May do well as a fruit beer with raspberries or blackberries.
This is the first time I'm using the 16 gallon plastic fermenter. It will be nice to have a single, ten gallon batch fermenting in one primary. Naturally, the beer will be separated at secondary, which will give me a great opportunity to let one secondary go "as is" and possibly add some fruit to the other. I'm thinking cherries or blackberries for a brew with the level of sweetness and Special B characteristics this one has.
I intentionally chose the American Hefeweizen yeast strain to downplay the clove phenols and banana esters that are normally associated with the German varieties. I'm going for a more "clean" characteristic (which is not very Weizenbockish) that will let the malt shine through.
Boiled the decoction for 30 minutes. Batch sparged and collected about 13.5 gallons. Efficiency was ~8% higher than expected (especially for a wheat-based brew). Boiled for 1.25 hours to reduce to 11.5 gallons and added bittering hops. Boiled for an hour more and collected 10 gallons for fermentation.
Six hours after pitching the yeast, fermentation is definitely evident thanks to a very large (about 3/4 of a gallon of 1.030 wort) yeast starter. Pitched just 12 hours after its fermentation peaked. Did not decant.
| Amount | Malt/Grain | % |
|---|---|---|
| 4.00 pounds | Belgian Plisen Malt | 28.6% |
| 7.50 pounds | American Wheat Malt | 53.6% |
| 1.50 pounds | American Vienna Malt | 10.7% |
| 0.50 pounds | British Pale Chocolate | 3.6% |
| 0.50 pounds | Belgian Special B Malt | 3.6% |
| 14.00 pounds | Total Grain Weight | 100% |
| Amount | Hop | Time | AA | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.45 ounces | Magnum | 60 min | 13.1% | |||
| 0.45 ounces | Total Hop Weight | |||||
| Name | Lab/Manufacturer | Product ID | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Hefeweizen Ale | White Labs | WLP320 | 3500 ml |
Converted 15.5 gallon/59 liter keg boil kettle for full boil with a 10 gallon/38 liter cooler as a mash/lauter tun.
Draw a part of the mash, let it rest for at least 10 minutes, and boil.
| # | Name | Time | Temp. | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Protein Rest | 35 min. | 122°F | Add water at 126 F |
| 2 | Saccharification | 45 min. | 155°F | Decoct 44% of mash, rest for at least 10 minutes, and boil |
| 3 | Mash Out | 10 min. | 168°F | Heat to 168° F / 75° C for at least 10 minutes |
Filtered through standard charcoal system.
| Date Brewed: | |
|---|---|
| Brewer/Assistant: |
| Target | Actual | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strike Water Amount: | 4.7 | ||
| Strike Water Temperature: | |||
| Mash Temperature(s): | |||
| Mash Time: | |||
| Sparge Water Amount: | 9.3 | ||
| Sparge Water Temperature: | |||
| Pre-Boil Gravity: | |||
| Pre-Boil Amount: | 11 | ||
| Post-Boil Amount: | 10 | ||
| Boil Time: | 90 | ||
| OG: | 1.077 / 18.7° P | ||
| Mash PH: | |||
| Boil PH: | |||
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