Strong Wheat Beer

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mrkitewhitey

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Howdy,

I'm about to put this one down... what do you all think of it?

Thomas Coopers Wheat beer kit
1.5kg Liquid malt wheat extract
kit yeast
15g Galaxy steeped for 15 mins and added prior to yeast pitch (alternatively, thinking of dryhopping for last 7 days in secondary.

Will this be too wheaty? I'm going for a bit of a Hoegaarden vibe, but with the Galaxy, hoping for a little Stone and Wood Pacific feel too..... hmmmm

What do you think? disaster or winner?

Cheers

Whitey
 
Not "disaster", but if you want a true weizen style beer I beg of you not to use the kit yeast. I've done exactly that kit (my first ever brew actually), and it's nothing more than "drinkable"...bland, boring, lawnmower chugger. If you want a euro style weizen, simply change the kit yeast for something like Safale WB-06. It's the best $5 you'll ever spend! You can even just pitch it dry like you would the kit stuff.

Otherwise your recipe is fine....you don't need the Galaxy, but it won't hurt. And no to it being "too" wheaty, remembering wheat extract is actually only about 60% wheat, 40% barley, so adding the extra 1.5kg of wheat extract to the kit is fine.

Oh and if you want it "strong" as you mentioned in the title..and you mean high abv, then do your recipe in only 20 litres of water, it'll come out around 5.3% after bottle conditioning. And don't be afraid to bottle it with carb drops, I find the high carbonation levels they give are very true to the hefeweizen style.
 
Thanks Carnie,

I was thinking the yeast might pull me up..... I'll give it a crack using the wb-06 instead.
Might make a loaf of bread with the kit yeast instead. ha

Thanks mate

W
 
No probs. If you live in Melbourne i'm happy for you to drop 'round and try what it would have been like with the kit yeast. I still have about 5 tallies of it left...my missus loves it as a base for a shandy....
 
thnaks man... Might be a bit of a drive... I'm in Newcastle.. haha.. although, I'd fly to Belgium for a beer.. :)
 
My Wheat Beer has been bottled and is clearing nicely as far as I can see. I cannot wait to get stuck into it, but patience will prevail.

My mate and I do a podcast/blog on beer, music and other shit and this week we got into the basics of homebrewing. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. Give it a listen and a read if you can and let me know what you think by leaving comments etc. Please feel free to share the links around as well. Here is the link to episode 2.

http://discomfortsouthern.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/home-brewing-and-home-recording-should.html

Thanks a million guys.... I'll keep yas posted on the wheet.

Tony
 
well, it has been in the bottle for a week and a half only. I was impatient and decided to chuck one in the fridge this morning. I was expecting NOTHING really.. What I got was WoWOwowowowowww!!!!! Craxy good for this short a time... can't wait for or to age the right amount.

Check out my blog and stuff here.... Podcast about home brew and recording of music etc too....

thanks guys

https://www.facebook.com/TonyWMusic

www.discomfortsouthern.blogspot.com.au
 
Haha...told you about the wb-06. I've recently done a hefe using wb-06 in a temp controlled fridge, fermented at 23.5 to try and bring out more banana.....certainly the smell that was coming out of the fermenter suggests it was a success.....tasting at bottling time confirmed that. It's been in the bottle 1 week tomorrow, hope to be drinking it by the end of the week.

My next couple of hefes and dunkels will be using the various liquid weizen yeast strains, so I can compare. The wb-06 is definitely quite tart, as mentioned elsewhere possibly more suited to making Belgian Wit rather than true smooth, bready/malty hefe's like a Weihenstephan. I love it though.
 
Yet to try a hefe with wb-06, but looks like I should do it soon hey ?!? Glad to see you are happy with your beer Whitey. That's what it's all about.
I have listened to one or two of your podcasts, funny stuff ! Good work !

Glad to see the higher temps brought out the fruity/banana esters Carnie !
 
unclebarrel said:
Yet to try a hefe with wb-06, but looks like I should do it soon hey ?!? Glad to see you are happy with your beer Whitey. That's what it's all about.
I have listened to one or two of your podcasts, funny stuff ! Good work !

Glad to see the higher temps brought out the fruity/banana esters Carnie !
Thanks Barrel,

Podcasts are all new to both of us.... Getting easier to let go and just talk proper shite without worrying what people will think.... Got a few cool ones coming up, including a special ep dedicated to Belgians... Got an expert coming in for an interview on that one.

Feel free to share the link to the blog around too... whack it on your FB,, LIKE OUR fb page too......

Thanks mate... love your work.

Whitey
 
So, I have some news re: this beer.

My mate, Lee, with whom I brewed this batch, did the right thing and let it sit post-bottling, but then got a little impatient and whacked it ALL in the beer fridge. It was still good, but could've been great. But that is another story.

So, his half of the batch (around 40 stubbies) was sitting across 2 shelves in his upside down fridge/freezer. His wife strolls into the shed with a bottle of Coke to whack in the fridge. Opens the door, and yes, the shelves give way, EVERY.SINGLE.BOTTLE.FALLS.AND.SMASHES!!!!! :unsure:

Now, this is probably not her fault, but the fault of either the fridge or the karmic fault of Lee himself for being impatient, however we MUST have someone to blame... so, she takes the blame for the disaster just because it is easier than Lee accepting that it may indeed be HIS fault or more likely, just the fault of the universe..... NO!!

On a good note, my half is sitting nicely, in their crates, with one or two in the fridge every couple of days are going down quicker than a 2 dollar-hooker.

Lesson to be learned? Losing beer sucks arse!

Whitey

http://discomfortsouthern.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/damien-baguley-of-viper-creek-band.html
 
HA! That is a huge bummer. So have you given him any of your stash out of some kind of brew-buddy guilt? Or are you going all Eddie Murphy () style with "You aint got no wheat beer, no wheat beer...coz your mom is on the welfare, and your dad is an alcoholic...wanna sip.....PYSCH!"
 
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Not a chance in HELL !!! Guilt Shmuilt! hahahaha
He'll have to buy some new!
 
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