In praise of wheat beer

[Sandimas]

Was just saying the other day how happy I am with my wheat beer recipe, which I've perfected over the years and is a regular here.

Unfortunately the recipe is on the other machine which I don't have access to ATM but from memory: 5.3% ABV, 65% wheat, 32% pale malt, 3% crystal to give it more of an orangey colour, bittered with Tettnang to 18IBU, late addition of 25g crushed coriander seeds and 25g dried orange peel, fermented with MJ21 Belgian Wit.

Aiming for the ballpark of Bruges Zot from De Halve Maan brewery in Bruges.
https://www.brugsezot.be/en/home

 

[Oneflewover]

Been thinking about a wheat beer for a while, this thread has some pretty straightforward recipes.... would appreciate feedback on my planned recipe please.

Looking for a pale wheat beer.

50% Europils malt
50% Wheat malt

SAAZ @ 1.5 g per litre 60 mins
Hallerttaur Mittelfruh @ 2 g per litre 60 mins

Mangrove Jack's M20 Bavarian wheat yeast
Or Munich Classic

Spot on. Simple malt and hop bill, and let that yeast do it's thing. What IBU / ABV are you aiming for?

 

[Linalmeemow]

Brilliant how you get so much flavour out of such a simple recipe

It's all in that magic yeast!

 

[Baz Chaz]

Spot on. Simple malt and hop bill, and let that yeast do it's thing. What IBU / ABV are you aiming for?

Carrying on with my 15 litre brews, more experimenting, havent put my order in yet so might even change it and do a couple of wheat beers.

Haven't started playing with the software yet for ibu/abv, but not too bitter and ABV around 5% I think.

 

[An Ankoù]

Erdinger was the first beer that made me realise there was more

Erdinger was my first encounter with wheat beer, too, and then Sainsbury's started doing one under their own name, and also a raspberry wheat beer. Both were excellent and the harvested yeast was better than anything I've found since. I think they were actually brewed by Meantime. Shame they've stopped doing them, although it's a bit academic as far as I'm concerned.

 

[An Ankoù]

It's all in that magic yeast!

And you've got to get the temperature right, too.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Erdinger was my first encounter with wheat beer, too, and then Sainsbury's started doing one under their own name, and also a raspberry wheat beer. Both were excellent and the harvested yeast was better than anything I've found since. I think they were actually brewed by Meantime. Shame they've stopped doing them, although it's a bit academic as far as I'm concerned.

AA
Are there any French (not Waloon) wheat beers?

 

[Clint]

Arghhh! I was debating a Saison as my next brew...or another Tribute clone...but another wheat could just be on the cards...
My last one,which I'd forgotten about and hides in my shed,tastes great but I think I ballsed up the carbonation as it's flat as a witches ***...

 

[An Ankoù]

AA
Are there any French (not Waloon) wheat beers?

There's a further designation after the ubiquitous bières blonde, brune and ambrée, which is blanche. I believe this is a wheat beer, but very much along the lines of a Belgian wit rather than a German hefeweizen in that it tends to contain spices to an imperceptable level. Some are better than others La Choulette Blanche de Cambrai is certainly among the better ones, while the more local Lancelot Blanche Hermine is, to my palate anyway, frankly mingin', but then I don't really enjoy the genre, whether it be wit or blanche. A German wheat of any colour, on the other hand, I can neck down by the bucketful given the chance.

My last one,which I'd forgotten about and hides in my shed,tastes great but I think I ballsed up the carbonation as it's flat as a witches ***...

I had a flat batch a few years ago where I'd primed the bottles properly and used swing-tops without changing the rubber grommets. The higher than usual pressure lifted the tops enough to leak the gas and then they didn't seal again properly. 2 out of 3 were flat. I simply changed or doubled up the rubber seal, reprimed and waited. All came good in the end.

 

[Linalmeemow]

There's a further designation after the ubiquitous bières blonde, brune and ambrée, which is blanche. I believe this is a wheat beer, but very much along the lines of a Belgian wit rather than a German hefeweizen in that it tends to contain spices to an imperceptable level. Some are better than others La Choulette Blanche de Cambrai is certainly among the better ones, while the more local Lancelot Blanche Hermine is, to my palate anyway, frankly mingin', but then I don't really enjoy the genre, whether it be wit or blanche. A German wheat of any colour, on the other hand, I can neck down by the bucketful given the chance.

Kronenbourg did a commercial blanche in a white bottle a few years ago. It was surprisingly drinkable which must have confused regular Kroney drinkers as they clearly didn't sell enough to bother with it for long.

 

[the_quick]

Last year I did 2 batches with wyeast 3068 and it was very good, very vivid fermentation and you could smell banana after few days.
This year I have replaced this yeast with Fermentis WB-06 - after fermentation finished I tried a bit and I was disappointed with no banana flavour. But it developed during carbing/conditioning (in bottles) and was very nice - one bottle left
Really hard to decide which yeast produced a better beer.

 

[Doive]

Last brewed a wheat beer back in 2013, and I remember it being a riot of cloves and bananas, as I'd used MJ M20, but it was quite lacking in body. Recently gave a proper wheat beer another go, but this time I was intending to add 3kg of mixed berries to the secondary to create a fruit wheat beer. When transferring in to the secondary I took a glass for 'quality control' purposes, and was pleasantly surprised by the flavour and body of the basic beer, almost to the point that I was regretting racking it onto the fruit. But still, after two weeks in the secondary, it's now in a corny carbing up, and tastes very good indeed.

Mixed Berry Wheat
OG 1.050 FG 1.018 ABV 4.3%

3kg Wheat Malt
1kg Pale Malt
700g Rice Hulls
230g Flaked Oats
20g Saaz
Safbrew Wheat WB-06

28 litres water to 72C & mash in.
Mash malts & fermentables 60 mins at 65C.
Raise temp to 74C for 10 mins. I don't bother sparging usually, and end up with 23 litres in the kettle.

Raise temp to boil, add 20g Saaz & boil for 60 minutes. Crash cool to pitching temperature.

I pressure ferment in a Fermentasaurus at 10psi, usually takes a week to ferment out and clean up after itself.

Rack into secondary onto 3kg of Iceland mixed berries and leave for two weeks. Transfer into corny & carbonate, leave a week to settle.

 

[Clint]

Looks great! Much berry flavour?

 

[Doive]

I blended the berries down into a puree, so yes it tastes like a fruit smoothie! With a wheat beer finish. Quite pleased with it.