Australian Wheat Ale Recipes?

[Narapoia]

Has anyone had a go at something like the Green Beacon Mollyhawk Aussie Wheat Ale? Some other takes on the Aussie wheat ale style I've tasted or come across are the Hughie Wheat Ale and Pirate life Wheat Ale. I had some Mollyhawks over the holiday break and loved them so am going to try make something like this.
I know that Pirate life uses Eclipse hops for their version from some google research.

I couldn't find any recipes in the database here, all the recipes are for more German style wheat beers (which I also like) but came across a Brulosophy recipe that looks really similar in appearance the Mollyhawk.
Batch = 22L
American Style Pale Malt - 2.8Kg
Wheat - 2.8 kg

25 Minute Boil time - 22 IBU
Cascade 15g - 25 min
Cascade 20g - 15 min
Cascade 20g - 5 min

Realise this is a very short boil time but it's from the 'Short and shoddy' series of recipes that they post over there. So what I was thinking is maybe trying this recipe with Eclipse instead of Cascade. Maybe increase the boil time a little - but the comments on this recipe are pretty favourable and the idea of a shorter brew day for an awesome end product is super appealing.

So I guess where it would be great to hear from anyone with experience with this style:

1. Has anyone got a recipe for this style that they know and trust?
2. Is there any real difference between 'American Style' pale malt and what we have available locally?
3. It seems that the 'Aussie Wheat Ale' label is pretty much just rebranding US wheat ale with local hops - unless I'm missing something? No judgement, is really delicious, but will help with the replicating the style as there are a lot of "US wheat Ale' labelled recipes out there and not many 'Australian ones'. I know Hop and Grain sells an all grain kit labelled this way but it appears to be a Redback style beer.

 

[JDW81]

Hey Mate,

I don’t have a specific “Aussie wheat” recipe, but used to make a wheat heavy ale with 40% wheat and 60% ale malt with either cascade or galaxy hops depending on the availability. I don’t know those beers you’ve mention very well, so can’t provide too much insight.

With respect to the malt question: ale malt (be it British, German, American or local) refers to 2 row barley that has been malted and very lightly kilned to somewhere between 1.5-4 lovibond. There are some subtle differences based on the cultivar of barley used, the malting process, the colour, the protein content (to make a few) but by and large they are similar and are all produced to be the base malt for a beer.

I would change what I used depending on the style of beer. I’d use a German malt for European styles, maris otter for English styles (or more malty American styles) and the local stuff for everything else. Have a read of this article from BYO

Can’t help much with the Aussie wheat question. I suspect it’s just another *******isation of a German style wheat beer made with new world hops and an American style ale yeast, to suit local trends/preferences.

Hope that helps.

JD

 

[Barry]

M

are

Has anyone had a go at something like the Green Beacon Mollyhawk Aussie Wheat Ale? Some other takes on the Aussie wheat ale style I've tasted or come across are the Hughie Wheat Ale and Pirate life Wheat Ale. I had some Mollyhawks over the holiday break and loved them so am going to try make something like this.
I know that Pirate life uses Eclipse hops for their version from some google research.

I couldn't find any recipes in the database here, all the recipes are for more German style wheat beers (which I also like) but came across a Brulosophy recipe that looks really similar in appearance the Mollyhawk.
Batch = 22L
American Style Pale Malt - 2.8Kg
Wheat - 2.8 kg

25 Minute Boil time - 22 IBU
Cascade 15g - 25 min
Cascade 20g - 15 min
Cascade 20g - 5 min

Realise this is a very short boil time but it's from the 'Short and shoddy' series of recipes that they post over there. So what I was thinking is maybe trying this recipe with Eclipse instead of Cascade. Maybe increase the boil time a little - but the comments on this recipe are pretty favourable and the idea of a shorter brew day for an awesome end product is super appealing.

So I guess where it would be great to hear from anyone with experience with this style:

1. Has anyone got a recipe for this style that they know and trust?
2. Is there any real difference between 'American Style' pale malt and what we have available locally?
3. It seems that the 'Aussie Wheat Ale' label is pretty much just rebranding US wheat ale with local hops - unless I'm missing something? No judgement, is really delicious, but will help with the replicating the style as there are a lot of "US wheat Ale' labelled recipes out there and not many 'Australian ones'. I know Hop and Grain sells an all grain kit labelled this way but it appears to be a Redback style beer.

