Pimping a wheat beer in a keg..

[VP Brewing]

Hi all, I just made my first wheat beer and it is very bland. It was 50/50 pils/wheat with a 60min addition of hallertau mit. Just wondering if I can boil up some more hops and add the liquid to the keg.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Cheers
Paul

 

[Dan Pratt]

When you say bland, in this instance you mean.....it's not hoppy? I suggest this as you want to add hops.

Why didn't you make a pale ale or ipa then.

 

[wereprawn]

Wheat beer is all about the yeast. If you didn't use a wheat beer yeast or did and fermented cool well......that's what wheat n pils tastes like. Make your self a hop tea and give that a go. You wont get a balanced beer but probably better than what you have.

 

[VP Brewing]

Yeah it is just lacking taste or bitterness compared to a lot of Hefeweizens I've tasted lately. I understand there shouldn't be much hoppiness but I want to know how I can add more bitterness once it's already kegged. Already have an APA and IPA in the kegerator. I like variety which is why I decided to brew something else. It was fermented at 18.
Cheers

 

[danestead]

Isohop for bitterness?

 

[Blind Dog]

Depends on what style of wheat beer you brewed

If it's in the German style (and I assume it us given the hop choice) it's largely about the yeast character so if it's bland I'd suggest you used the wrong yeast or fermented at the wrong temps. Not a lot you can do now to fix it back to style. Same pretty much for Belgian wits although as there's no mention of spices I assume it's not a wit?

If it's in the American style, it's supposed to be without the German/Belgian yeast character and more about the hops and the wheat 'snap' without the hops being OTT! So more hops yo add flavour and/or bitterness is more appropriate

 

[Mr. No-Tip]

What yeast did you use? Think about how it tastes now...look at that compared to the appropriate BJCP style guidelines (Weizen or American Wheat I am guessing) and see if you made a poor example or if it's a great example and you just don't like the style...at least you'll know for next time.

I suspect you could bitter it up with a hop tea or an isohop, but unless it's bad I'd run with the challenge. Also, if you do try to boil up hops as you put it, don't do that in plain water (a bit of info on that here: https://byo.com/india-pale-ale/item/610-extract--hop-extraction-mr-wizard) . Another option is to go the opposite direction and fruit it. Fruit wheat beers can be pretty fantastic. Got any cherries or raspberries lying around?

 

[wereprawn]

Yes.
Add the hop tea to the keg. You may need to leave the keg for a few days to mellow.

 

[Dan Pratt]

what was the IBU from the 60m addition ?

 

[VP Brewing]

60 min hop addition should have been about 12 according to beersmith. Used 60g of 2.4AA IN THE 25L batch. I used the wyeast Bavarian wheat blend which I think was the problem. Probably more suited to the American style wheat. I'll add the hop tea this time and go for a different yeast for the next one.
It's still not a bad beer but I reckon it's in no mans land between the two styles: no hop flavour and no banana esters.
Thanks for the input

 

[Weizguy]

Dry hop! (in a hop bag)

 

[VP Brewing]

Yeah might try the dry hop option Les. Hallertau or cascade?

 

[fletcher]

cascade. noble dry hop is horrible. found out through experience.

EDIT: i'd probably go with mr no tip's suggestion and chuck in some cherries

 

[Weizguy]

cascade. noble dry hop is horrible. found out through experience.

EDIT: i'd probably go with mr no tip's suggestion and chuck in some cherries

If using a noble/aromatic hop, You may want to make a plunger tea from the hop and steep for 5-10 min before adding it to the kegged beer

 

[VP Brewing]

25g of cascade is in a hop bag, in the keg. Going away for a couple of days and will taste when I get home. I'm keen to try the fruit in one too.

 

[droid]

can you remember how it turned out?

got the exact same issue here used 3068 and didn't get banana - it's a refreshing beer but a bit meh

i could raid the mrs pantry and put in some preserved fruit, i think there's nectarines and apricots - what's the go, just chuck it in a stocking for a few days? (the keg is not fridged yet or carbed up, just has a layer of co2 on it)

 

[droid]

 

[pist]

What was your mash schedule? Ive done a single infusion on the ones ive made and each one lacks the characteristic up front banana/clove and body of a commercially brewed hef despite being fermented at the appropriate temperature. Wheat beers need to go through a series of temperature steps whilst mashing to get the best results from my experience

 

[droid]

30 L at end pull out 10ltrs = 30% (25-30%) of thick mash Temperature 30 C 30 min
6 L thick mash at 62 Temperature 62 C 30 min
24 L thin mash kept @ 30 Temperature 30 C 30 min
30 L mixed back together and combined to acheive 40C Temperature 40 C 30 min
30 L until no iodine Temperature 72 C 30 min
57 L mash out Sparge 78 C 30 min
Starting Mash Thickness: 3 L/kg

it's chilling now and will either get a dose of hops or fruit this arvo -whichever thought pops into my mind at the time prolly

 

[Dave70]

I know they offer different syrups with Berliner Weisse, raspberry being the most popular.
I've tried this myself with a particularly tart weizen once, worked well (actually added it to the keg for convenience). Grab a bottle of Grenadine from Coles and go for it.