Mid-strength Honey Wheat beer brew.

[menoetes]

Hi guys,

I just put down a new brew yesterday, I got the inspiration from an old Beer & Brewers magazine. The original recipe is as follows:

1 Can of Morgans wheat beer
500g of Dextrose
500g of Gentle Honey
wb-06 yeast

I wanted more of a session beer and tampered with the recipe a little, always dangerous I know.

1 can of Thomas Coopers Wheat Beer (Brewers Choice @ chapel hill was out of the Morgans but I'm not too worried about the substitution)
400g of Honey (Macidamia Honey)
wb-06 yeast
1/2 teaspoon of yeast nutrient

I brought 3 litres of water to the boil and added the yeast nutrient, took it off the heat and mixed in the honey and the can of wort. Then into the fermenter and topped up to 23 litres, then I pitched the yeast.

I ended up pitching the yeast at 26'c, warmer then I would have liked but I had to get to work and didn't have time to cool it off. By the time I got home it had dropped to 22'c so I'm not too worried wb-06 has a pretty broad temp range (15'c - 28'c).

I didn't have time to take a hydrometer reading either but I'm not terribly worried about that either as I will leave it in the fermenter for about 3 weeks to let the little beasties do their work thoroughly.

With the amount of fermentable sugars in there though (roughly about 350g worth) I'm hoping for a mid-strength honey wheat beer.

Any advice, comments or suggestions on how I can get a really nice end product out of this rough-ish beginning?

 

[carniebrew]

Not much you can do now, other than trying to drop the temp a little bit, but really I think it'll come out ok. It sounds a lot like my 2nd ever beer, a can of TC wheat, 500gm DME, 300gm dex and wb-06, fermented around 20/21C. I was really happy with it.

I wouldn't wait 3 weeks though, I've never had a wb-06 beer finish fermenting in any longer than 6 days. Take a gravity reading after day 5, if it's around 1006 then take another reading on day 6 and 7, if it hasn't budged, get it in the bottle and it'll be ready to drink within a week. Wheat beers are best consumed fresh.

 

[menoetes]

Funny, this is my second brew too, I'll take your advice and check the SG on Monday, if it hasn't changed by Wednesday I'll bottle. It's been sitting between 19C - 21C for the last few days so hopefully it should be good.

A week doesn't sound like a very long time to mature but I'll be sure to taste it after a week in the bottle, but beer is beer and as long as it tastes good I'm not too concerned.

I hope the honey flavors really come through and I'm not too worried about them being too strong, my LHBS guy suggested no more than 250g of honey but I really like the taste of it so I added a bit more so the taste wouldn't be too subtle. After-all experimentation and learning is what its all about isn't it?

Thanks Carniebrew for your words of wisdom, it's much appreciated.

 

[carniebrew]

Agreed, drinking your home brew after only a week in the bottle seems to go against a lot of the accepted wisdom. But trust me, it works just fine for the weissbier style you're brewing.

Let us know how it comes out with the honey, and if you think it was too much or not after tasting your first one.

 

[menoetes]

SG is at 1012, tastes a bit thin but with definite hints and aromas of honey though nothing too overpowering. Not a lot of body too it, I might add 500g of wheat malt next time but still tastes good! I'll check the sg over the next few days and it if stays steady I'll bottle. It's all quite exciting :lol:

 

[menoetes]

Bottled today, a bit later than I originally planned too but that's ok as far as I'm concerned. I dropped some finings in there 3 days ago and I tried bulk priming for the first time with 155g of Coopers Brew Enhancer 2 dissolved in 500ml of boiling water. Hopefully that works out well.

I managed to get 30 750ml Pet bottles out of it too which is the good for me (my previous brew only produced 25). Usually I waste a fair bit more but the racking into a second fermentor for bulk priming helped reduce my usual wastefulness.

It still tastes a bit thin but that would be because there is 60% less sugar in it than a full strength brew. I don't think I'll use so little again but I'll reserve final judgement on that for when I taste it in a few weeks. All in all I'm still quite please with it. I had some fun experimenting with my 2nd ever brew.

Constantly learning,
Meno

 

[Droopy]

Good work, I tried honey in one of my brews a couple of months ago and loved it... Have 45lt brew fermenting away at moment that has 1kg of honey in it. Lovely!!!

I've never used that yeast, but interestingly the datasheet says ferment below 22C for clover flavours or above 23C for banana flavours. May be on the list for a future brew!
http://www.fermentis.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/SFBWB06.pdf

 

[menoetes]

It's been two weeks since bottling. Tasted this beer last night! It's come out a nice light golden colour and quite clear with only some chill fogging. I will admit it seems a bit flat and only gets a centimeter of head or so, which quickly dissolves.

It tastes fine, a little light on body and with definite honey aroma but only the subtlest honey aftertaste. I would have liked a fuller mouth feel and stronger honey flavor but with so little added sugar that's no surprise - ah the curse of light beers! Maybe more honey next time or adding it to a secondary fermenter to accentuate the taste.

Also I might prime with a bit more sugar and less water in future. Mind you it has been a bit cold lately and perhaps giving the bottles a few more weeks to carb up is just what the doctor ordered, who knows?