Suggestions To Bump This Kit Up A Notch

[hops2it]

Hey all. I have a True Brew American Wheat kit and I'm asking for some ideas for additions. I've brewed this before and I almost consider it a base for other recipes but really I am in fact in the mood for an American wheat this time around. Just need a little more body than this kit will provide. Make sense? A bit more punch without getting carried away into an altogether different style.

Contents:
2 cans muntons wheat extract
1 oz u.k. first gold hops

Instructs call for hops addition right after lme addition.


Thoughts?

 

[MalFet]

It depends what you're looking for. The easiest answer is to just add less water.

 

[hops2it]

Kinda figured on doing a full boil 5 gallon batch to fill up the corny. I guess I really don't know exactly what I'm looking for other than I just remember this being a slightly weak bodied beer. So I was hoping to add whatever it takes to give it a bit more.

 

[hops2it]

Kind of wondering if its a little weak on hops also.

 

[brewmaster101]

Seems weak on hops. You could add a little DME for some oomph, and some cascade hops at the end for some aroma.

 

[Bob]

Muntons extracts are known to ferment quite dry. Try steeping a pound of Carapils or 10L Crystal. That ought to increase the body and mouthfeel without taking the beer out of balance. You don't really need to add more extract. 6.6 lbs in 5 gallons ought to be sufficient gravity for the style.

If you'd like a bit more hops character, keep it to a bit more. American Wheat is famous for not having hops character. If you simply must have hops, restrain yourself; add no more than a half-ounce of your preferred variety at, say, 10 minutes left in the boil. Less if you use the strongly-flavored American "C" varieties, more if you decide on a noble European variety or American hybrid.

I'm rather a fan of a bit of hops flavor/aroma. For my taste, I prefer an American-grown or hybrid variety - US Hallertau, Crystal, Mt Hood - and just a hint of them. Last time I brewed something like this I used a half-ounce of US Hallertau at 5 minutes.

Cheers,

Bob

 

[brewmaster101]

Nice.

 

[hops2it]

Thanks to all for the replies. I've determined that I'm going to skip the late hops addition due to the late LME addition which is bumping my IBU's more than I originally expected. I am going to add 1 lb of carapils to increase body. Turned out to be a pretty simple recipe and I'm looking forward to an easy brew to kick off the season. Again, thanks to each of you for taking the time to respond.

 

[Jipper]

Quick note on the Carapils - it doesn't have a great extraction % when steeping. Maltodextrin is essentially carapils extracted, and you'd use 4oz. Maltodextrin in an extract batch for every 8oz. of Carapils in an all grain batch. You may get some body from it, but using maltodextrin is much simpler and more effective moving forward.

Cheers!

 

[Bob]

Good advice. Thanks, Matt!