clove undertones with a subtle mango flavor.

I thought about just making it with an ale yeast, but I wasn't sure how to replicate the clove in that situation.

OK. I've been drinking Hefe Weizen since 1975 (first tour in Germany) and brewing them since 1994 and my goal is to get the banana flavor and aroma. (I mention that because I am a snob when it comes to a German or German-style Hefe Weizen. If it's not a straight up HW it's "something else", but not a HW).

I just couldn't see (taste) the banana mixing with mango and getting something good tasting out of it. More of a conflict of flavors, not a blending. I would have preferred a plain old Mango Wheat.

Good luck.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that my "opinion" about Hefe Weizens comes from living in Bavaria for 9 years...:yes:
 
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Did you get the clove flavor you wanted?
Whole cloves do wonders for adding clove flavor!

One thing I would recommend is using a priming sugar calculator. 2.5 to 3 volumes of CO2 seems appropriate.

I agree with Bill. Using the German name suggests a traditional German weissbier. ...but since you're not marketing it or entering it into a competition you can happily call it whatever you want ;)
If you enjoy the beer it's all good.

Cheers
 
Did you get the clove flavor you wanted?
Whole cloves do wonders for adding clove flavor!

One thing I would recommend is using a priming sugar calculator. 2.5 to 3 volumes of CO2 seems appropriate.

I agree with Bill. Using the German name suggests a traditional German weissbier. ...but since you're not marketing it or entering it into a competition you can happily call it whatever you want ;)
If you enjoy the beer it's all good.

Cheers

I have to confess, I'm often conflicted on attaching a style when a beer gets creative. My first instinct, and what I generally do, is call it whatever the base style is. If the underlying beer is a Hefe, but I've put a twist on it, like adding fruit, I still call it a Hefe. To me that makes sense because that's what the roots are. After all, if you brew a stout and add vanilla beans or cocoa nibs, nobody gets worked up about calling it a stout.

Even if I was marketing it, I might stay with that same strategy. I've seen a boatload of "Pale Ales" at 6.5% abv and 50-70 IBU that were labeled IPA. The reason is obvious: IPAs sell.

As you mentioned, entering into a competition, I'd choose a different strategy and categorize it where the flavor profile is a best fit. After working one of the NHBC sites, I've given up on comps (too many blown palates and bottle mixups) so that's a moot point for me.

This side discussion is interesting to me as I have a Strawberry Hefe recipe designed that I hope to balance the strawberry with the banana notes of the base Hefe. I think banana and strawberry compliment each other well (and are a common flavor combination). I will be calling it a Hefeweizen.
 
So far the clove flavor has been pretty on point. I didn't want to add whole cloves as I think that would be more difficult to balance in that it would if it were imparted from the yeast.

I am also getting a more subtle banana than I thought I would from the wlp380, I just added in the mangos and citra hops yesterday so I'm think about 1 more week and I'll check gravity and Krausen and see if its ready to bottle.

I didn't want to keg solely for the fact that I made a 6 gallon batch and only have a 5 gallon keg.

I also am calling it a hef because that's the base beer.
 
I didn't want to keg solely for the fact that I made a 6 gallon batch and only have a 5 gallon keg.

FYI: Bottling is better anyway.

Kegging a "Hefe Weizen" is a no-no. Once it begins chilling the yeast will drop out of suspension and you're left with an uncloudy Kristall Weizen...no longer a Hefe Weizen...it's a Weizen WITHOUT the hefe (yeast).

Other info: Giving the keg a slight shake before serving to rouse it off the bottom because EVERY POUR will have a different level of yeast in it. By the time the keg is half empty all of the yeast will be gone.

The only way to keep it cloudy would be to turn it upside down (to get the yeast off the bottom) and roll it on the floor a couple of second (to get it mixed in the beer again) before every pour. Doable, but what a hassle. ;)
 
The base beer is a wheat ale.

What makes a hefeweizen a hefeweizen is a wheat ale dominated by the unique character of the Bavarian yeast -- banana, clove, bubblegum, vanilla. Minimal traditional hops with low bitterness.

Once you start adding fruit, you lose that and you have a fruit beer ... A fruit wheat beer :)

If I add roasted barley, I think we'd agree it is certainly not a hefeweizen even if you still taste banana. If a dry hop with a bunch of fruity hops, it's no longer a hefeweizen ...even if the yeast character is still present. What makes adding fruit any different?
Using an english strain of yeast on any old beer doesn't make that an English style beer. Using Brett doesn't make something a Lambic. It's all the components together that make it a particular style. And sometimes LACK of certain other components.

Since hefeweizen is a specific style of wheat ale, once you start adding or removing flavors you are better served calling it by the base wheat ale, or "fruit beer" if the fruit flavor is strong.
Just my opinion of course... and the bjcp by looking at the guidelines.

Like I said, call it whatever makes you happy since it's your creation. Cheers
 
Update:
So the beer did turn out pretty great. The mango is a lot more suitable than I was thinking it would be. I would definitely make this batch again, but first I'd want to try it with only Citra and a wlp 300 instead to add a bit more banana.
 

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