Wheat IPA (with Wyeast 1010) - Bad idea?

[dlm3]

Hello all. I was recently given an IPA kit as a gift. I have a Northern Brewer Honeyweizen kit that I’m planning on brewing next and that got me thinking if a “Wheat IPA” might work. What I was thinking was adding 3.15 lbs of wheat LME as a late addition to the kit, then reusing the yeast cake (Wyeast 1010) from the Honeyweizen. The kit has an OG of around 1.052 (so it would be around 1.074 if I add the extra LME) and the Honeyweizen should be around 1.048 so I think this would be a good warm-up for the yeast.

I’m not a huge fan of IPAs, which is why I’m considering this hybrid (abomination?) brew. I was thinking about adding some additional malt extract just to add a little more balance to the hops of the IPA. This then lead me to the idea of leveraging my Honeyweizen brew/yeast.

So, what do you all think? Could this end out making a nice brew, or just be weird? Any suggestions on how to improve my chances of success with this?

 

[weirdboy]

I made an India Wheat Ale (you can pay me later for the royalties on that phrase) last year and it came out great.

Although, I am not sure what yeast Wyeast 1010 is since I am not really familiar with their stuff.



However if you don't like IPAs I would question WHY you don't like them, and if you don't like them why you are considering making something like it. You are going to get a bitter, high hopped beer with more of a grainy character than "malty". If you don't like IPAs I am guessing it's probably because you don't like the bitterness or hop profile. Changing to wheat won't fix that.

 

[dlm3]

Wow, thanks for the quick response! 1010 is an American Wheat strain: http://www.wyeastlab.com/rw_yeaststrain_detail.cfm?ID=126

I think my primary issue with IPAs is the bitterness, but I'm trying to expand my palate and hoping this could be a good "gateway drug" for me :cross:

 

[weirdboy]

What I would suggest instead of going all-out with an IPA type of thing, is to shoot for more of an American Wheat, and try to hit the top of those ranges or maybe even a bit higher for the OG and IBUs.

http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style06.php#1d

Another thing that would help in that respect is to dry hop the beer after primary fermentation, with maybe 1oz of a citrusy hop like Cascade, Columbus, or Centennial.

 

[bruin_ale]

Wow, thanks for the quick response! 1010 is an American Wheat strain: http://www.wyeastlab.com/rw_yeaststrain_detail.cfm?ID=126

I think my primary issue with IPAs is the bitterness, but I'm trying to expand my palate and hoping this could be a good "gateway drug" for me :cross:

If it's the bitterness you don't like, then you should stick to pale ales. That was my gateway to IPA. Started out that SNPA was too hoppy, then I started to like that and try other pale ales - then the occasional IPA, now I've moved on do double IPA and can't get enough. Wheat IPA sounds cool though, I'd try it - but if you don't like the bitterness that's probably not the solution you're looking for.

 

[two_hearted]

I tried this one not long ago and thought it was tasty. Hops are hops, its going to tasty more like an IPA than a wheat in my opinion.

 

[dlm3]

Based on the responses so far, I think I'm going to give this a shot!

weirdboy, I was thinking the same thing about dry-hopping it too. The kit doesn't include hops for that, but I'm going to need to order a few more things anyway, so I'll grab an extra oz. of hops too.

bruin_ale, ironically I typically prefer double-IPAs to the average regular IPA. I think it's the extra malt and probably alcohol that seems to balance things out for me.

I'm not necessarily trying to make this into a wheat beer, so it's alright with me that this will still be more of an IPA (actually at 1.074 it's right in the gray area between a regular and imperial IPA), I was just wanting to take a little bit of the edge off.