partial mash weizen

[tandpbrewing]

I'm having trouble finding any sort of partial mash recipes for a hefeweizen. I've only done one PM but i'm dying to try another. I know I could just convert an all grain to a pm on beersmith but i'm more picky than that, its mostly just giving me all extract when I try that.
I can only mash about 4lbs of grain, I would prefer to do most my wheat that way because my LHBS doesn't have wheat extract on tap, just cans and I think some dme. I plan on throwing in some fresh oregon raspberries (half in primary, half in secondary). Suggested mash schedule please?? 5 gallon batch.

Also, how do I go about priming with gyle? Is that just some unfermented wort that I add at bottling in place of corn sugar? How much would I need?
How long am I looking at for fermenting and conditioning? Wheat beers are best drank young right?

Thanks for any help.

 

[FlyingHorse]

I think PM weizen's are tough because you need at least 50% wheat for it to be a weizen, but if you try to mash with more than 60-70% wheat, you'll have a tough time sparging and getting any sort of decent efficiency. In your case, the most you could mash would be maybe 2-2.5 lbs of wheat, so you'll end up using wheat extract anyway (which in and of istelf is usually only 55-65% wheat).

If you still want to try the PM, check a couple of the recipes in the database for mash schedules; Yuri's Pistols 'n Pesos Southwestern Wheat does a pretty traditional German hefe schedule:

Acid Rest: 99.0 F 20 min
Protein Rest: 122.0 F 30 min
Maltose Rest: 147.0 F 90 min
Decoct 11.51 qt of mash and boil it
Saccharification: 160.0 F 70 min (temp should be achieved by adding decocted mash)
Mash Out: 170.0 F 10 min

If you're doing all infusions (no decoctions or direct heat on the mash) you likely can't do that one, though. In that case you might want to try a simpler 2-step mash like the on in Pol's Hugh Heffe:

Step Mash... 122 for 30 min, 153 for 45 min.

As far as priming with gyle, just google "gyle priming formula". Here's one result: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/faq/bottling_and_kegging_faq.asp

Gyle is a portion of unfermented beer wort that is reserved for or added to finished beer for condition (carbonation). What you can do is save a measured amount of your fresh unfermented sterile wort and store it in a sterilized, sealed container in your refrigerator. The gyle should be taken from the wort before yeast has been added to it. Then when the beer has fully fermented and it is time to bottle, you can use the stored gyle by adding it to the finished beer.
Of course the question is; "How much wort should be set aside as gyle?" The sugar content and specific gravity of wort will always vary. Here is a decent formula to calculate, rather accurately, the amount of gyle you will need to save in order to prime any volume of beer.

The formula is:

Quarts of gyle = (12 x gallons of wort)
________________________(÷)

(specific gravity - 1)(1000)


For example, for 5 gallons of wort that has a specific gravity of 1.052:

Quarts of gyle = (12 x 5)
________________(÷)

(1.052 - 1)(1000)

Quarts of gyle = 60/52 ˜ 1.15 quarts ˜ 1.2 quarts

 

[tandpbrewing]

Bike n Brew, thanks for the detailed answer, I have decided to just go all extract on this one. Next batch will be AG though, WallyWorld has 5gal rubbermaid coolers for $21!

 

[djflesch]

Just remember that wheat doesn't have the enzymes needed to actually break down sugars during the mash, so you HAVE to add about 50% barely to accomplish an actual mashing process. You could also buy the enzymes and add them to the wheat, but adding barely would be my suggestion instead of dealing with figuring out how much enzyme to use--the cost probably isn't cheap either. With only 4 lbs of grain max, your are looking at supplementing with a bunch of DME or LME anyway...

I have made a few mostly extract wheats and what I did was steeped a couple of lbs of flaked wheat in the boil water as it was heating up. I bag the flaked wheat in a nylon mesh bag and aim for about 20 min steeping time at 150-160°C and then remove the grain before I add the DME/LME. Adding the flaked wheat like this doesn't add much if any sugar content to the wort, but it does add a lot of protein, which results in a very nice head! In my opinion, commercial wheats/hefes typically have very poor head retention. My results have been fairly decent, though I wouldn't say that those batches have been something to write home about.

I have a spiced wheat in bottles now, which have a 1/4 tsp of cinnamon, ground cloves and nutmeg added during the 2ndary. It more of a winter brew than a summer, so I might just keep it around until late fall and see how it tastes then.