Dunkelweiss

[reviled]

Hey guys

Ive been thinking of doing a Dunkel Weiss, but have been reading through the recipes and theres heaps of stuff about different mash techniques...

I must admit, im a little confused, this is what I was thinking about using

2kg Wheat Malt
1kg Pilsner
1kg Munich
250 grams Carawheat
200 grams Chocolate

Prolly just going to hop it with some Hallertau and Saaz, not too much tho, maybe 15g of each...

Am I getting myself into something I wont be able to finish properly? Would I have to do anything special with this?

Reason I want to do this is im going to reculture some yeast out of a fantastic Emersons Dunkelweiss I had the other day :icon_cheers:

 

[bconnery]

Hey guys

Ive been thinking of doing a Dunkel Weiss, but have been reading through the recipes and theres heaps of stuff about different mash techniques...

I must admit, im a little confused, this is what I was thinking about using

2kg Wheat Malt
1kg Pilsner
1kg Munich
250 grams Carawheat
200 grams Chocolate

Prolly just going to hop it with some Hallertau and Saaz, not too much tho, maybe 15g of each...

Am I getting myself into something I wont be able to finish properly? Would I have to do anything special with this?

Reason I want to do this is im going to reculture some yeast out of a fantastic Emersons Dunkelweiss I had the other day :icon_cheers:

You can do all sorts of different mash techniques, or you can just do your standard infusion mash.
It won't be a problem.
The recipe seems right to me, but I've only made one, and it is currently in the fermenter, so I don't know for sure...

 

[rich_lamb]

Recipe looks good.

If you want to be on the safe side chuck in some (200g) of rice hulls to avoid a slow sparge - wheat can play up sometimes.

Personally, I'd buy and use fresh yeast; reculturing is your big risk. But as that's why you want to do it...
(there are all sorts of reasons why your brew will not be the same as the Emersons one, but you should take inspiration where you can get it)

 

[reviled]

Recipe looks good.

If you want to be on the safe side chuck in some (200g) of rice hulls to avoid a slow sparge - wheat can play up sometimes.

Personally, I'd buy and use fresh yeast; reculturing is your big risk. But as that's why you want to do it...
(there are all sorts of reasons why your brew will not be the same as the Emersons one, but you should take inspiration where you can get it)

Sweet, I wont have to worry about a slow sparge cos I do BIAB, no sparging for me :icon_cheers:

Main reason I want to get it recultured is cos I cant get liquid yeasts here, and I dont want to do a weissbier with say a k-97 or similair dried yeast... A true hefe yeast would be tops!

 

[bconnery]

Sweet, I wont have to worry about a slow sparge cos I do BIAB, no sparging for me :icon_cheers:

Main reason I want to get it recultured is cos I cant get liquid yeasts here, and I dont want to do a weissbier with say a k-97 or similair dried yeast... A true hefe yeast would be tops!

Danstar Munich or fermentis wb06. Might not be quite as good as your liquids according to many but I've tasted some great wheats made with them. Worth while having as a backup in case your culture doesn't work, or Emersons use a bottling strain...
K97 is a german ale yeast. I know it gets sold as a wheat yeast, but it isn't.

 

[reviled]

Danstar Munich or fermentis wb06. Might not be quite as good as your liquids according to many but I've tasted some great wheats made with them. Worth while having as a backup in case your culture doesn't work, or Emersons use a bottling strain...
K97 is a german ale yeast. I know it gets sold as a wheat yeast, but it isn't.

My LHBS has WB06, might get me some of that...

And WTF?!?!?!?!?! K-97 is an ale yeast?!?!?! I did a hoegaarden clone as my second ever k&k and I used K97 yeast, it came out all good, but man, im so not happy about it now after being told that...

 

[haish]

I've had no problems reculturing yeast from Emersons before, not from the dunkelweiss but from the hefeweizen and others. Should work fine, just make sure you give the starter a bit of time and build it up so there's enough yeast.

Otherwise you can get liquid yeasts from Ross. No problems shipping them to NZ, just be sure to make a starter...

 

[bconnery]

My LHBS has WB06, might get me some of that...

And WTF?!?!?!?!?! K-97 is an ale yeast?!?!?! I did a hoegaarden clone as my second ever k&k and I used K97 yeast, it came out all good, but man, im so not happy about it now after being told that...

Ah but don't forget, hoegaarden is a belgian wit, different beast from a hefeweizen. I've tasted a very tasty wit made with k97.
I really don't know when k97 started being sold as a wheat yeast but a quick read of the specs from fermentis themselves would set the record straight...

"A German ale yeast selected for its ability to form a large firm head when fermenting. This top cropping ale yeast is suitable for top fermented beers with low esters levels and can be used for Belgian type wheat beers."
See, so the advice you were given wasn't too far from the mark...

 

[reviled]

Ah but don't forget, hoegaarden is a belgian wit, different beast from a hefeweizen. I've tasted a very tasty wit made with k97.
I really don't know when k97 started being sold as a wheat yeast but a quick read of the specs from fermentis themselves would set the record straight...

