I was inspired by Basic Brewing's single decoction all wheat. I'm going to be trying to replicate their recipe and methods. Their number show nearly 90% efficiency. If I get 75% I'll be happy. I'll let you know what happens.
All Wheat BIAB
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454k30
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Well, it's in the fermenter now.
I brewed this as a single decoction, following the Basic Brewing guys directions. I did up my grain bill to 6 lbs of Briess white wheat instead of the 5 lbs that they used. Due to their grind they ended up with nearly 90% efficiency; I could only get 75% and is why I used an extra pound of wheat. I also changed my hop schedule to a single half ounce of hallertau for a full 60 minutes.
The OG is 1.044. Well see in a week how it is looking.
For those that haven't done a decoction mash it isn't a hard thing to do. I was a bit intimidated at first but it really isn't a big deal when you get down to it. The BIAB all grain experience was really cool. Depending on the results of this I may do it for more of my lighter recipes.
I brewed this as a single decoction, following the Basic Brewing guys directions. I did up my grain bill to 6 lbs of Briess white wheat instead of the 5 lbs that they used. Due to their grind they ended up with nearly 90% efficiency; I could only get 75% and is why I used an extra pound of wheat. I also changed my hop schedule to a single half ounce of hallertau for a full 60 minutes.
The OG is 1.044. Well see in a week how it is looking.
For those that haven't done a decoction mash it isn't a hard thing to do. I was a bit intimidated at first but it really isn't a big deal when you get down to it. The BIAB all grain experience was really cool. Depending on the results of this I may do it for more of my lighter recipes.
cjalderman
Well-Known Member
I plan on doing my first decoction soon, do you have any pointers? And how did the beer turn out tasting with a single decoction?
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454k30
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I have now done to BIAB decoction brews. One was the all wheat and the other, another hefe, was a 65% wheat. I think that the most useful thing I did was to write down all of the steps and temps I needed in a checklist format before I started brewing. I put that up on the wall and was able to quickly refer to it as I went. Make sure you have a pot that is large enough to do your decocotion. When you pull that decoction you want to get your desired amount of grain but make sure you get enough liquid so it doesn't stick to the pot. Decoction brewing adds a lot more time to your brewing cycle than I anticipated. Make sure you have the appropriate block of time set aside for this.
The all wheat beer came out very interesting. The color was like straw, kinda tan, not that normal golden color we are used to. The body was very light, lighter than I expected. The flavor showed a lot of citrus. It tasted similar to taking a normal hefe and squeezing some lemon juice in it. The usual strong banana and clove flavors were almost very very light. Really this beer was dominated by the wheat's citrus notes. The nose was very interesting. After a the first week in the bottles the beer smelled like beer brats. If you've ever heated cheep beer on the stove with brats in it, that is what this stuff smelled like. After another week that odor was a lot weeker and after a month it was gone; now it just smells like beer. The 65% wheat beer turned out much more typical though I'm not seeing an discernble difference with the decoction mashing and a typical mash. Maybe decoction makes a bigger difference when done on a massive scale but it didn't change the flavor profile drastically. I think my next hefe I might put some crystal in the grain bill. That will give an increased malt body and flavor without the extra decoction steps. Or I might just go back to making my hefes with extract.
The all wheat beer came out very interesting. The color was like straw, kinda tan, not that normal golden color we are used to. The body was very light, lighter than I expected. The flavor showed a lot of citrus. It tasted similar to taking a normal hefe and squeezing some lemon juice in it. The usual strong banana and clove flavors were almost very very light. Really this beer was dominated by the wheat's citrus notes. The nose was very interesting. After a the first week in the bottles the beer smelled like beer brats. If you've ever heated cheep beer on the stove with brats in it, that is what this stuff smelled like. After another week that odor was a lot weeker and after a month it was gone; now it just smells like beer. The 65% wheat beer turned out much more typical though I'm not seeing an discernble difference with the decoction mashing and a typical mash. Maybe decoction makes a bigger difference when done on a massive scale but it didn't change the flavor profile drastically. I think my next hefe I might put some crystal in the grain bill. That will give an increased malt body and flavor without the extra decoction steps. Or I might just go back to making my hefes with extract.
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