Although there are many reasons I would like to forget about the last batch of beer I brewed, something fun may have come from it all (besides an "ah-ha" moment).
My original idea was to make my super simple and tasty Paulaner clone even better. I had been kicking around the idea on an Imperial Hefeweizen for a few weeks, as that would satisfy Mrs. Brew Meister's love of summer beer and my love of strong, unusual beers...
I remember the first description of an Imperial beer by some local brewery that said, "We doubled everything but the water." That sounded like the type of reasoning I could use. So I tried the following:
8oz Munich Malt 30 minutes at 152F
8.8lbs DME 55% Wheat 45# Barley
1 oz Hersbrucker for 45 minutes
1 oz Cascade for 15 minutes
As stated previously...it boiled all over the place and caused the world's largest mess. After that, I transferred 3 gallons to the primary fermenting bucket. Then I went off the reservation...
I was unable to cool the wort, as my wort chiller plumbing would not fit the sink of the new house. I decided to throw in a couple of trays of ice, a gallon of lukewarm distilled water, and put the whole mess in the basement. It was still 100F at 6PM. I decided to set the lid on the bucket, but not fill the airlock. With the cooling wort, I knew the vacuum in the bucket would pull the water from the airlock into the bucket.
In the morning, around 5AM, the wort was around 77F in my 67F basement. I pitched White Labs Liquid Hefeweizen Ale Yeast (WLP380) and a pack of Dry Ale Yeast. I figured one would kick in, and the sooner the better. Fermentation started within a few hours and chugged along for 5 days at 65-67F.
After ten days, we kegged the results. Initially, it smelled a bit bitter. The Cascade hops were very present, but blended well with the malt and some caramel aroma. We decided to pull some of the liquid from the bottom of the fermenter. It tasted REALLY GOOD! It is a good sign when Mrs. Brew Meister is filtering the dregs with a cheese cloth into a pint glass. It was also really strong. I had two cups and felt the warm contentment set in.
I am force carbonating the beer now and will drink it over the next 2 weeks. I would let it age a little longer but:
a. It already tastes really good.
b. I think the beer may begin to taste oxidized if I wait too long. It spent too many hours in the relative open before fermentation started.
I will post a full review next week.
Cheers
Thursday, July 24, 2008
The Hefty Hefe
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Helluva Hefeweizen (Paulaner clone)
With the increased travel I have been doing lately, I had the need to come up with a fast batch. Ales are great for making a wide variety of beers with a large range of time requirements. This time, we decided that a good hefeweizen would fit the bill. It usually has a fast, vigorous fermentation, didn’t require crystal clarity, and with the use of the recently acquired kegs, the whole thing could be done easily.
I found a recipe at the local HBS with the available ingredients that day:
Helluva Hefe:
4oz Munich Malt
6.6# DME 55% Wheat 45# Barley
1oz Hersbruker 3.8AA
White Labs Liquid Hefeweizen Ale Yeast (WLP380)
Steep the Munich malt for 30 minutes at 152º in 2 gallons
Add one gallon of water bring to a boil
Add the DME for 60 minutes
Add hops for 45 minutes
Bring water volume to 5.2 gallons
Cool to 74º
Add yeast
My OG was 1.052. I planned to ferment for 5 days. It was so vigorous that my air lock filled with wort and blew out after 2 days. I left off the airlock for 2 days and put the fermentor in a bucket to catch any overflow. After a messy 5 days, the bubbling slowed to a crawl. It was at FG 1.012.
I kegged the beer with 1 cup of priming (corn) sugar. I boiled 2 cups of water with the priming sugar and added it to a clean keg. I then added the 5 gallons of beer to the keg. I let the keg sit for five days and added the CO2 at 8psi. 3 days later, all was well.
The beer was the exact Paulaner clone I was looking for. It poured a very thick heady, cloudy yellow. Lots of spice, bubble gum, citrus, wheat nose. Lemony taste, yeasty, tingling bubbles. Light body, smooth, balanced with mild bitterness.
Overall, a great beer that was an easy (11 days from start to drinking) uncomplicated batch that created one of our favorite beers.
