U.A. Cheat Pomegranate Wheat - Mr Beer Experiment

[Scot_chale]

Getting ready to brew batch number 4. I have a Whispering Wheat Weizenbier HME. I have a large bag of uncrushed wheat kernels. I have 1oz of Willamette Hops. I am going to purchase some POM juice. I'd like to make an unfiltered wheat with a nice pomegranate tinge in the way that Abita's Purple Haze has that please hint of raspberry. Any suggestions on how to accomplish this?

 

[Scot_chale]

with the booster and HME the content will be 3.7%. I think 1.5 cups of white sugar would boost the content and not flavor it too much. I have a coffee grinder so i can break up the wheat kernels.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

I would advise against adding more sugar than what's in the booster to increase your ABV and it will really thin out the beer and can lead to a "cidery" flavor. If you are looking to increase the ABV, go buy a pound of wheat DME and you will have much better results. As far as the Pomegranate flavor, I think you have a good chance with adding the POM juice after the primary fermentation is done assuming it does not have preservatives that will inhibit your yeast.

 

[Scot_chale]

as far as the wheat goes- do i bag it and steep it in the boil, add it to the primary, etc. i've got a lot and a coffee grinder. i'm just not sure what to do with it.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

Is the wheat malted? Typically you will perform a "mash" with malted wheat after it is crushed. You can do this in a grain bag in a pot with approximately 1.5 quarts water per pound of wheat and you will want to hold the temp around 152 for 30-60 minutes. If the wheat is malted, you will get more fermentables for your wort, the amount depends on your extraction efficiency.

 

[Scot_chale]

it's raw wheat kernels

 

[OfficerMitchel]

it's raw wheat kernels

The wheat requires mashing before it will have any effect on your beer. This will require the use of malted barley or wheat to steep along with your grain, and then the liquid (with the grains removed) added to your HME. If you just steep the grains themselves you will just get a bread-dough flavor added to your beer. If you boil the grains, it will taste like spoiled bread dough. Your best bet at this time is just buy some extra wheat DME or LME (UME from Mr. Beer) and add that.

As for the hops, you have three ways to go. Since the Mr. Beer Weizenbier kit is already hopped, you can save it for another project. If you want to add extra bitterness beyond what Mr. Beer already provides, you can boil a portion of the hops and add that to the HME when it cools down. If you want to add a bit of hopped aroma without added bitterness you can "dry hop". Unless you are already fairly familiar with the taste of this brew, I would advise option one. Adding ingredients without knowing what you're changing rarely makes good brew, and you can't even write it off as a "learning experience" because you'll not be learning what the effect was.

This is just real basic. I'm sure one of the more experienced brewers can offer a fuller explanation/recommendation.