First wheat bear.... advice? Please??

[Earth Titan]

Would someone mind having a quick look see over the following recipe (this is my first wheat beer) and see if they think it would work? Interested to know if anyone has any views.

Also, which yeast should I go for? I am prepared to consider one of the liquid yeasts but would prefer to go with the dried if it will give satisfactory results for a first time.


OG 1055
FG 1014

Pale malt 50%
Wheat malt 50%

Hallertau hops 90 mins to give 30 EBU
Hallertau hops at 15 mins

Yeast options:

BRUPAKS WHEAT YEAST
WHITE LABS HEFEWEIZEN ALE YEAST -WLP300
WYEAST 3068 Weihenstephan Wheat

[mysterio]

Recipe is fine, go easy on the late hops if you include them at all.

I reckon this is one beer where you should go for the liquid yeast if you can, it gives amazingly authentic results, your friends wont be able to distinguish the beer from the real thing. The white labs or wyeast will work great. Make a small starter and ferment at 17C if you can

[Earth Titan]

I've never used a liquid yeast, although I'm very tempted.

How reliable is any yeast when posted? How do i go about using them? Just pitch em in?

[DarloDave]

Make a 2L starter, then pitch!

I have a related question about wlp300, I have some that went out of date in June, is it worth trying to make a starter? or better of just chucking it.

[mysterio]

OP, yeah, you have to make a starter. Take a couple of L of water, boil with 200g malt extract for 10 - 15 minutes, cool, pour into sterile container, pitch yeast, shake the hell out of it, and leave for a couple of days until it gets active.

Dave, i've used out of date yeast plenty of times. It might take a couple of days to get active but it will be fine. If it is several months out of date, it might be worth making a smaller starter (200ml) and stepping up.

[oblivious]

I have a related question about wlp300, I have some that went out of date in June, is it worth trying to make a starter? or better of just chucking it.

I would make the stater just maybe allow an extra day or so for it to get going

[oblivious]

Yeast options:

BRUPAKS WHEAT YEAST
WHITE LABS HEFEWEIZEN ALE YEAST -WLP300
WYEAST 3068 Weihenstephan Wheat

Brupack is more suited to Belgian wits, there other two will make a fantastic German Hefe ,they are actually the same yeast but from different company's

[DarloDave]

excellent, cheers

[Invalid Stout]

Bah, I think there isn't enough summer left up here in Scotland for me to make a Hefeweizen this year.

[oblivious]

Bah, I think there isn't enough summer left up here in Scotland for me to make a Hefeweizen this year.

There is always time for a hefe, turn up the central heating in the house


Or a smoked hefe for halloween

[Earth Titan]

Okay.

Taken the plunge and ordered some WLP300 from H&G.

As I don't have any malt extract or similar, is there any way of making a starter or can I pitch it striaght it in?

.....and this might sound like a dumb a#se question , but the wheat malt does go in to the mash tunn with the pale malt doesn't it?

[mysterio]

As I don't have any malt extract or similar, is there any way of making a starter or can I pitch it striaght it in?

No, you haven't much choice but to pitch it in now - don't say we didn't warn you about making a starter!

Yeah, you mash the whole lot together, it's an easy beer to make.

[leedsbrew]

You could always make a starter by mashing some pale malt
to make the 2L starter! About 1.040 should do.

[lancsSteve]

Interested to follow this - I'm planning my first wheat beer too

I have a 50%/50% mix of marris otter and wheat malt already made but planning on going dunkel weissen and adding some chocolate and special B malts as I have those too.

Have ordered some spraymalt as well to make the starter - and ordered the July-August only White Labs Bavarian just waiting for it all to arrive, v. excited and a little impatient!

Q on the spraymalt - how much do you need to use? and is it better to mix wheat and light spray malt so the starter is closer to the real beer or is 'any' spraymalt good enough as it's just getting the yeats going?

Good step-by-step on starter-making process here: http://uk-homebrew.tripod.com/id48.html (see splitting links for longer process) and here http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/liquid_yeast.htm

[Invalid Stout]

Bah, I think there isn't enough summer left up here in Scotland for me to make a Hefeweizen this year.

There is always time for a hefe, turn up the central heating in the house

It's not the fermentation temperature I'm bothered about, it's the drinking temperature and presence of sunshine!