I would consider using Voyager Pale Schooner and their wheat malt. Love Eclipse, so use it instead of Cascade. Yeast; Mangrove West Coast, Bry 97, US05, all will give a clean neutral ferment. Liguid yeast, if you ferment at 16-17oC, Whitelabs, Wyesst or Blue Stone Kolsch yeast (I don’t like the dried Kolsch yeasts, too fruity for my tastes).
Hope this helps.

 

[Narapoia]

Hey Mate,

I don’t have a specific “Aussie wheat” recipe, but used to make a wheat heavy ale with 40% wheat and 60% ale malt with either cascade or galaxy hops depending on the availability. I don’t know those beers you’ve mention very well, so can’t provide too much insight.

With respect to the malt question: ale malt (be it British, German, American or local) refers to 2 row barley that has been malted and very lightly kilned to somewhere between 1.5-4 lovibond. There are some subtle differences based on the cultivar of barley used, the malting process, the colour, the protein content (to make a few) but by and large they are similar and are all produced to be the base malt for a beer.

I would change what I used depending on the style of beer. I’d use a German malt for European styles, maris otter for English styles (or more malty American styles) and the local stuff for everything else. Have a read of this article from BYO

Can’t help much with the Aussie wheat question. I suspect it’s just another *******isation of a German style wheat beer made with new world hops and an American style ale yeast, to suit local trends/preferences.

Hope that helps.

JD

Thanks for the reply - I'll check out the BYO article for sure.

Seems like there is a bit of a dearth of info out there on this style - but I'm pretty certain this will be the next brew once my fermenters are free, so will report back.

 

[Narapoia]

M


I would consider using Voyager Pale Schooner and their wheat malt. Love Eclipse, so use it instead of Cascade. Yeast; Mangrove West Coast, Bry 97, US05, all will give a clean neutral ferment. Liguid yeast, if you ferment at 16-17oC, Whitelabs, Wyesst or Blue Stone Kolsch yeast (I don’t like the dried Kolsch yeasts, too fruity for my tastes).
Hope this helps.

Brilliant - yeah think I will give eclipse a go. Nice to try something new.

I have experimented with a few yeasts now - the dry kolsch yeast (Tried K97 and Lallemand's Kolsch yeast) I haven't found too fruity but they definitely have a distinctive taste in the bottle. If you get too much of it into the pour it is far more noticeable than other yeasts I've tried.

Will probably use US05 - never given an ounce of trouble for a clean ferment style beer in many brews for me.

 

[Simon N]

Pretty sure ‘Aussie wheat ale’ is just a marketing term from CUB - they made a bunch of their breweries put them out at the same time: Uniquely Australian: new beer style heroes Aussie-grown wheat | Carlton & United Breweries (CUB).

Have never tried any but sounds a lot like a Pacific Ale.

 

[Narapoia]

Pretty sure ‘Aussie wheat ale’ is just a marketing term from CUB - they made a bunch of their breweries put them out at the same time: Uniquely Australian: new beer style heroes Aussie-grown wheat | Carlton & United Breweries (CUB).

Have never tried any but sounds a lot like a Pacific Ale.

I did find that article as well - after finding a few "American Wheat Beer' recipes it did lead me to think that this was a rebranding/marketing exercise.

The Green Beacon ones I had on the weekend were a bit more lightly bittered than a typical pacific ale but a similar amount aroma and late hop fruitiness on a really pleasant light wheaty base. It's no Hefe, but a great summer beer.

 

[JDW81]

Pretty sure ‘Aussie wheat ale’ is just a marketing term from CUB - they made a bunch of their breweries put them out at the same time: Uniquely Australian: new beer style heroes Aussie-grown wheat | Carlton & United Breweries (CUB).

Have never tried any but sounds a lot like a Pacific Ale.

