Christmas Wheat. w/cinnamon,clove,orange. Feedback please.

[Don Runk]

Hi all,

this will be the first time i have used anything other than hops in my boil and was hoping on some feedback.

plan to cook tonight to give it 10 days primary and then time in the keg to carb up before the big day.

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 39.0
Total Grain (kg): 9.136
Total Hops (g): 60.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.052 (°P): 12.9
Final Gravity (FG): 1.013 (°P): 3.3
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 5.11 %
Colour (SRM): 4.8 (EBC): 9.5
Bitterness (IBU): 18.7 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 70
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

Grain Bill
----------------
5.025 kg Pale Ale Malt (55%)
3.654 kg Wheat Malt (40%)
0.457 kg Munich I (5%)

Hop Bill
----------------
60.0 g Hallertau Tradition Pellet (4.3% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (1.5 g/L)

Misc Bill
----------------
1 Cinnamon Stick @ 5 Minutes (Boil)
3 Clove nails @ 5 Minutes (Boil)
40.0 g Orange zest@ 5 Minutes (Boil)

Single step Infusion at 67°C for 120 Minutes.
Fermented at 19°C with US-05


unsure on the cinnamon,orange zest and clove. i'm after a background aroma and taste but nothing too dominant.

Anyway hoping on some feedback. Either way i'll share tasting notes and the success/disaster story Christmas day!

 

[panzerd18]

I've heard you can get ample clove from WB-06 yeast and I got a lot of clove with T-58 at 18-20C

 

[Cervantes]

I use cloves in mulled wine in the winter and a little goes a long way...........

 

[Don Runk]

Thanks for the feedback guys!

love to use a wheat yeast but cant get to the store beforehand and Xmas is coming quick.

done some research and apparently us-05 is used in alot of american wheat beers without issue. And I have it on hand, I know i'll miss out on the typical flavors from the yeast hence the additions of the cloves.

the cloves worry me the most. i hate the taste of strong clove but think it needs it in a very mild dose.


is 3 nails too much for a double batch? was planning on not crushing them or anything. Only 5 min boil till flame out and probably sit in the kettle while it drains through the plate chiller another 10mins.

 

[klangers]

I'd cut back to 2 cloves.

If you really want the orange to come through, considering soaking in vodka and throwing in come cold conditioning time. Boiling it tends to drive off a lot of the really nice aromatics.

I'd also consider throwing in the cinnamon at the start of the boil.

 

[Bomber Watson]

The orange zest may add some biterness, something to keep in mind.

 

[JDW81]

The orange zest may add some biterness, something to keep in mind.

Or it may not h34r:

40g won't change bitterness at all, especially since it is being added at 5 minutes.

I use 1 cinnamon stick and 2 cloves in my cider (20L batch) and it gives a good balance. Not quite the same as beer, but similar volumes. Remember that you can always add more next time, but it is very difficult to remove if you go overboard.

JD

 

[Don Runk]

plan to zest oranges fresh and not include any white bit which i hear contains the bitterness. i may add some more to FV on day 7 if you all think it is a bit light.

JD how long do you give the cinnamon stick and cloves in boil? crushed or whole?

i heard cinnamon can leech tannins but i doubt it'd have much of an impact. especially one stick in 40L. Aiming for mild background notes not an instant "wow there's cinnamon/cloves in that!"

Thanks heaps for all your inputs you are saving my beer from poor planning! 5 hours till i light the burner!

 

[Cervantes]

love to use a wheat yeast but cant get to the store beforehand and Xmas is coming quick.

done some research and apparently us-05 is used in alot of american wheat beers without issue. And I have it on hand, I know i'll miss out on the typical flavors from the yeast hence the additions of the cloves.

I always use US-05 for my wheat beers as I prefer the cleaner taste of the American Style Wheat Beers.

 

[JDW81]

JD how long do you give the cinnamon stick and cloves in boil? crushed or whole?

Spices always go in whole for about 10 minutes give or take.

 

[Don Runk]

Well cook is done and thanks for all your comments.

ended up going with one stick of cinnamon in at about 8mins
3 nails of clove @ 5min
40gms orange zest without pith @5min

admittedly after flame out, the kettle would have remained north of 90c for 15mins until it drained through the plate chiller into the FV.


and the sample is... well very cinnamon. very slight orange note but not much and cant pick up on any clove.

hoping the cinnamon will mellow but i'd say it will once fermented chilled and carbed.

thanks all for input. keep you posted,

any thoughts on increasing the orange flavor or "let it be"

 

[klangers]

any thoughts on increasing the orange flavor or "let it be"

As I said before, adding orange peel during cold conditioning will really give you a stronger orange flavour and aroma. If you're worried about sanitation soak the peel in vodka before adding.

 

[Don Runk]

As I said before, adding orange peel during cold conditioning will really give you a stronger orange flavour and aroma. If you're worried about sanitation soak the peel in vodka before adding.

Thanks Klangers,
wasn't dismissing this at all. In fact i will be doing exactly this unless the orange flavor comes through by day 7 (guessing if anything it'll be even less noticeable).

I'm familiar with dry hopping no problems but what's a good starting point "dry hopping" with zest? 1g/L?

assuming you soak the zest in a small amount of vodka for a day to kill off the wild yeast (found on the skin of oranges) and then throw the whole lot in a hop bag into keg?

thanks again.

 

[klangers]

No worries.

I've tossed it straight in without soaking in vodka and there were no issues whatsoever (especially since it was a Belgian where any extra "funk" was unlikely to be detectable). I've also used lime the same way in a far lighter-colour beer, and most recently soaked it in vodka for 15 mins or so. I don't think there would be much wild yeast on the skin after you wash it before peeling/zesting. But yeah, I've done it both ways and never any hint of wild yeast infection.

You can use a hop bag if you wish. I personally did not as I hand peeled mine and they all just sank.