Normal TG for Wheat Beer

[booldawg]

I've made a batch of Wheat Beer and did my usual trick of rushing into the bottles after 9 days in primary. The SG was 1012 on Monday and 1010 when I bottles it yesterday. I checked the surface and there were no bubbles rising to the surface so I bottled it all.

After 24 hours I noticed my plastic tester bottle was alot firmer than it should be for only a day in the bottles. My suspicions were confirmed when I cracked open a bottle. It didnt gush over but was enough carbonation to slowly push a creamy head over the rim of the bottle.

I allowed 10 minutes for the head to subside and re-capped the lot. I'll keep an eye on it and check again tomorrow morning.

I used a full teaspoon of sugar per bottle rather than the usual half for ales. TBH I was fairly surprised that a Wheat beer would go down to 1010 as thought the body would keep the gravity up at 1012. Is this to be expected? I noticed when I was bottling that the creamy head was forming when filling the bottles. As I've never made a wheat before I wasnt sure what to expect.

[edit1now]

I bottled mine at 1011 (down from 1067!), after it had had a month in secondary, and it's only "usually" frothy, not like a fire extinguisher. There's something in the wheat beer which makes a big, dense, sticky head - maybe proteins?

[booldawg]

I might start getting into this 'secondary' business! Would it be ok to use a normal 25L fermemter under airlock with a bubble breather for a secondary vessel? Not sure if I'd use secondary on absolutely every brew, maybe just the higher gravity ones and wheat beers.

Yes the head is very frothy, it didnt gush out the bottle, just crept up the sides - shouldnt be like that after only 24 hours though.

[edit1now]

Yes - exactly what I use. Most of my beers have a month in secondary - it seems to get rid of various odd flavours like the Bovril in the Oatmeal Stout (!)