Pacific ale is essentially a variation on a summer ale/light ale style (probably originally based around a Belgian blonde ale), and would rarely have more than 20-30% wheat malt in it (Stone and Wood is about 30% wheat).

I suspect an Australian/American wheat ale has ratios of wheat to ale malt that resemble that of a traditional German wheat beer (I.e 50:50 or 60:40)

JD

 

[Hangover68]

I've brewed a few wheats with a different recipe each time, 50/50 wheat/pale malt hallertau hops, 60/40 wheat/pale malt hallertau hops, 60/40 vienna/toasted wheat malt POR hops.

 

[Piggy Smalls]

Hi @Narapoia

If you want to go a bit abstract I just brewed an ale with 45% wheat and 55% 2-row using Lallemand Voss kveik and Dr Rudi hops from New Zealand to 21 IBUs and 5.4% ABV. Pitched at 42 degrees Celsius and then fermentation stabilized at 37 degrees.
Ended up with a slightly acidic, citrusy, chewy beer with a lemony finish that my Great Northern drinking brother and father destroyed over Xmas and I personally rate as the best beer I’ve ever made after going in with no expectations whatsoever on how it was going to turn out. Not sure if it classes as a true wheat beer or what you are looking for but i can send you or post the recipe if you’re interested.

 

[Bougie!st]

This is a recipe that I had come up with, playing with the Pac Ale idea though trying different hop combos. When I tried the mollyhawk ale, it immediately reminded me of this recipe, at least with the flavour. I'm no expert (far from it) though I though that vic secret was the likely hop in the GB beer. My impression of my version was that it was surprisingly bitter, so I would make it 20 IBU in the future. I also was having trouble with my pH meter (turned out it was giving false readings and that was fixed by buying a new and different one), so that may be part of why it tasted bitter than I wanted. Last possibility was the verdant yeast, which is reported to produce a more bitter beer by some users that I was able to find. Something clean and neutral (such as US05 etc) would be a good choice here if you want to keep in the S&W vein.

Pacific Ale (Galaxy Motueka Vic Secret) Pacific Ale
Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 24.50 L
Boil Size: 31.24 L
Boil Time: 60 min
End of Boil Vol: 28.54 L
Final Bottling Vol: 21.00 L
Fermentation: Ale, Ferment, Diacetyl, Soft
Crash

Est Original Gravity: 1.044 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.007 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.9 %
Bitterness: 25.8 IBUs
Est Color: 7.4 EBC

Equipment: Grainfather 19L Packaged
Efficiency: 79.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 85.1 %
Taste Rating: 30.0

3250 g Gladfield American Ale Malt (5.0 EBC) 65.0 %
1500 g Gladfield Wheat Malt (4.2 EBC) 30.0 %
250 g Gladfield Sour Grapes Malt Acid (6.0 EBC) 5.0 %

5.0 g Dr. Rudi [10.20 %] - Boil 60.0 min 5.5 IBUs
15.0 g Motueka [8.00 %] - Boil 20.0 min 8.6 IBUs
50.0 g Galaxy [15.90 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 15.0 min, 80 C 9.7 IBUs
20.0 g Motueka [8.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 15.0 min, 80 C 1.9 IBUs

1.0 pkg Lalbrew Verdant IPA (Lallemand #) Yeast

100.0 g Vic Secret [15.50 %] - 3.0 Days Before Bottling for 2.0 days
50.0 g Motueka [8.00 %] - 3.0 Days Before Bottling for 2.0 days

Saccharification Add 19.7 L of water 66 C 60 min
Mash Out Heat to 75 C over 5 min 75 C 5 min
Sparge: Fly sparge with 14.88 L water at 78 C

 

[Narapoia]

Hi @Narapoia

If you want to go a bit abstract I just brewed an ale with 45% wheat and 55% 2-row using Lallemand Voss kveik and Dr Rudi hops from New Zealand to 21 IBUs and 5.4% ABV. Pitched at 42 degrees Celsius and then fermentation stabilized at 37 degrees.
Ended up with a slightly acidic, citrusy, chewy beer with a lemony finish that my Great Northern drinking brother and father destroyed over Xmas and I personally rate as the best beer I’ve ever made after going in with no expectations whatsoever on how it was going to turn out. Not sure if it classes as a true wheat beer or what you are looking for but i can send you or post the recipe if you’re interested.

