Leftovers Challenge!!

[GravityBrew]

Time to get creative!

I know there are a lot of 'outside the box' thinkers on HBT and I need a little bit of help... I brew 12 Gal batches so I buy 50# bags at a time and after planning my next few brews I'm left with 10# of White Wheat Malt, 15# of Maris Otter, and 3oz of German Hallertau hops. I usually buy my yeast right before brewing so it's open season. I do have a dedicated lagering fridge and love to add extras to my beers (fruit, spices, etc.) so I'm open to anything you can think of. Depending on the feedback I get, I'll brew it up this weekend and take photo goodness for all to enjoy.

 

[Mojzis]

If it were me, I would do a hefe style beer (50/50) with the Haller for primarily bittering. I would ferment the 12g in 3 different fermentors with 3 different yeasts. Maybe a german hefe, american hefe, and maybe a kolsch. Being the same beer you can really see the contributions each yeast has.

Edit: Or one yeast, 2-3 different fruits? One yeast, 3 different temps?

 

[GravityBrew]

I will most likely split it up into 2 beers.. Unfortunately most of my 5G carboys are in use at the moment. I've made a German Hefe in the past that I've added fresh ginger that turned out fantastic.

For some reason, I have this crazy idea to make a Wee Heavy (wheet heavy?) and take the first gallon of the sparge, caramelize it and add it to the boil.

 

[MKBoitnott]

Split batch idea seems real good to me (50/50 wheat and MO). Either splitting for different yeasts or keeping yeast consistent and doing fruit.

OR... And I just thought of this while I was typing... You could do a Vanilla addition. Any thoughts on that? For some reason I am feeling the vanilla with wheat and MO. In which case I would use Cal ale or american wheat yeast.

Cant wait to hear about it.

 

[GravityBrew]

MKB, I like your thinking. I think I'll do a 50/50 on the wheat and MO (10#/10#) I might only use 2oz of the Hallertau, 1oz each at 60 and 15min. Caramelize the first gallon of runoff and re-add at the 15min addition. I will end up splitting into 2x6.5 Gal carboys and add .5oz of vanilla extract to each of the beers at secondary. I'll try WLP001 for one and WLP320 for the other. This sounds like a tasty 'Big-Ass Wheat'.

 

[MKBoitnott]

Awesome, sounds like a plan. Keep us posted.

 

[GravityBrew]

Unfortunately I wasn't able to brew last weekend. But, I am set for this Saturday!

 

[GravityBrew]

OK, I brewed up the Wheet Heavy last night, my OG came out to 1.042 (Was aiming for 1.045 so, close enough). I boiled the first gallon of wort for almost a full 60 min and came out great! A really deep coppery brown with an awesome flavor. I used the full 3oz of hops during the boil, however I did debate on dry hopping, and I ended up with Wyeast instead of White Labs: the first 6gal batch was British Ale II, and the other I used Scotish Ale. Now only 18 hours since I pitched, both airlocks have filled with krausen and my fermentation room has a wonderful bready smell.

Sorry there are no photos, I was having phone problems all day and now its time to get a new one.

My brew notes:
12 Gal Split batch

10# Maris Otter
10# White Wheat Malt
1.5oz German Hallertau 4.2%AA 60 min addition
1.5oz German Hallertau 4.2%AA 15 min addition
1.5tbsp Irish Moss 15 min addition

Mash @ 152*F for 90 min
Sparge 60 min

Boil 1st gallon of wort for 60 min to caramelize and recombine

Boil wort 60 min, chill, and ferment

 

[GravityBrew]

Update:

I just racked the Wheet Heavy and it tastes awesome! The caramelization of the first runnings gave a full mouth feel and a really nice sweetness and made the hops almost an afterthought. I will say I prefer the Scottish ale yeast for this recipe as the British ale is a little sharp and will need more time to age.

Right after brewing I chopped 6 vanilla beans, added it to 5oz of 95% grain alcohol to make an extract and let it sit for 3 weeks. I strained 3oz of extract liquid out for use in the future and spit the rest into 1oz shots (splitting the bean matter equally) to add to secondary. Primary averaged 65-70*F for the last 3 weeks and I racked into 5 gal carboys to mellow with the vanilla. The Scottish Ale finished at 1.009 and the British Ale II finished at 1.008. They are both dry, but very tasty.

The secondary (pretty much just to clear) will be at primary temp 3 days and then I will crash cool in my lager fridge until clear, then keg and carb. I will most likely tap the Scottish immediately after carbing.

 

[GravityBrew]

Update:

Turns out I didn't need to crash cool. All of the sediment completely dropped out and they are now in kegs. The vanilla is light, not distracting at all (my wife thought the vanilla flavor was from something I added to the boil). They will be going into the lager fridge (as soon as I make some room) to carb and I might bottle one of the kegs this weekend to mellow for a month, then pass out to friends.

For an on-the-fly recipe, I must say, it turned out to be a great brew!

 

[GravityBrew]

Update:

I tapped my first keg (the Scottish yeast, after sitting in the fridge for the last month and change) and it is OUTSTANDING!! I would recommend this as a nice fall beer, right as the nights start getting below 50. I will end up bottling this keg to share around.