Better Step By Step?

[davecambo]

I am VERY interested in making this recipe:

The Brew Hut Dunkelweizen
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.046 FG = 1.012
IBU = 13 ABV = 4.5%

Ingredients
6 lbs. (2.7 kg) wheat liquid
malt extract
8 oz. (56 g) German Munich malt
8 oz. (56 g) German Vienna malt
8 oz. (56 g) German dark crystal
malt (65 L)
12 oz. (2856 g) Weyermann
Carafa II Malt
(optional for slightly darker color)
3.5 HBU Hallertau Hersbrcker hops
(1 oz./28 g of 3.5% AA) (bittering)
3/4 corn sugar or 1 1/4 cup dry
malt extract (for priming)
White Labs WLP300 (Hefeweizen Ale)
yeast or Wyeast 3068
(Weihenstephan) yeast

Step by Step
Steep the grains in 155 F (68 C) water for 30 minutes. Remove and rinse grains with 165 F (74 C) water. Add and stir in wheat malt extract. Bring to a boil and add hops. Boil for 60 minutes and then chill to 7075 F (~23 C). Ferment for about 710 days or until all fermentation is complete. There is no need for a secondary fermentation.

Is this too complex for my first partial? If not, is there anyone who would find the time to to give me a bit of a better step by step bearing in mind this will be my first attempt please?

for example,
-what to steep the grains in (can i use a stocking?)
-after steeping there will be water in the pot i steeped them in, do i remove the grains and then rinse them over this pot and keep all the water that has touched the grains or what?
-if so how much water do i rinse with and how much do i steep in.


on another note
-i understand the vienna, munich and dark crystal malt are the grains, but how do you know how much grain will be the equivelant to how much sugar, so as not to make a too strong / weak beer. or does the 2.7kg LME take care of the fermentable side of things and the grains are only for mouthfeel, body and haze etc.

i understand the hops boiling side to this lol thats about all.

i know these are a lot of questions but i alreday read the pdf guide to partials but i think i need to get the dummies guide.

thanks in advance.

 

[Pennywise]

You can just steep the grains in a stocking, just make sure you give the stocking a good boil first to get rid of any dye that may be in it (personally I use a grain bag from CB). Yes, you keep the water you steeped the grains in, for that much grain I'd usually use 2L water, then rinse (sparge) with another 1.5-2L at the same temp or a few degrees higher, make sure you boil the liquid to kill any nasties. That nmuch grain wont give you much fermentables so I wouldn't worry at all about that.

 

[glaab]

Lots of good info about partials in the attachment. At a guess that looks about 5% ABV.

View attachment convert_mash_to_extract.pdf

 

[Fourstar]

Honestly, with those amounts of grain its almost worthless doing a partial (unless you dont have a pot big enough). IMO you are probabaly better off just going one tin of wheat malt extract and going 50% of your SG points from a partial mash of munich, Vienna wheat and crystal

say 33% of munich, 33% Vienna 33% wheat and 1% of medium crystal. (i dont know the gram figures as i dont have beersmith on hand atm, maybe a figure around 2 kg total?)

That way you are making the most of your partial mash by getting the malt flavours you set out to get by partial mashing.

 

[davecambo]

and once i have finished the sparge do i keep the bag of grain and put that in the fermenter like hops in a bag or do i get rid of it.

 

[bum]

Honestly, with those amounts of grain its almost worthless doing a partial (unless you dont have a pot big enough). IMO you are probabaly better off just going one tin of wheat malt extract and going 50% of your SG points from a partial mash of munich, Vienna wheat and crystal

That way you are making the most of your partial mash by getting the malt flavours you set out to get by partial mashing.

I gotta say I agree with this completely. As it is it doesn't seem much different to an extract with spec grains. Even if you can only boil up to, say, 5 litres I reckon you can up the grain content significantly. Best of luck with it either way. I'm sure the current recipe will still turn out a nice beer.

 

[manticle]

Don't the munich and vienna need to be mashed rather than steeped?

Grain waste goes on the garden or in the bin.

 

[davecambo]

Honestly, with those amounts of grain its almost worthless doing a partial (unless you dont have a pot big enough). IMO you are probabaly better off just going one tin of wheat malt extract and going 50% of your SG points from a partial mash of munich, Vienna wheat and crystal

say 33% of munich, 33% Vienna 33% wheat and 1% of medium crystal. (i dont know the gram figures as i dont have beersmith on hand atm, maybe a figure around 2 kg total?)

That way you are making the most of your partial mash by getting the malt flavours you set out to get by partial mashing.

ok so one tin of LME wheat (1.5kg) and then the munich, vienna and crystal malts to make up the 2.7kg LME that was on the recipe? so that would make around 1.5 kilos of malts (500g of each).

would i need to add any other fermentables since i am lowering the LME?