Wow, that's an interesting one. I haven't used any Kviek yeast before - does it have a strong flavour? My only experience drinking a Kviek beer was many years ago, was at a beligian beer cafe and not to my tastes, but it sounds like this was a pretty great outcome. I'd probably up the wheat component a bit could be keen to give it a try after I take a couple other stabs at this style.

 

[Narapoia]

This is a recipe that I had come up with, playing with the Pac Ale idea though trying different hop combos. When I tried the mollyhawk ale, it immediately reminded me of this recipe, at least with the flavour. I'm no expert (far from it) though I though that vic secret was the likely hop in the GB beer. My impression of my version was that it was surprisingly bitter, so I would make it 20 IBU in the future. I also was having trouble with my pH meter (turned out it was giving false readings and that was fixed by buying a new and different one), so that may be part of why it tasted bitter than I wanted. Last possibility was the verdant yeast, which is reported to produce a more bitter beer by some users that I was able to find. Something clean and neutral (such as US05 etc) would be a good choice here if you want to keep in the S&W vein.

Pacific Ale (Galaxy Motueka Vic Secret) Pacific Ale
Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 24.50 L
Boil Size: 31.24 L
Boil Time: 60 min
End of Boil Vol: 28.54 L
Final Bottling Vol: 21.00 L
Fermentation: Ale, Ferment, Diacetyl, Soft
Crash

Est Original Gravity: 1.044 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.007 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.9 %
Bitterness: 25.8 IBUs
Est Color: 7.4 EBC

Equipment: Grainfather 19L Packaged
Efficiency: 79.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 85.1 %
Taste Rating: 30.0

3250 g Gladfield American Ale Malt (5.0 EBC) 65.0 %
1500 g Gladfield Wheat Malt (4.2 EBC) 30.0 %
250 g Gladfield Sour Grapes Malt Acid (6.0 EBC) 5.0 %

5.0 g Dr. Rudi [10.20 %] - Boil 60.0 min 5.5 IBUs
15.0 g Motueka [8.00 %] - Boil 20.0 min 8.6 IBUs
50.0 g Galaxy [15.90 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 15.0 min, 80 C 9.7 IBUs
20.0 g Motueka [8.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 15.0 min, 80 C 1.9 IBUs

1.0 pkg Lalbrew Verdant IPA (Lallemand #) Yeast

100.0 g Vic Secret [15.50 %] - 3.0 Days Before Bottling for 2.0 days
50.0 g Motueka [8.00 %] - 3.0 Days Before Bottling for 2.0 days

Saccharification Add 19.7 L of water 66 C 60 min
Mash Out Heat to 75 C over 5 min 75 C 5 min
Sparge: Fly sparge with 14.88 L water at 78 C

Thanks for sharing this - particularly the Vic Secret pick on the yeast. I haven't used it before - so definitely wouldn't be able to pick it. Does this recipe land a little more noticeably on the barley malt side for the base given the 70% barley vs GB? I ask as I tried Four Pines' Aussie Wheat Ale on the weekend and it is was noticeably less 'wheaty' than GB, a touch darker and also had a higher apparent bitterness than I would have guessed than the 22 IBU s on the tin. Just found a site that says they used Castilla and Amarillo for theirs. Pirate life and Matilda Bay use Eclipse.

I was going to use the Gladfield American Ale when I take a stab at this - so good to see you use this as well. I wonder whether Eclipse in the boil and VC as a dry hop would work well - does seem to match the citrus and tropical fruit combo of the beer and the description they give. I might try a bit higher wheat component when I give this a go. You have a pretty hectic hop schedule in this recipe - do you buy in bulk?

 

[bradmcm]

My only experience drinking a Kviek beer was many years ago, was at a beligian beer cafe and not to my tastes,

Kriek or Kveik?
Kriek is a Belgian sour cherry ale, kveik is Norwegian farmhouse yeast.

 

[Narapoia]

It was a kviek fermented beer (Def not a Kriek, which I do like) - just at a belgian beer cafe.
It was a while ago - so maybe I am remembering wrong as well.

