A Beer for Meals

[maxashton]

Hi folks,

I'm looking to make a brew i can serve with a meal. Perhaps something i can sup the odd pint here and there, but primarily to enjoy with a good sunday roast or hearty stew.

I'm thinking something fairly light, perhaps a blond ale?

What do you reckon?

[Effigy]

Some good recommendations for matching beer and food here from those nice CAMRA people

[maxashton]

Ooh, ta for that.

I have been thinking about trying a wheat beer.

[maxashton]

How's this?

House Wheat Beer
15-A Weizen/Weissbier



Size: 22.93 L
Efficiency: 65.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 155.89 per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.047 (1.044 - 1.052)
|=============#==================|
Terminal Gravity: 1.012 (1.010 - 1.014)
|==============#=================|
Color: 11.6 (2.0 - 8.0)
|==================#=============|
Alcohol: 4.61% (4.3% - 5.6%)
|===========#====================|
Bitterness: 14.59 (8.0 - 15.0)
|=======================#========|

Ingredients:
3 kg Maris Otter
2.5 kg English Wheat Malt
12 g Saaz (5.0%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
10 g Hallertau Hersbruck (4.5%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
10 g Hallertau Hersbruck (4.5%) - added during boil, boiled 25 min
15 g Hallertau Hersbruck (4.5%) - steeped after boil
250 mL WYeast 3333 German Wheat
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient (AKA Fermax) - added dry to primary fermenter

Schedule:
Ambient Air: 21.11 °C
Source Water: 15.56 °C
Elevation: 0.0 m

00:33:00 Mash In - Liquor: 14.34 L; Strike: 72.4 °C; Target: 65.6 °C
01:33:00 Saccharification Rest - Rest: 60.0 min; Final: 62.8 °C
01:43:00 Mash Out - Heat: 10.0 min; Target: 75.6 °C
02:28:00 Sparge - Sparge: 16.69 L sparge @ 76.7 °C, 25.63 L collected, 45.0 min; Total Runoff: 26.29 L

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.0.30[/size

[mysterio]

It depends on the meal I would say. For me, a hoppy english bitter like Taylor's landlord is perfect with a beef stew/steak pie kind of meal.

Luckily there's a much wider range of flavours in beer to go with food than wine: hoppy ales as apertifs, lambic/geuze with appetizers & soups, stout with shellfish, strong ales/bock with pate, dunkel with sausages, rauchbier with smoked food, pilsener with fish, Oktoberfest with chicken, Irish Red Ales with pork, biere de garde with lamb, vienna lager with pizza, Trappist ales with cheese, fruit beer with fruity desert, oatmeal stout with creamy desert, chocolate beer with chocolate desert!

Wheat beer recipe looks fine, I would up the wheat percentage personally. Wheat beer is nice with fish... and of course with breakfast along with some Bavarian sausages.

[maxashton]

You're making me hungry now.

I miss bavarian sausages.

[Matt]

No need to d!ck about with mash temps, a straight infusion mash is fine on wheats … unless you really want to, I guess!

[maxashton]

Oh, i won't, that's just the standard single infusion mash in BTP. I do it to calculate the strike temp etc.

[maxashton]

How's this?

House Wheat Beer
15-A Weizen/Weissbier



Size: 22.93 L
Efficiency: 65.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 170.22 per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.051 (1.044 - 1.052)
|======================#=========|
Terminal Gravity: 1.013 (1.010 - 1.014)
|===================#============|
Color: 12.4 (2.0 - 8.0)
|===================#============|
Alcohol: 5.03% (4.3% - 5.6%)
|================#===============|
Bitterness: 14.59 (8.0 - 15.0)
|=======================#========|

Ingredients:
3 kg Maris Otter
3 kg English Wheat Malt
12 g Saaz (5.0%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
10 g Hallertau Hersbruck (4.5%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
10 g Hallertau Hersbruck (4.5%) - added during boil, boiled 25 min
15 g Hallertau Hersbruck (4.5%) - steeped after boil
250 mL WYeast 3333 German Wheat
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient (AKA Fermax) - added dry to primary fermenter

Schedule:
Ambient Air: 21.11 °C
Source Water: 15.56 °C
Elevation: 0.0 m

00:35:43 Mash In - Liquor: 15.65 L; Strike: 72.4 °C; Target: 65.6 °C
01:35:43 Saccharification Rest - Rest: 60.0 min; Final: 62.9 °C
01:46:34 Mash Out - Heat: 10.8 min; Target: 75.6 °C
02:31:34 Sparge - Sparge: 15.87 L sparge @ 76.7 °C, 25.63 L collected, 45.0 min; Total Runoff: 26.29 L

[mysterio]

Ditch the late hops, the flavour and aroma comes from the yeast. They don't late hop these in Germany.

[maxashton]

OK, thanks Mysterio. Never done a German brew before, methinks.

Is my yeast selection OK?

House Wheat Beer
15-A Weizen/Weissbier



Size: 22.93 L
Efficiency: 65.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 170.22 per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.051 (1.044 - 1.052)
|======================#=========|
Terminal Gravity: 1.013 (1.010 - 1.014)
|===================#============|
Color: 12.4 (2.0 - 8.0)
|===================#============|
Alcohol: 5.03% (4.3% - 5.6%)
|================#===============|
Bitterness: 12.43 (8.0 - 15.0)
|==================#=============|

Ingredients:
3 kg Maris Otter
3 kg English Wheat Malt
12 g Saaz (5.0%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
12 g Hallertau Hersbruck (4.5%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
250 mL WYeast 3333 German Wheat
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient (AKA Fermax) - added dry to primary fermenter

Schedule:
Ambient Air: 21.11 °C
Source Water: 15.56 °C
Elevation: 0.0 m

00:35:43 Mash In - Liquor: 15.65 L; Strike: 72.4 °C; Target: 65.6 °C
01:35:43 Saccharification Rest - Rest: 60.0 min; Final: 62.9 °C
01:46:34 Mash Out - Heat: 10.8 min; Target: 75.6 °C
02:31:34 Sparge - Sparge: 15.87 L sparge @ 76.7 °C, 25.63 L collected, 45.0 min; Total Runoff: 26.29 L

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.0.30

[mysterio]

Yeast is fine, any of the German wheat ones work great. Are you ordering from H&G by any chance? If you are, they turnover the White Labs tubes much quicker so you're going to get a fresher yeast. I use WLP300 Hefeweizen with great results, I know others on here have used the WLP380 Hefeweizen IV yeast too. The wyeast i've used is the weihenstephan wheat one which I believe is the same as WLP300, and is the real classic yeast used in Bavaria. Remember and make a liter starter and you're ready to go. Take good notes about what fermentation temps/pitching rates/oxygenation you use because this greatly impacts the taste of the beer.

[maxashton]

Am i right in saying that Wiessbeer ferments at ale temps?

[maxashton]

If i used a liquid yeast i'd most likely make a 2l starter and reculture the other litre and split it six ways as per Jim's instructions on the site. Bit of an expensive yeast just to use for a single brew, know what i mean?

[mysterio]

Am i right in saying that Wiessbeer ferments at ale temps?

Yup, I like 19C, gives a nice balance.