Experiwheat

[JoKing]

This'll be my last brew for about 3 weeks I think.

Experiwheat is another (2 weeks in a row now) spur of the moment brew that I "thought about". Last week, I was inspired by the realbeer.co.nz forum to brew a Schwartzbier - which I must say is coming along swimmingly. This weekend, I knew I needed to keep the levels of stock up, as they had been hammered somewhat over the summer period. Demand was up and supply was down. I'm going to have to have my assistant brewer take care of things for me while I'm up in Auckland for a fortnight.

It's hard so say exactly where the idea for this brew came from. I definitely wanted to do something different. Usually when things start this way, they quite often end in disaster. Anyhow...

I've been brewing to style quite a lot for the last few beers. Although the Monster is a great beer, I still get the feeling that I'm running the risk of getting stuck in a brewing rutt: not trying anything different - not broadening my horizons. I was chatting to Mike again about his IIPA - and his Dubbel that he has been brewing. At this time, I had some wlp001 spinning on the stir plate. I knew I was going to be brewing... I just didn't know what. With a paragraph ending in "Waddiya rekin?" I was looking to see what sort of reaction I'd get for such a weird brew.

The reaction was subdued - a good sign. I was hoping he wouldn't be all "Fuck that's different - hope it doesn't taste like shit..." Anyway...

My sister and her boyfriend came down yesterday - and we hit the homebrew, of course. Monster went down a treat - they asked if I squeezed lemons into the glass before I served it. I told them "don't be stupid". After a few Pilsners we moved into the realm of my Single Malt collection. Then we had some Crown Royal.

When I woke up this morning, I didn't feel like brewing.

What I'm wanting out of this brew is a full body of rich / tart wheat flavour. I want floral, spicy slightly citrussy aromas with hints of sweetbread. I dont want any esters from the yeast involved in this one. The recipe is simple 3 kilos of wheat and 2 kilos of pilsner malt. I filled up the hopper 1kg at a time layering the 2 different malts. I mashed in at about half past eight or so. I did a protein rest at 52 degrees for 15 minutes. I stepped the temp up with boiling water to 68 degrees: in the past wlp001 has been a strong attenuator for me. I want this one to finish between 1.010 and 1.012 to help back up the hops. That’s right... "Back up the hops".

At this point, I want to say that I love my homebrew system. I had 60% wheat in this bitch - and there were no signs of the sparge sticking at all. The regular 1 hour sparge was a breeze - I had to cut back on the outflow so that it wouldn't be faster than an hour. I love my mill, I love my MLT and I love my pump. Oh... and I love my wife. Can't forget that.

I have a 90 minute boil to drive off any DMS from the pilsner malt. At 60min I add 10g of 11.6%aa Nugget. From 10 mins, things get interesting:

20g Nugget 10mins
20g Cascade 10mins
20g Nugget 1min
20g Cascade 1min

As usual I add .2 grams of servomyces, and this time I'll add 1 gram of carageenan. I'm hoping to get another brilliantly clear beer. Probably be difficult without a filter - and with the grist being 60% wheat... but lets put some brewing skills to the test aye?

Overall here are the planned specs:

OG: 1.053
FG: 1.010
SRM: 4.4
ABV: 5.3
IBU: 34 Rager

Hair of the dog time for me, I feel like shit. I've had family tragedy to family visits for the last month. Every weekend has been a hard, hard one since Christmas. When I'm up in A Land, hopefully I'll get a bit of respite for my liver... but with the Kumeu starting things off, I doubt that that will happen. Come over and say Gidday if you want - I'll be the tall beerbelly dude hanging out at the Croucher Brewing and Hallertau tents.

Cheers.

[Mike Neilson]

Yeah tried to look today but the extended for cast dont go out that far

[Reviled]

Whats this about a big carrot? :oP Looking forward to tasting this beer soon Jo

[JoKing]

You know... like on the old Disney cartoons when Mickey is trying to ride a horse but the horse wont move, so he dangles a carrot suspended by string on a stick infront to make it run.... None of us want to climb the mountain, but Epic Porter is the carrot (Analogically speacking) and we are the horses (Analogically speaking).

[Reviled]

Ahh, it all makes sense now.. And what a carrot it is :oP lol

[James P]

Hey Joe, thanks for the care package! Wow what a great beer. Flavour packed!

I got a nose fully of flowers (floral), with some caramel undertones. Mouth feel was medium to light, and has zest. A little bite in there probably grapefruit? Definite citrus overtones!

I'm loving it!

[JoKing]

Hey - thats awesome! Thanks for the positive feedback. I'm really glad you liked it.

[JoKing]

Update: I still have about 17 Litres and the clarity is improving - however there is still quite a lot of chill haze in this brew. Flavour hasn't improved much, so the conditioning phase is complete.

[JoKing]

And this weekend saw the end of this brews life. The last few litres were just delicious. Crystal Clear, honey, caramel, lemon grass... a must repeat, and recommended for anyone wanting to play around, brewing with different malts.

Cheers.... I'll miss you Experiwheat... Until Next summer...

[Stu McKinlay]

Yep, nice beer. Thanks for the bottle. I could certainly see myself knocking a few back.

Pretty clear, just short of brilliant. Gold with a virginal white head. A hint of bubblegum on the nose with some spice, mild graininess and a faintest whiff of grassy/citrus hop. Tart, dry, sneakily bitter. Like a mainstream brewery's effort at "wheat beer" but with loads more character and that pleasing "come-back-to-me" bitterness.

Very well made beer Joseph, and interesting too. Proving that you're more rounded as a brewer than Arnie was as an actor.

[JoKing]

Cheers Stu.... and thanks for the compliments!

I still have about 12 Liters of the Roggen and Dubbel left - but I'm on rations seeing as how Christina is due to drop any day now. They should see me through to the head wetting Party where the IIPA will be the star attraction.