What's this beer called?!

[scottmd06]

I just brewed an Ale with Willamette Hops, Amber Malt, Light Malt and some specialty Wheat grain. What would it be called style wise? Someone on another board called it a blonde..

 

[Zooom101]

If the amount of wheat is pretty low I'd call it an American Red Ale.

 

[WAdamC]

Post the whole recipe. That will make it easier to figure out. Hop schedule, grain amounts, mash temp, etc...

 

[scottmd06]

Okay here we go. Mashed 1lb milled wheat grains at 150F for 25 mins, dissolved 3lbs Extra Light DME and 1lb of Amber DME, brought to boil and hopped with .5oz Willamette for 45 mins and then last 15 mins with another .5oz of Willamette. Thanks for your help guys.

 

[niquejim]

It's called beer. You plan ahead to call it a style IMHO

 

[Beernik]

It's on the low side, but an American Wheat works. A Blonde on the low side works too.

The important question is: is it tasty. If so, it doesn't really matter if it's in a "Style" or not.

 

[Zooom101]

I'd still call it an American Red Ale.

 

[homebeerbrewer]

I'd call it beer too. I'm not sure if there is a category for that recipe. But, it really doesn't matter if it tastes good.

 

[scottmd06]

I have good faith in my crazy recipe. She was fermenting within an hour of pitching so that was good to see. Thanks again for all of your posts. I'll keep you updated when I measure my gravity and post some pictures when I bottle. Thanks guys.

 

[scottmd06]

Well boys I had to rack her to my secondary about a month back because I had to buy some time to get bottles but then ended up in the hospital to have a brain tumor removed. Im home now so should I bottle her up ASAP or can I rest a few days? Doc doesnt want me lifting, not sure if moving a 5 gallon bucket is allowed... Thanks!

 

[kcpaige89]

Well boys I had to rack her to my secondary about a month back because I had to buy some time to get bottles but then ended up in the hospital to have a brain tumor removed. Im home now so should I bottle her up ASAP or can I rest a few days? Doc doesnt want me lifting, not sure if moving a 5 gallon bucket is allowed... Thanks!

I'd rest a few days, I'm sure a couple of days in secondary won't do it a bit of harm, and I wouldn't want the brain to explode and you drop 5 gallons of beer

 

[ChshreCat]

FYI... if all you had was wheat, you didn't mash. You steeped.

 

[skidmarks]

Wow, glad you're ok...I'd let it sit for a while too.

 

[scottmd06]

So its ok that it was in primary for two weeks and now it has been in secondary for about a month? And if I do this recipe again should I steep the LB of wheat with another grain in order for it to count as a mash? Im not sure how that works. Thanks!

 

[kcpaige89]

So its ok that it was in primary for two weeks and now it has been in secondary for about a month? And if I do this recipe again should I steep the LB of wheat with another grain in order for it to count as a mash? Im not sure how that works. Thanks!

That is certainly fine for it to be in secondary for a month. If you like the beer and do the recipe again, why change it so that it is technically a mash? Wheat is just steeped, to be a mash you have to have malts, which is covered by your extract. If it makes good beer, and you aren't ready to step up to all-grain, make it the same way. From what I've heard (been listening to a lot of the brew strong podcast with Jamil and John Pallmer) if you make extract brews, and you want to step up, the first thing should be getting fermentation control down. Invest in a fermentation fridge or something before getting a tun and fancy burners and such. If you can't get fermentation under control, you'll just make bad all-grain. Stick with your recipe, if it tastes good, who cares that you didn't mash but only steeped. Throw in a few grains of 2-row or something, then it'll technically be "mashing" those few grains. Just my .02

 

[OsbornBrewing]

The time in secondary is no problem, as others have said. No worries there, bottle when you can.

As for your recipe I'd say you're in American Amber Ale, or American Wheat.

 

[scottmd06]

Thanks guys! Hopefully I enjoy this recipe. I know the hop profile will be quite low due to the fact that I only used an ounce of Willamette. I have faith I will adjust my recipe and add some other grain and see how things go in the future. How many pounds of grain can I mash in one bag, making sure everything gets extracted? I would imagine that theres only so many pounds you can fit in one steeping bag and to work with the water volume in the pot...

 

[scottmd06]

She was officially bottled the night of Sept. 24th. Looks so good. The little bit of wheat makes it a tad cloudy but hey its all part of using wheat. I sipped on some of the warm, uncarbonated brew and its pretty dang good. Cant wait to taste it carbonated and icy cold!

 

[doctorRobert]

I wouldnt want it too cold. I bought some plain old bud for my contractor (his request), he threw it right in the freezer, so he couldnt taste a thing. Actually it does taste less like piss that way.

Also you can mash modified wheat if i'm not mistaken, People do 100% wheat beers.

 

[scottmd06]

Yeah I don't even know who to listen to at this point about the wheat. lol. All I know is that I enjoy wheat beer and wanted to toss a little in the recipe to see how it would work lol And I will definitely not toss it in the freezer before drinking.

 

[jangelj]

ummm, I'd wait. Lifting 5 gallons of homebrew def. counts as lifting. Take it easy (or have someone else do the lifting). That's a no-brainer

Glad to hear your back home, though. Yikes.

 

[scottmd06]

lol I already bottled if you go back a few posts. but thanks. i took it easy almost a whole month after surgery. now im just fighting with my insurance company to cover my chemotherapy so i can start with the radiation and chemo but its state insurance and theyre fighting it.