Wheat beer improvements requested

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gnorwebthgimi

Wheat beer improvements requested

Post by gnorwebthgimi » Sun May 14, 2017 8:05 pm

I recently made a wheat beer:

2 KG pale malt (MO)
3 KG wheat malt
0.5 KG torrified wheat

40g Hallertauer Mittlefruh 60 minutes
60g hallertauer mittlefruh 5 minutes

WLP 300
1.050 SSG
1.010 FSG
ABV 5.2%

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the results. I feel I under carbonated just slightly for the style.

The two things I would like to improve are:
1) head retention
2) colour, I would like this to be paler, it has an ever so slightly orangey tinge due to the turpidity.

Do you think head retention may improve with a little extra carbonation? I feel other higher gravity beers have smaller bubbles and better head retention and I may be missing a trick here.

Do you think thinning the recipe with a little sugar and reducing the malt accordingly is an acceptable way to reduce the SRM and make this a paler beer?

Haydnexport
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Re: Wheat beer improvements requested

Post by Haydnexport » Mon May 15, 2017 9:08 am

I use flaked barley in my lagers for a nice thick head , carbonating more will also have an effect. Switch the marris otter out for a lager malt to lighten the colour.

DaveGillespie

Re: Wheat beer improvements requested

Post by DaveGillespie » Mon May 15, 2017 9:31 am

Use German malts to start with, don't put flaked barley anywhere near a Hefeweizen. Consider step mashing, my Weiss didn't really become decent until I did this.

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Sadfield
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Re: Wheat beer improvements requested

Post by Sadfield » Mon May 15, 2017 9:36 am

Be aware that step mashing (paricularly a long protein rest) with modern well modified grains can have a negative effect on head retention.

Do you treat your water? Ensuring that your mash ph is right will lead to good head retention. As will a strong boil. This will help to drop foam negative lipids etc out in the break. The amount of malted wheat in the grist should be more than enough protein to form a good head with the right carbonation.

I'd use 50% Pilsner malt to lighten the colour in instead of 40% MO.

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DaveGillespie

Re: Wheat beer improvements requested

Post by DaveGillespie » Mon May 15, 2017 11:35 am

AFAIK German Pilsner & Wheat are less modified so you can step mash with those.

gnorwebthgimi

Re: Wheat beer improvements requested

Post by gnorwebthgimi » Mon May 15, 2017 7:59 pm

Hi Haydnexport

Thanks to your input, I read that torrified wheat is the most commonly used adjunct for head retention but there are some complaining that it lends too much sweetness, which is ideal for the hefe weizen I was shooting for but propably not ideal for a lager.

Hi Dave

What was the benefit or change you noticed in doing a step mash?

Hi Sadfeld

I am moving toward water treatment. I have only just started measuring mash pH. This brew had pH of 6 or more, whereas my other brews are darker (as suited to my water profile). I think you may be on to something here.

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Sadfield
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Re: Wheat beer improvements requested

Post by Sadfield » Mon May 15, 2017 8:47 pm

I've read that wheat malt has a higher ph than barley malt, I'd suggest dropping the wheat content of the grist further (say to 40%), and you could consider adding Acidulated malt or lactic acid to drop the mash ph. Getting the mash ph right may also help lighten the colour.

"First Measure Your Mash-pH. Then, for every 0.1 pH-point reduction required in your mash acidity, use 1% of Weyermann Acidulated Malt in your grain bill."

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DaveGillespie

Re: Wheat beer improvements requested

Post by DaveGillespie » Mon May 15, 2017 10:44 pm

Clove presence and a general depth of flavour. I'd brewed with UK and German malts and tried several Hefe yeasts (WLP300, WLP380, WYeast 3068) and all smelled great while fermenting but the end result was staggeringly bland compared to commercial examples.

Commonly spouted wisdom will tell you to play around with pitch rate, fermentation temperature etc. and I've been down that road. Stepping at 43c, 55c, 63c and 72c with quality German malts made a night and day difference compared to a single infusion mash with the same malts, yeast and fermentation conditions.

Haydnexport
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Re: Wheat beer improvements requested

Post by Haydnexport » Tue May 16, 2017 8:42 am

DaveGillespie wrote:Use German malts to start with, don't put flaked barley anywhere near a Hefeweizen. .
Can you elaborate why this is not a good idea ? I've not tried my hand at wheat yet , but it's on the list.

DaveGillespie

Re: Wheat beer improvements requested

Post by DaveGillespie » Tue May 16, 2017 9:38 am

Firstly, not all Wheat beers are Hefeweizen - I'm talking specifically Hefeweizen here. Belgian Wit, American Wheat etc. aren't of a whole lot of interest to me personally.

A Hefeweizen should (possibly by law in Germany, not sure) contain a minimum of 50% Wheat Malt, or up to 70%. The simplest recipes will be 50/50 Wheat/Pilsner, 70/30 Wheat/Pilsner etc - I like a bit of extra Munich I in mine in place of some of the Pilsner. If you can't get good head formation and retention with that much Wheat in the grist then throwing Flaked Barley at it isn't going to help. Also, it's just not used in the German examples of the style.

The obvious caveat being that it's your beer - do as you wish with it.

DaveGillespie

Re: Wheat beer improvements requested

Post by DaveGillespie » Tue May 16, 2017 9:41 am


Haydnexport
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Re: Wheat beer improvements requested

Post by Haydnexport » Tue May 16, 2017 10:16 am

Cheers

Tomp
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Re: Wheat beer improvements requested

Post by Tomp » Mon Jun 19, 2017 8:12 pm

I've tried many times and the best result I get is with a really good yeast strain.

I love White Lab's WLP380 as a personal choice.
It started with kits to save money and now look........!!!

Lots of kit, too many ingredients and not enough time, but a patient wife.... who loves my beer...........

Could be worse :-)

RobP

Re: Wheat beer improvements requested

Post by RobP » Mon Jun 19, 2017 9:16 pm

Have a read of this, really interesting and informative.
braumagazin.de/article/brewing-bavarianweissen-weissbier-all-you-ever-wanted-to-know/

Tomp
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Re: Wheat beer improvements requested

Post by Tomp » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:26 pm

RobP wrote:Have a read of this, really interesting and informative.
braumagazin.de/article/brewing-bavarianweissen-weissbier-all-you-ever-wanted-to-know/
Awesome. Thanks for the bed time reading - just planning another wheat beer!
It started with kits to save money and now look........!!!

Lots of kit, too many ingredients and not enough time, but a patient wife.... who loves my beer...........

Could be worse :-)

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