Dunkel Weizen

[Lugsy]

Looks good!

I've just bought some more wheat malt, carafa special III and a load of other bits and bobs from the malt miller so a dunkel is up for next weekend. I'm brewing a pale today and keeping my last runnings to boil down to 1.040 or so to wake up the WLP300 harvested from my Paulaner clone ready for it

[greenxpaddy]

Just checked this one and we are at 1012. Bowled over by the banana aroma when I took the Mango's lid off!

I'll be saving this yeast!

How long would you leave in FV before bottling?

[Zapp Brannigan]

Thats interesting, I had heard that Erdinger (and most other weissbier producers) dont use their primary strain for conditioning, and that the yeast in the bottles is a lager strain.

[greenxpaddy]

I have posted this before - there is no way in my opinion that it is a lager strain. I guess they would like everyone to think that. I would say this yeast edges Wyeast 3944 in my opinion. But the true test will be the taste test. I'll let you know.

[Lugsy]

Here's my provisional recipe for a Dunkel Weizen:

Wheat Malt 3000g
Pilsner Malt 1500g
CaraMunich III 145g
Special B 145g
Carafa Special III 65g

Hersbrucker 38g 60 minutes

Volume in to fermenter ~23l (this is probably a bit hopeful!)
Aiming for 1.050 OG
Bitterness 10 EBU
Colour 59 EBC

Ferment at 19C with WLP300

I'm thinking about a nice long mash, probably overnight, and then two or three batch sparges to get as much as I can out of the wheat.

Any advice greatly appreciated as always

Cheers,

L

[greenxpaddy]

I'm no expert but colour and bitterness are both a little low I would say. Bit more hops and up your dark malts.

[dave-o]

Style guidelines are 27-43 EBC, 10-18 IBU, so colour is more than enough and bitterness is at the low end but within guidelines. Not that guidelines have to be stuck to, but i'd say it's a good dunkel recipe anyway.

[Zapp Brannigan]

I have posted this before - there is no way in my opinion that it is a lager strain. I guess they would like everyone to think that. I would say this yeast edges Wyeast 3944 in my opinion. But the true test will be the taste test. I'll let you know.

Yes please, I'd be very interested to know if Erdinger primes with a viable weizen strain

[Lugsy]

Style guidelines are 27-43 EBC, 10-18 IBU, so colour is more than enough and bitterness is at the low end but within guidelines. Not that guidelines have to be stuck to, but i'd say it's a good dunkel recipe anyway.

Thanks dave-o, I'll up the hops a bit (it does feel very odd to me using so few hops in a brew!) and think about maybe dropping the colour by a few points.

Really looking forward to this one

Cheers,

L

[dave-o]

I always make my dunkels darker than the guidelines though, so go for yours if that's how you like it.

[greenxpaddy]

Here's the dunkel after 2 weeks in the bottle. It was served at 9C and the head was not mad like wits I chill fully.

The aroma is not like a wit because of the lack of citrus, the maltiness is evident in the aroma - almost whisky notes like a bit "woody". My sister in law said it was a "cosy" smell.

The taste is very crisp fine bubbly carbonated very much like the Erdinger yeast finishes in the weissbier. There are hints of banana there. I would say the Erdinger yeast does work on this. But I'm still on the fence as to whether its a lager yeast for conditioning or not. You might still get banana tones with a lager yeast if its at its higher end 16C etc I suppose.

Anyhow its very drinkable and thats all that matters I reckon. I couldn't help but compare it with the mild I am currently supping. In some ways I wonder if the mild was carbonated would it taste pretty much the same ??? I think the dunkel weizen is more subtle on the darker malt notes.

[dave-o]

That looks lovely. I think i'd cal it a Dunkelstouten.

It's hardly a scientific description but i always feel that a good Dunkel smells like fresh alpine snow recently fallen from the roof of a small, cosy mountain village alehouse at night where buxom serving wenches sing as they deliver your next stein.

[greenxpaddy]

Yep - it smelt just like that

[npg]

Hello there! I'm new to this forum

Originally I was born and raised in Munich, Bavaria, but spent most of my time in the UK after my degree in London. I am by no means an expert when it comes to a decent Hefeweizen, but I heard that many breweries use lager yeast to prime a Hefeweizen, alhough this is no done by all. I cannot say what Erdinger does, but I know that Schneider Weisse uses their own yearst strains and primes the bottles with the same. It's a pretty good wheat beer too (I prefer it to the Erdinger TBH).

Here is a receipe for a 'Dunkeles Hefeweizen' from one of my German books

2600g Dark Wheat Malt
1500g Munich Malt
300g Caramalt (dark)
40g Roasted Malt (Farbmalz)

Hops
8g Bittering Hops (8,0 %AA)
15g Aroma Hops (6,0 %AA)
90 min boil

3 step dekoktion mash

OG = 11,8% B
20 EBU, 35EBC, ABV 4,8%, Bottle at 3.3%B

We never use priming sugar, only the sugars we already made in the wort. One method I like is the principle of 'Schnellvergaerungsprobe' (what a long word!). A rapid-fermenting-sample, liberally translated. Once the yeast has gone active, say after 24hrs, I take a small sample in a jar. this sample I then put in a waterbath at around 40-60C MAX!!! (don't kill the yeast), so that it ferments faster and I can determine the FG from there. This now gives me a good indication when the right time to bottle is and I have a measurement about my carbonation (ie I record the gravity when I bottle so I can adjust in the future). For a Hefe, when the FG is 1.010 (10 Oe) then I bottle it at 1.014 (14 Oe). Lagers would bottle at 1.012 (12 Oe) for eg...

Prost!

[dave-o]

Interesting - a very high wheat %age. No lager/pils malt at all.