GH Dunkelweizen recipe - which "Munich" Malt?

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Loving the sandals and socks combo

Ooooh no... that wasn’t me, just the photographer (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!)

 

[Dulwich North]

By coincidence yesterday I spotted a couple of Dunkelweizens in my local Waitrose and "tested" them against my straight GH brew. I'm sure there will be a Waitrose near you in leafy Hertfordshire!

For what it's worth, I preferred the slightly more bitter Weihenstephaner Hefeweizen Dunkel's taste but put the GH brew ahead of the Erdinger Dunkel which I found a little bland. Also, thinking of my earlier comment about colour and appearance, the Erdinger was a lovely dark brown while the Weihenstephaner seemed slightly lighter than my GH brew. I assume you've gone with the straight GH recipe and I'm sure it will turn out well, but for my next I'll tweak it as I suggested earlier.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I assume you've gone with the straight GH recipe and I'm sure it will turn out well, but for my next I'll tweak it as I suggested earlier.

I salute your diligence in tasting comparisons... Good idea :)

I went with the ‘off the peg’ GH recipe (probably best for the first time round I thought) but after reading a couple of threads elsewhere I did do a step mash (for the first time): holding for 30mins each at 42/62/72°C.
I was also fortunate to have some advice from @strange-steve on the water profile, which worked out a treat.
Only other thing I did differently was to boil for a bit longer, because although the first runnings were 1078, by the time I’d finished sparging it was down to 1047... anyway it all seems to have worked out OK because in the end I got 23 litres at 1055

 

[Dulwich North]

As a historian by training, I am used to mulling over whatever original evidence I can find!

Another thought is that with your more precise approach you may want to think about the beer's head. I didn't make a note of the priming sugar but I think I followed the dark lager priming suggestion on GH p64 and added 7g per litre to my bottling bucket. While my picture shows a head that's about perfect for the style, what I didn't show was how much foam was left on the kitchen table even after pouring it gently along the side of the angled glass*. So next time I'll definitely add less sugar. You seem to use pressure barrels and maybe it won't be a "problem", but it might be worth thinking about this aspect.

* Normally I pour weizen beer by placing that glass upside down over the bottle, then gently turning them over and slowly lifting out the bottle with its mouth just below the liquid to control the foaming. It's a flashy habit I picked up in Germany!

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

slowly lifting out the bottle with its mouth just below the liquid to control the foaming.

Last time I saw that trick done was at The Seven Shed in Bristol! I’ve tried it at home with mixed success
As to my ‘more precise approach’ I‘m chuckling about that... don’t know about more precise: “over complicated” would perhaps fit better LoL.
Yes I do use Cornies for preference instead of bottles, and my theory rightly or wrongly is to dissolve in CO2 from an external gas cylinder during conditioning at about 20psi on the regulator - seems to work pretty well with the bitter, although funnily enough I’ve just poured myself a glass of 50% foam just now. Hmmm.
I just took a sample of the DW to check the gravity (18°C) - no sign of activity on the airlock so far but we‘re only 24h in :-)

 

[Hanglow]

I'd look into spunding valves, especially if you like german wheat beers. You transfer the beer when it is still fermenting to your corny with a few points of extract left, set it at the appropriate pressure and you'll have a fermented out and carbonated beer in a week, while using minimal co2 and it'll be less oxidised. Plus being a wheat beer you don't need it to settle, so can get stuck in pronto

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Ta - I've not yet looked at Spunding valves but I'll take a look
Mind you, running out of CO2 is NOT a likely to be an issue any time in the near future... I have a full sized cylinder :-)

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Incidentally I'm glad to say it's now showing activity thru the bubbler and the gravity has come down to about 1055.
There was nothing happening at all as of this morning 36 hrs after pitching at 18º and I was beginning to get a bit concerned, like I always do... LoL

In fact I've had to open the insulated cabinet to control the heat a bit, as it's taken itself up to 18.5ºC with its own metabolic heat. Hopefully the ambient 15º temp in the garage will keep it in check otherwise I'll have to start circulating cold water through the immersion coil

 

[Dulwich North]

Well, I've never heard the word "spunding" - so I guess that validates my comment about your "more precise approach"!

From what I recall, once it got started the bubbling was very active, maybe the most of any of my dozen brews. I kept the FV in a cupboard which maintained a pretty-constant 22-23C (it's above a freezer) which was mentioned in the book.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I kept the FV in a cupboard which maintained a pretty-constant 22-23C (it's above a freezer) which was mentioned in the book.

Yes, I too saw that GH ferments his at 22ish, but most of the other stuff I've read on t'interweb (e.g. here) suggests a lower temp is better so that it doesn't come out tasting too strongly of cloves and bananas (apparently). So I thought I'd go for 18ºC which is the bottom end of Wyeast's stated working range ... even so, right now it's maintaining itself at 18.1ºC in a cold garage just with its own heat of internal combustion, and bubbling away quite happily.

I did indeed say 'Spunding' (what a great word), but that in no way implies that I know what it is or when to do it. As Blackadder says:

"I am one of these people who are quite happy​

to wear cotton, but have no idea how it works."​

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

(...) if you're using the ferulic acid rest to enhance 4VG (which presumably you are) then it works best at a higher mash pH (~5.7) so it might be a good idea to add the CRS at the end of the acid rest.

OK... I admit it, I was just blindly following a recommendation I’d read about the sort of step mash appropriate to a weissbier and I’d never heard of 4VG so I just went and looked it up! Darn it, wish I’d read this article before then I could have pretended I’d known what I was doing hahaha: German Wheat Beer: III (Mashing and the Ferulic Acid Rest)

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

OK looks like it's down to about 1038; holding steady at 18.1ºC
Slow and steady does it...

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I know it's not exactly news to anyone, but I'm really quite surprised how effectively the metabolic activity of the yeast is able to keep the temperature of the FV at 18ºC when ambient in the garage is currently 16.5 - quite impressive

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Gravity continues to drop slowly. After ten days it's now down to about 1026.
Fermentation has certainly slowed but the GH recipe says around 1014 so at this rate it's going to need another week or so.
Wonder if I ought to raise the temperature a bit towards the end (I've been keeping it to 18ºC so far)...?

 

[strange-steve]

I would definitely bump up the temperature a few degrees to push it on a bit. Actually I ramp up pretty much all my brews after the first few days

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I would definitely bump up the temperature a few degrees to push it on a bit

Thanks Steve! I was being careful with it because I heard people say it can turn out a bit heavy on the banana and clove flavours, whereas I'd prefer to keep them balanced with the malt. Is that less of a risk now it's most of the way through?

 

[strange-steve]

Most of those flavours are produced during the early stages of fermentation (actually during the growth phase I believe) so after that it does no harm to ramp up the temperature It also speeds it up a little and helps prevent the yeast stalling prematurely.

 

[Zephyr259]

Gravity continues to drop slowly. After ten days it's now down to about 1026.
Fermentation has certainly slowed but the GH recipe says around 1014 so at this rate it's going to need another week or so.
Wonder if I ought to raise the temperature a bit towards the end (I've been keeping it to 18ºC so far)...?
View attachment 36222View attachment 36228

Do you always check gravity multiple times while the beer's still fermenting?

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Do you always check gravity multiple times while the beer's still fermenting?

Usually... it's only 100ml a time, and I use a tap so I'm not having to take the lid off.
Do you?

 

[Zephyr259]

Usually... it's only 100ml a time, and I use a tap so I'm not having to take the lid off.
Do you?

Only once I think it's about done so 2 or 3 to confirm FG. I figured you had a tap for all those samples.