 

[manticle]

The thing is though Dave - you can't just steep 2 of those 3 grains.

You can only steep specialty grains: crystal malts, roasted malts etc.

To better explain what I mean - scroll down a little on this thread:

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...showtopic=37924

 

[tdh]

They're being steeped at mash temps. So there is a mash taking place.

tdh

 

[manticle]

Depends on whether the temp is held etc though. I always used to steep around 68-70 as practice but my maintenance wasn't really specific. In such small amounts it may not matter but if conversion doesn't occur it just means starch in the beer or at the very least a pointless exercise in grain wastage.

 

[davecambo]

The thing is though Dave - you can't just steep 2 of those 3 grains.

You can only steep specialty grains: crystal malts, roasted malts etc.

To better explain what I mean - scroll down a little on this thread:

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...showtopic=37924

ok then, thanks for that i read your post and that makes sense.

what i am aiming for is a wheat beer. it doesnt have to be exactly like hoegaarden, i actually prefer other wheat beers like franziskaner, but any wheat beer is delicious IMO.

so, can i make a beer like this, using a method similar to the one above, that seems ok for a 1st try at a partial, using grains that can be steeped only.

i would be interested in any recipe that fits my requirements, if there is a good one that is easy to make. i do understand the best things in life require some effort, but i dont want to stuff something up trying to do something out of my league then have to cry as i pour it down the drain. that would be terrible.

any decent tasting wheat beer partial would be great. something that you can tell has been made differently to an extract i mean, or what would be the point.

 

[bum]

They're being steeped at mash temps. So there is a mash taking place.

tdh

His stated time is only 30 minutes. I think Manticle has a valid point.

 

[bconnery]

ok then, thanks for that i read your post and that makes sense.

what i am aiming for is a wheat beer. it doesnt have to be exactly like hoegaarden, i actually prefer other wheat beers like franziskaner, but any wheat beer is delicious IMO.

so, can i make a beer like this, using a method similar to the one above, that seems ok for a 1st try at a partial, using grains that can be steeped only.

i would be interested in any recipe that fits my requirements, if there is a good one that is easy to make. i do understand the best things in life require some effort, but i dont want to stuff something up trying to do something out of my league then have to cry as i pour it down the drain. that would be terrible.

any decent tasting wheat beer partial would be great. something that you can tell has been made differently to an extract i mean, or what would be the point.

That recipe is going to give you a dunkelweizen, or dark wheat beer. Very tasty, but nothing like hefeweizen.

What makes it a partial, or more correctly I think, a mini-mash, is the presence of malts that require a mash, rather than just a steep.
If you want to make a partial then adding some wheat and munich or pilsner malt to your wheat extract, then using the yeast and hops outlined in that recipe will give you a nice hefeweizen.

If you are only interested in steeping at this stage then in my opinion a hefe isn't the beer to be making.
Make one using all extract, or go the partial route.

It comes down to what you want. Do you want to try your hand at a more advanced technique, or do you want to make a wheat beer?
If you want a wheat do a search on 'hefeweizen extract recipe' and I'll bet you'll find plenty.
If you want a partial mash, and a mini or partial mash is very easy to do if you can steep grains, then fourstars idea above would be a go-er.
If you want to try steeping grains to add something to an extract recipe then I'd search around for a different beer style to try.
Something like an APA, stout, brown, porter etc. Anything where specialty grains play an important part.

 

[davecambo]

you are right. i want a hefeweizen.

i dont want stout, brown or porter, and i dont really want to go AG just yet. i believe as i have only made a few extract beers, i have a long way to go with them before moving on.

i want something like schofferhofer or franziskaner. can it be done with extract only?

 

[petesbrew]

Looking at that amount of grain (200g ish) you could steep your grains in a large coffee plunger.
It's what I usually use when I do a Kits n Bits.

 

[manticle]

you are right. i want a hefeweizen.

i dont want stout, brown or porter, and i dont really want to go AG just yet. i believe as i have only made a few extract beers, i have a long way to go with them before moving on.

i want something like schofferhofer or franziskaner. can it be done with extract only?

Yes you can. You are on the right track with the use of the yeast.

Use around 50% wheat malt extract (can get dried or liquid) and steep some extra specialty grains. Use some german noble hops for bittering and flavour. Make the rest of the extract bill up using a pale malt (dried or liquid).

There are a couple of specialty grains that may fit your desired profile - Take this bit tentatively as I have no used them but weyermans make some crystalised versions of certain malts like cara-wheat and cara-munich.

 

[glaab]

8oz isn't 56g, did someone point that out?, too lazy to read it all

 

[Pennywise]

Seems we all missed that one, 226g is 8oz