first go at 100% wheat

[defenestrate]

i was inspired by the post a few days back about 100% wheat beers by brewing clamper. i watched the video in the thread, and seemed interesting. i have just recently dabbled into decoction by trying a single decoction on my marzen style ale and i loved the added flavor and colors, so why not kill 2 birds with one stone. unlike the video i will be doing this in a mash tun rather than the BIAB method, crossing my fingers. i know the decoction schedule probably isn't the greatest but i'm just going with this to start.


nothing but wheat
6-D American Wheat or Rye Beer
Date: 10/16/10

Size: 6.5 gal
Efficiency: 85.0%
Attenuation: 80.0%
Calories: 144.23 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.044 (1.040 - 1.055)
Terminal Gravity: 1.009 (1.008 - 1.013)
Color: 3.46 (3.0 - 6.0)
Alcohol: 4.59% (4.0% - 5.5%)
Bitterness: 16.5 (15.0 - 30.0)

Ingredients:
1.0 lb Rice Hulls
9 lb White Wheat Malt
.7 oz Sterling (6.8%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
.7 oz Sterling (6.8%) - added during boil, boiled 5.0 min
0.0 ea WYeast 1010 American Wheat

Schedule:
Ambient Air: 70.0 °F
Source Water: 60.0 °F
Elevation: 0.0 m

00:03:00 mash in - Liquor: 4.25 gal; Strike: 134.74 °F; Target: 128.0 °F
00:13:00 rest - Rest: 10 min; Final: 127.9 °F
01:06:00 decoction 1 - Volume: 1.57 gal; Boil: 5.0 min; Target: 152 °F
01:46:00 rest - Rest: 40.0 min; Final: 151.3 °F
02:08:35 decoction 2 - Volume: 1.26 gal; Boil: 5.0 min; Target: 165 °F
02:38:35 sparge - Sparge Volume: 6.0 gal; Sparge Temperature: 175 °F; Runoff: 8.14 gal

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.12

with decoction one, it will be 15 min to 158, hold for 10 min, then another 15 min to boil, with a 5 minute boil. (fairly thick)
with decoction two, it will be 15 min to boil, 5 min boil. (thinner)

i went with a very short boil since it will be such a light beer, and heck just to keep the time down

i'll post back tomorrow during/after the session and report if i threw my mash tun over the fence in frustation.

 

[Poobah58]

How about using some crystal or choc wheat?

 

[defenestrate]

How about using some crystal or choc wheat?

i really am curious to see what the decoction does for the wheat as far as body and flavor. the only thing i may do is increase the decoction boil time for some more flavor.

 

[defenestrate]

well after a 2 hr and 20 min mash, this puppy is slowly recirculating before the sparge. i soaked and drained the lb of hulls over night so they didnt soak up as much wort. each decoction smelled amazing when boiling, light caramel, maybe some vanilla. i'm pretty excited.

 

[defenestrate]

well this went surprisingly well. no issue with sparging at all, and my efficiency was in the 90's. i ended up with 5.5 gal @1050 in the bucket. after a 1 qt starter and a healthy shot of oxygen i have a feeling this thing is going to rocket off. the color is definitely way darker than 3.6 srm... and it had a nice carmel flavor. cant wait to keg this in 12-14 days.

 

[defenestrate]

here is a picture of the mash after being recirc'd for about 10 min before sparge, nice and clear and great color from the decoction.

 

[rtt121]

Save me a bottle!

 

[blizzard]

That looks amazing. Yum.

 

[defenestrate]

Save me a bottle!

haha will do. I think i'll be jumping in on a jersey group buy in the near future, i still come home every few weeks so i'll work a trip around that... then i can finally give you some vienna for the honey malt

i can't wait to carb this monster up and see how it comes out.

 

[rtt121]

Also, I would not mind holding grains for you if you needed me to pick up at the group buy.

I have a sack of vienna arriving tomorrow... honey remains untouched. I gotta figure out somehting to do with that

 

[defenestrate]

i knew this was going to take off, but this is by far the most intense fermentation i've had. the gallon jug had literally about 3 inches of water in it when i pitched around 7 pm last night, this was taken 8 am this morning. sounds like a damn machine gun.

 

[defenestrate]

well this thing finished out @ 1008 after 4 days. on day 10 i crashed it for 2 days before putting it on the gas, its been on 15 psi for 3 days now with random shaking of the keg, here is a pic

its very light, with a very light crisp wheat taste. its not done carbing yet but its got a nice finish with the sterling hops. the yeast comes through a lot, with a little bit of estery notes, not the tart finish i got before. i think its coming through more because of the all wheat grist. it would definitely be nice with some cmalt, maybe i'll pick up some darker wheat malts to keep it 100%.

 

[jfr1111]

She's a beauty alright.

 

[BenS]

Great experiment! I am surprised the 3 decoctions didn't add more to the color and flavor though. That is pretty awesome.

 

[defenestrate]

Great experiment! I am surprised the 3 decoctions didn't add more to the color and flavor though. That is pretty awesome.

when i tasted it on day 3 the gravity was 1012, and the taste was amazing- creamy light sweetness, almost vanilla. i think it just simply was too fermentable.

instead of the rest at 152 (which actually was 150-151) i'll shoot for 154 next time, maybe even increase the decoction boil lengths to see if i can get more caramelization.

my impression from decoction mashing is that the sac rest should be a few degrees higher than if you were just using a normal single temp infusion? i could be wrong but i thought i read that along somewhere.

 

[defenestrate]

here is a shot after being in the keg for about a month. very clear. its very light, but does have some nice creamy wheat flavor.

 

[Brewing Clamper]

Dude, I can't believe I missed this thread when you first posted it! So do you think the effort of the decoction was worth it? What would you change if you were to do it again?

 

[Dogphish]

i'm subscribing to this thread. i know there has to be a good wheat beer out there, but i haven't found one i really like at the store. i like that your recipe doesn't have added citrus.

 

[defenestrate]

Dude, I can't believe I missed this thread when you first posted it! So do you think the effort of the decoction was worth it? What would you change if you were to do it again?

i'm not quite sure that the decoction brought much flavor to the table, but it made sparging WAY easier... i've had some stuck mashes with 50% rye/wheat before but this was just like a regular batch. although next time i may just do a schedule like rest at 122, infuse to 152 then decoct to mash out. i would also like some more flavor, so maybe some crystal/dark wheat... or maybe even toast some myself.

 

[defenestrate]

here is a final shot of what was left in the keg... amazing clarity. i had some foaming issues trying to bottle off the last of the keg causing some underfilled and undercarbed bottles, but they still tasted good.