 

[bradmcm]

It was a kviek fermented beer (Def not a Kriek, which I do like) - just at a belgian beer cafe.
It was a while ago - so maybe I am remembering wrong as well.

Cool. I haven't had a commercial beer made with kveik.

 

[Narapoia]

Cool. I haven't had a commercial beer made with kveik.

I got curious and did a bit of looking - I reckon it was a Kwak that I had, and my brain just made it Kviek, though they are completely unrelated.
I usually like belgian beers, but not Kwak.

 

[Bougie!st]

Thanks for sharing this - particularly the Vic Secret pick on the yeast. I haven't used it before - so definitely wouldn't be able to pick it. Does this recipe land a little more noticeably on the barley malt side for the base given the 70% barley vs GB? I ask as I tried Four Pines' Aussie Wheat Ale on the weekend and it is was noticeably less 'wheaty' than GB, a touch darker and also had a higher apparent bitterness than I would have guessed than the 22 IBU s on the tin. Just found a site that says they used Castilla and Amarillo for theirs. Pirate life and Matilda Bay use Eclipse.

I was going to use the Gladfield American Ale when I take a stab at this - so good to see you use this as well. I wonder whether Eclipse in the boil and VC as a dry hop would work well - does seem to match the citrus and tropical fruit combo of the beer and the description they give. I might try a bit higher wheat component when I give this a go. You have a pretty hectic hop schedule in this recipe - do you buy in bulk?

I found it 'wheaty' enough - was based on the reported pac ale. So if you find it has enough wheat, then this should be fine. I would use less acidulated malt now that my pH meter is fixed.

Your hop combo would work well.

What can I say? I like hops. I don't like having leftovers, so that keeps the hops fresh. I generally buy minimum 100g to 250g for hoppy beer. Bigger packs (500g) take longer to use. Will buy in 50g packs if appropriate. Most of my drop hopping for proper hoppy beers are north of 100g and I like to have a big whirlpool in them too.

 

[Piggy Smalls]

Wow, that's an interesting one. I haven't used any Kviek yeast before - does it have a strong flavour? My only experience drinking a Kviek beer was many years ago, was at a beligian beer cafe and not to my tastes, but it sounds like this was a pretty great outcome. I'd probably up the wheat component a bit could be keen to give it a try after I take a couple other stabs at this style.

Yeah it was definitely a bit of an odd idea but I was blown away with the result.

I’ve brewed with Voss kveik many times and it does throw a fair bit of citrus in both the aroma and flavor. It’s like a mandarin on the aroma but more like orange in the taste. At those fermentation temperatures you can go grain to glass in less than ten days including when bottling, and by day 12-15 the citrus has normally mellowed right out.

In this case the combination of Voss kveik and a large amount of wheat must have thrown the PH down as it had a noticeable acidic bite that I would liken to a slice of lemon, Carona style. The wheat in the grain bill gave it a nice balancing graininess and chewiness and the Dr Rudi hops rounded it off with a clean bitterness and a little bit of new world character. I created the recipe as an American Wheat but if I brewed professionally I would probably market it as a hazy blonde ale.

 

[Narapoia]

Yeah it was definitely a bit of an odd idea but I was blown away with the result.

I’ve brewed with Voss kveik many times and it does throw a fair bit of citrus in both the aroma and flavor. It’s like a mandarin on the aroma but more like orange in the taste. At those fermentation temperatures you can go grain to glass in less than ten days including when bottling, and by day 12-15 the citrus has normally mellowed right out.

In this case the combination of Voss kveik and a large amount of wheat must have thrown the PH down as it had a noticeable acidic bite that I would liken to a slice of lemon, Carona style. The wheat in the grain bill gave it a nice balancing graininess and chewiness and the Dr Rudi hops rounded it off with a clean bitterness and a little bit of new world character. I created the recipe as an American Wheat but if I brewed professionally I would probably market it as a hazy blonde ale.

I got the ingredients to make a first pass based on the recipe I posted above along with the advice in the thread - once that is done and I've seen how it turns out I may well give this a go. It sounds great.