"A German ale yeast selected for its ability to form a large firm head when fermenting. This top cropping ale yeast is suitable for top fermented beers with low esters levels and can be used for Belgian type wheat beers."
See, so the advice you were given wasn't too far from the mark...

lol, that would probably be why it tasted good... But the guy said it was perfect for ANY wheat beer... <_<

Ah well, you live and learn...

 

[reviled]

Brewed this up yesterday, went with the following hop additions...

60 mins : 15 grams Hallertau
15 mins : 10 grams Hallertau, 10 grams Saaz...

Trying to culture up my emersons yeast, will update in a couple of days.

 

[reviled]

My yeast starters working crazy well, its got about 2 inches of krausen which is good, and every time I crack the lid to get the gas out it has a pleasent aroma of banana :icon_drool2: Yum...

So yeah, im stoked, just saved myself $25 on some liquid yeast, which is allways cool!

What I did, was pour the last 200mls of the Emersons beer into about 400mls of wort..

So what do I do now? Wait till its finished then decant the beer, and give the yeast fresh wort? Or can I just use the starter that I have now without any more work involved?

Cheers

 

[haish]

Sounds like its ready to go. I wouldn't bother decanting, just pitch and let it get to work!!

 

[reviled]

I hate to be the one to do this, but its my turn to do the whole "My fermenting beer doesnt smell right" thing...

I pitched my emersons yeast starter into my dunkelweiss a few days ago, now when the starter was going off in the bottle it smelt like banana's and cloves, quite pleasant..

The fermenting wort is quite different, the highest the temp got was 24 for a day (I struggle to get it lower than that when the yeast is going crazy due to all the heat it gives off..) But instead of a banana smell it reeks of sulphery type stuff, its really hard to put my finger on exactly what it smells like, but it sure as hell does not smell like banana :unsure:

Whats going on? Have I got an infection somehow? Is the yeast acting differently for a reason?

Cheers...

 

[Swinging Beef]

Im with you, mate... I used a fresh batch of Wyeast Weihenstephan Weizen straight from the pack in to a wheaty hef.
Smelled great on pitching, and has dropped right down to 1.10 but it smelled awful the whole time.
Tastes right.. but stinks of sulphur.
Ive been told it will come good.
Ive not encountered this before with any other brews.

 

[reviled]

Im with you, mate... I used a fresh batch of Wyeast Weihenstephan Weizen straight from the pack in to a wheaty hef.
Smelled great on pitching, and has dropped right down to 1.10 but it smelled awful the whole time.
Tastes right.. but stinks of sulphur.
Ive been told it will come good.
Ive not encountered this before with any other brews.

Its wierd aye, like, how can it go from smelling so good to so terrible? Maybe its cos its on a much larger scale and the co2 smell is overpowering? Maybe my banana smell will come back after bottle conditioning?

Im not gonna throw it out or anything, but im sceptical about reusing the yeast cake (which is what I was planning on doing)

 

[Swinging Beef]

Im not gonna throw it out or anything, but im sceptical about reusing the yeast cake (which is what I was planning on doing)

Mine is in 2ndary, Ive bottled three and hoping to see what they turn out like before I bottle the rest.
I was going to do the same... Im hoping for more an Aventinus style next, tho.

You know the worst thing?
We had a 6 pack of each of the new Snowy Mountains ales on the weekend and all of them were excellent, except their hef, which smelled all sulphury and stinky.
Now if that is from a commercial brewery...

 

[reviled]

Mine is in 2ndary, Ive bottled three and hoping to see what they turn out like before I bottle the rest.
I was going to do the same... Im hoping for more an Aventinus style next, tho.

You know the worst thing?
We had a 6 pack of each of the new Snowy Mountains ales on the weekend and all of them were excellent, except their hef, which smelled all sulphury and stinky.
Now if that is from a commercial brewery...

When did you bottle them? Can you let me know how it goes?

Cheers

 

[Swinging Beef]

When did you bottle them? Can you let me know how it goes?
Cheers

Bottled on Friday the 29th and yes.
They should be carbed up by the 15th but Im likely to crack one this weekend as Im not a patient man. :icon_drunk:

 

[reviled]

Bottled on Friday the 29th and yes.
They should be carbed up by the 15th but Im likely to crack one this weekend as Im not a patient man. :icon_drunk:

Hahaha, I know how that is mate :icon_drunk: Fingers crossed for banana smells :icon_drool2:

 

[kabooby]

Not sure what the strain is you are using but I have had WLP300 throw of some sulphur smells during fermentation. Dont worry it will be fine.

Just make sure you let the yeast finish it's job. Leave it a couple of days once fermentation has stopped so it can clean up.

I would recommend tasting your starters before pitching them. I have had a 3068 starter ferment out ok, smell ok but tasted sour. Unfortunately I lost 40L before I worked out it was the yeast

Good luck with it

Kabooby