Tips for improving a wheat beer

[slcmorro]

Amarillo and US05. Great, what a way to ruin what was a perfectly good wheat beer.

There are some cracking US Wheat beers out there. I made a purely cube hopped American Wheat with US05, Falconers and Mandarina and also dry hopped with the same. Lasted just over 2 weeks, even in this cold weather.

 

[Adr_0]

no, its a great way to make a wheat beer, american style. Personally I enjoy AW ale, its an excellent beer just doesn't have the euro aroma's. Mind you the Banana and clove sure does have its pro's.

There are some cracking US Wheat beers out there. I made a purely cube hopped American Wheat with US05, Falconers and Mandarina and also dry hopped with the same. Lasted just over 2 weeks, even in this cold weather.

I know... it would be delicious, don't get me wrong. And amarillo would be fine. Just that the poor bugger had a great recipe to start with and was about to step into the wonderful world of German wheat beers and suddenly we're making an American blonde...

...when he could be enjoying something like this:

Spicy, clovey, banana, lychee, sweet bread, with a soft, slight tart, dry finish. Used Tettnang and 3638, bottled 8 days ago... but you get the drift.

 

[Weizguy]

Unless American blonde style has changed, only a tiny amount of hop character is acceptable, so I'd be calling these variations American wheat.

In either case, I support your assertion that the original intent should be followed through. I plan to brew another weizen soon, and it will be SUPERB!

 

[Dan Pratt]

Now I feel like making a weizen!

 

[hwall95]

I know... it would be delicious, don't get me wrong. And amarillo would be fine. Just that the poor bugger had a great recipe to start with and was about to step into the wonderful world of German wheat beers and suddenly we're making an American blonde...

...when he could be enjoying something like this:

26hefeweizen.jpg
Spicy, clovey, banana, lychee, sweet bread, with a soft, slight tart, dry finish. Used Tettnang and 3638, bottled 8 days ago... but you get the drift.

How good is 3638! Such a great yeast for weizens. Lots of clove and banana and it ferments out in 2 or 3 days. Great yeast for an emergency keg filler.

 

[Adr_0]

So, thisispants, go forth and weizen up. And don't forget to dechlorinate your water...

 

[Tex N Oz]

...Just that the poor bugger had a great recipe to start with and was about to step into the wonderful world of German wheat beers and suddenly we're making an American blonde......

You said exactly what I was thinking.. It's like going to buy a Volkswagen and someone sells you a Chevy.
I do a simple decoction with 50/50 pils/wheat pitch 3068 and it's amazing and ready to drink in a month.
I've never worried much about fermenting temps as long as it's less than 25°C outside. Temperature will change the flavour profile but not enough to be concerned about.
Served up with a lemon slice or a dash of Sanpelligrino Limonata.......
Simply amazing stuff.

 

[Dave70]

I know... it would be delicious, don't get me wrong. And amarillo would be fine. Just that the poor bugger had a great recipe to start with and was about to step into the wonderful world of German wheat beers and suddenly we're making an American blonde...

...when he could be enjoying something like this:

26hefeweizen.jpg
Spicy, clovey, banana, lychee, sweet bread, with a soft, slight tart, dry finish. Used Tettnang and 3638, bottled 8 days ago... but you get the drift.

Merican!
Who won the bloody war anyway..

 

[Adr_0]

D-day-licious...

 

[Screwtop]

how do you reckon 20 grams of simcoe dry hopped for the last 4 days of fermentation would go in this beer? seems like a nice combo of passionfruit and banana?

Then you would have a Hopfen Weisse

It'll probably taste nice, but certainly won't be a Euro style weizen. Euro styles use nothing but noble hops like Saaz, Hallertau, Tettnang etc. What you'd end up making is a US hoppy wheat with Euro style yeast characteristics.

Kind of!!! But you're using 3068 yes??

Amarillo and US05. Great, what a way to ruin what was a perfectly good wheat beer.

Assuming you use the 3068 or something similar, anyway.

I was going to make a couple of suggestions, but the best suggestion I have is to brew it as you have it above and enjoy the hell out of it.

I agree

Can also modify by late hopping Amarillo and keeping the German yeast, as per a Vienna Weizen recipe from BYO magazine about 10 years ago.

I have used WB-06 only a few times and it never threw enough esters for my tastes.
Real German weissbier is generally formulated with 60-70 wheat malt, fwiw.
Your mash schedule appears fine.
Good luck and report your results here. Add your recipe to the database if you're happy with it.

Listen to him!!!!!!!!!!!


Screwy

 

[Topher]

**** I love hefeweizen, haven't made one for months.

Wb06 is great....it is the only dry yeast i sprinkle and i pitch at 15c. Perhaps no rehydrate = more esters? (Sample size is like 4 brews so it might be in my head - but im gonna keep experimenting).

I mash lower and sometimes add a touch of munich.

 

[thisispants]

So, thisispants, go forth and weizen up. And don't forget to dechlorinate your water...

How do I do that!?

 

[manticle]

Find out if your local supply uses chlorine or chloramine.
If chlorine, heating to strike temp should be ample.
If chloraminated, heat will help but may not be enough. Sodium or potassium met in the water, carbon filtering and reverse osmosis are the other options.

 

[Adr_0]

Sodium ascorbate, calcium ascorbate or ascorbic acid are excellent options too as they work instantly and don't leave sulphites in your beer. Try and find out how much chlorine/total chlorine is in your water and decide on a neutraliser, but typically you might need anywhere from 0.4-1.5 g for 30L of water. Not sure if you have scales, but a scale accurate to 0.1g is very handy for water treatment. Should be $30-80.

 

[Adr_0]

By the way, Canberra shouldn't have too much chlorine. But like every? most? supplies in the country they will boost in a bit as the first heat of spring comes. Much more evident up here.

Another source of chlorine that you should potentially be more worried about is bleach...

 

[thisispants]

Yeah, I did a bit of a search and it seems Canberra uses chlorine, not chloramine......so I should be ok just be heating the water up to strike temp?

 

[Screwtop]

Grab a Filter housing from Bunnings and a (read cheap) carbon filter about 1 or .5 micron add some hose fittings and caravan (drinking water) hose to connect from tap to filter and filter to HLT. The filter will last for years with the amount of water you filter each year to use for brewing. Store it after drying out between uses. Carbon filtering removes both chlorine and chloramines. Also you can buy Campden tablets from your local HBS to remove both. Boiling, removes chlorine but not chloramines.

Cheers,

Screwy

 

[manticle]

Yeah, I did a bit of a search and it seems Canberra uses chlorine, not chloramine......so I should be ok just be heating the water up to strike temp?

That's all I've ever done. Chlorephenols are pretty revolting so you'll know about it if you need to do more than that.

 

[manticle]

Boiling will remove chloramine but it may take several hours, rendering it impractical. Free chlorine starts coming out of solution above 20 deg C so heat and time. The hotter it is, the quicker it is removed- at 100 there is essentially nothing left for our purposes.

 

[Nizmoose]

I know... it would be delicious, don't get me wrong. And amarillo would be fine. Just that the poor bugger had a great recipe to start with and was about to step into the wonderful world of German wheat beers and suddenly we're making an American blonde...

...when he could be enjoying something like this:

26hefeweizen.jpg
Spicy, clovey, banana, lychee, sweet bread, with a soft, slight tart, dry finish. Used Tettnang and 3638, bottled 8 days ago... but you get the drift.

*crosses everything off of the 'to brew' list. Adds hefeweizen.*