AG #04 - Unnamed Orange Honey Hefeweisen

[Gricey]

Knocked up a hefeweisen so I have something to drink relatively quickly - I have 2 strong beers on the go that I don't want to pillage and AG#01 won't last forever

My first go at an overnight mash and I'm trying my new mash tun - tipped off by Befuddler I followed his steps and got a 48QT coleman coolbox to convert.

Only reason I'm doing it overnight is I only got my yeast yesterday so need time to build up that starter!

Adapted slightly the recipe from here.

Brew Length 21L

Grist
2500g Pilsner Malt
2000g Wheat Malt

Hops
18.13g Mount Hood 4.3%AA Leaf Hops @ 60m Boil

Additions
454g Orange Blossom Honey @0m
45.4g Golden Syrup @0m

Yeast
WLP300 Hefeweisen, 1L Starter from Wheat DME

Mash
Overnight @ 67ºC
"General Purpose" Water profile

Batch Sparged

Ferment 24h @ 18ºC
Ferment out @ 21ºC

1 Cup Vodka & 4 Orange rinds (soaked for a week) strained into bottling bucket at bottling time

Target OG = 1.052
Target FG = 1.007
Target ABV = Somewhere in the 6ish

Pictures

Obligatory grain shot

Hefeweizen Grist by The Grice is Right, on Flickr

New mash tun in action. This relatively small batch makes it look like a thimble full of malt at the bottom of a well...

Mash by The Grice is Right, on Flickr

Managed to get my strike temp around right give or take some last minute reboiling

Smack bang 67°C by The Grice is Right, on Flickr

More to follow when I crack on tomorrow!

[paulcav]

Looking good Gricey. The cooler looks huge!

[Gricey]

Oh dear!!!

Checked the temp - it's dropped to 50ºC overnight. Sh*te!

I think I'll boil my topup 10L to salvage the temp as much as I can.

I tested the cooler with water before, didn't lose 'anything' in a couple of hours, so I'm stumped as to why that happened.

Hope this hasn't ruined the beer...........

[Gricey]

1.055 SG reading (corrected) of first runnings. Hmm...

[Gricey]

First runnings by The Grice is Right, on Flickr


Boil by The Grice is Right, on Flickr


Mount Hood going in by The Grice is Right, on Flickr

Eager to see what the post boil OG will be ...

[Gricey]

Flame out additions: 1lb orange blossom honey, 45g golden syrup

Orange honey and syrup by The Grice is Right, on Flickr

Phew... OG post-chill is 1.0514 ... only a gnat's out

1.050 @ 25.5°C by The Grice is Right, on Flickr

[Gricey]

Neutral background by The Grice is Right, on Flickr

Looking good enough In the fermenter at 18°C, in 24hr or so I might ramp it up a couple of degrees. Dropped my sample jar into the wort that I'd just chilled so fingers crossed that noting got in there...

Kettle was full, whoops, so 19L rather than 21L into the fermenter.

[Gricey]

Darent put up the temp, its bubbling like a champ, never had such constant gurgling... gonna give it another 36 hours!

[Gricey]

Glad I didnt raise the temp yesterday, had a minor blowout even though there is 11 litres headspace (for a 19L brew!)


Minor blow out by The Grice is Right, on Flickr

[paulcav]

Looking good there Gricey!

[Gricey]

Thanks. Will be interesting to see what the mash has done... tempted to make the same thing again soon afterwards but not FIU to see what a difference it makes

[Gricey]

Think we have a FG... 1.008


1.008 by The Grice is Right, on Flickr


Closer by The Grice is Right, on Flickr

Will check tomorrow, if its still 1.008 I'll be a'bottlin'

[Gricey]

Uh oh, it's absolutely feckin' delicious but to say its lively is a understatement - think I may have carbed it plenty!

Had to open the bottle in the sink after putting in the fridge for 40 mins, I think about 2/5 of it foams out

[Gricey]

This went down so well I'm going to do it again. I've done a much better job of zesting the oranges this time (bought a zester rather than using the cheese grater........) and will be giving it a 2 week soak in vodka rather than the 1 week. WLP300 on order, I'll have time to make a nice strong starter rather than running close to the wire.


Nude Oranges by The Grice is Right, on Flickr

4 oranges, 250ml vodka by The Grice is Right, on Flickr

Had lots of compliments from this one and was a real boost to the confidence, so looking forward to revisiting it. Also, I've run out of beer so I need something quick!

[Frothy]

looks tasty!
What does the vodka taste like from the oranges? Are you extracting a bitter-peel flavour or fresh orange aroma?

Froth