brew #047: american wheat ale
This time around I am aiming to brew a refreshing but resinous american wheat ale as requested by wife. This isn’t new territory for me, but as the weather improves, nothing seems nicer than a bright and highly drinkable wheat ale. As of brew day my recipe sticks to the Reinheitsgebot (beer purity law) but I am playing around with the idea of splitting the batch and adding maybe some lemongrass, orange peel and other goodies to kick it up a notch. Process-wise, my brew days seem to be getting smoother and smoother so I think I finally have the handle of all my fancy-dancy new equipment. I guess that means it’s time for another big project eh?
Ingredients
Fermentables
8 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2.0 SRM) 64.4 %
3 lbs 11.0 oz Wheat Malt (2.0 SRM) 28.0 %
1 lbs Caramel 20L (20.0 SRM) 7.6 %
Hops
0.55 oz Amarillo Gold [10.40 %] – Boil 60.0 min – 16.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Simcoe [14.10 %] – Boil 5.0 min – 7.9 IBUs
0.45 oz Amarillo Gold [10.40 %] – Boil 5.0 min – 2.6 IBUs
1.00 oz Citra [15.00 %] – Hopback
1.00 oz Citra [15.00 %] – Dry Hop 5.0 Days
Misc
1 tablet of Whirlfloc
0.5 tsp Wyeast Yeast Nutrient
Yeast
1.0 pkg American Hefeweizen Ale (White Labs #WLP320) w/ starter
The Brew
Soundtrack: Jenny playing on her new piano
Brew Beer: Short Circus Pale Ale (Brit)
Stats
Batch Size: 5(.5) gal
Mash: 4.1 gal infusion for 75 m @ 150F, sparge with 168F to 8 gal
Overall Efficiency: 66%
Water adjustment: 2 tsp Gypsum
Boil Duration: 60 min
Oxygenation: 1.5m @ start
Original Gravity: 1.055
Final Gravity: Est @ 1.012
Est. ABV: 5.7%
IBU: 27 [Tinseth]
Color: 6 SRM
Fermentation: 3 weeks @ 68F
Carbonation:
Brewed: 5/6/12
Kegged:
Saisons are easily one of my favorite styles and luckily, I have had great success with them in the past (
Doublin’ up! I got a new burner stand over the holidays and have been waiting for the weather and my own free time to come into alignment. Along with some new keggles I was able to make my first 10 gallon batch, but not without some stress. Somehow I managed to pop a fuse on my apartments garage right as my neighbor was trying to leave *and* right as my mash had started. Embarrassed and apologetic, I left my mash to its magic and worked frantically to fix my mess. It took me a good 90m to get the power restored (finding fuses, unwiring/rewiring blown shoddy outlets) and so as a result I was forced to sparge with cold water. Regardless of that and other technical problems, beer was made, meaning the day was a success.
