late night hot break
This week I am trying a hybrid recipe that I’ve been working on for a few weeks. I have a hefeweizen coming out of the fermenter this weekend and was looking for some way to reuse the WLP300 Hefeweizen Ale yeast. I’ve used it before and it gives off great clove-y banana-y ester notes that are crucial to a classic German-style hefeweizen. I also have a bunch of 2013 hops in the freezer that I’m looking to use (let’s be honest – that’s just so I can justify buying the 2014 crop). I decided to put together a Wheat IPA, targeting both German (via yeast, pilsner and wheat malts) and American (via hops and two-row) flavor profiles.
Recipe Specifications -------------------------- Boil Size: 8.41 gal Post Boil Volume: 6.76 gal Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal Estimated OG: 1.068 SG Estimated Color: 4.7 SRM Estimated IBU: 70.2 IBUs Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 % Est Mash Efficiency: 76.8 % Boil Time: 90 Minutes Ingredients: ------------ Amt Name Type # %/IBU 7 lbs Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 45.9 % 4 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 26.2 % 4 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 26.2 % 4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 4 1.6 % 0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 12.1 IBUs 0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 6 9.3 IBUs 2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 7 17.6 IBUs 2.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 8 11.4 IBUs 2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Steep/Whirlpool Hop 9 12.0 IBUs 2.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 15.0 Hop 10 7.8 IBUs 1.0 pkg Hefeweizen Ale (White Labs #WLP300) [35. Yeast 11 - 2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Day Hop 12 0.0 IBUs 2.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 13 0.0 IBUs Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge Total Grain Weight: 15 lbs 4.0 oz ---------------------------- Name Description Step Temperat Step Time Mash In Add 29.66 qt of water at 161.0 F 153.0 F 60 min
My efficiency was much lower than expected (I forgot to double crush my wheat!) so I’ll probably end up with about .7% lower ABV than anticipated but I’ll be satisfied as long as I get something tasty. I’ll let this ferment out for a couple of weeks, then throw it in the keg, hopping with 2oz Amarillo and 2oz Cascade pellets in an ultra-fine bag. I’m looking forward to seeing how this one turns out – it was really flavorful pre-fermentation and I can only imagine it getting better. I’m just hoping that the hefe yeast flavors will play nicely with the hop profile.
Cheers!
Update: This has been in the fermentor for a few days now and because I was lazy I used the “unheated stairwell” method of temperature control. This usually works really nicely when it’s 45-55 out, because the stairwell tends to be ~58-60, letting me hit steady fermentation temps around ~64. Unfortunately we had a cold snap overnight, which brought the fermenting temperature down to 52F. I took a whiff after I brought it inside to warm back up and wow! The yeast was kicking off a ton of sulfur. I overpitched a bit so I think it must just be the temperature swings stressing out the yeast.
No worries, though, as even 2 days later the majority of the sulfur is gone. I’m going to let it ride for at least 2 weeks before kegging, just to allow the yeast a chance to clean up the rest. I’ll be dry hopping with 4-6 oz of cascade-amarillo blend in the keg; I’ll be tasting before that just to get an idea of how much I want to toss in.
Update 2: Kegged and dry hopped with 2 oz Amarillo and 2 oz Cascade pellets in a nylon sack for 2 days at room temperature. Left the hops in, chilled the keg, now burst carbing at 30 psi for 48h, after which I’ll bring it down to serving pressure. Really looking forward to this one – might have to pull an undercarbed pint tonight!
Update 3: Tasting notes.
ode to zymase 
One thought on “Amarillo-Cascade Wheat IPA”