BeerBorg

We're both real excited about this collaboration! So much so that we might have a couple different permutations resulting from same grain bill!! Not that that's a bad thing, of course. Jeff and I were both feeling something appropriate for the cooler weather now in the fall and winter. We both enjoy wheat beers, but he was looking for something his wife could drink as well, and she likes hoppy beers.

That's where the thought of replicating 3 Floyds' Gumballhead came into play. We searched for clone recipes and took cues off the grain bill to come up with out own. I'm not as much into real hoppy beers, but being a big fan of wheats, I considered the possibility. But something malty sweet just seemed more appropriate for the season.

That's when I thought to myself that Oktoberfest beers are still very much in, however lagers are not something that Jeff could do. What about a wheat Oktoberfest?! Wheat-toberfest! A malty beer that can use ale yeast fermented fairly cool to still lend clean flavor! Just what the season ordered!

All of that said, this RCE is going to be an exercise in using new ingredients for both of us, and a new technique for me. Jeff is going to use Amarillo hops for aroma, but still leave a malt backbone, and I will be using Tettnanger and a single decoction mash to help make mine more malty/rich and give a little darker color, like an Oktoberfest. So here's the bill!


Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 2.82 gal
Post Boil Volume: 2.60 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 2.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 2.25 gal
Estimated OG: 1.058 SG
Estimated Color: 9.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 26.6 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 72.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
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Amt Name Type # %/IBU
2 lbs Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 1 36.4 %
2 lbs Wheat, Red (6.5 SRM) Grain 2 36.4 %
1 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) Grain 3 18.2 %
8.0 oz Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 4 9.1 %
0.65 oz Tettnang [3.90 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 5 20.9 IBUs
0.05 oz Calypso [15.40 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 5.8 IBUs
1.0 pkg Munich (Lallemand #-) Yeast 7 -


Mash Schedule: Decoction Mash, Single
Total Grain Weight: 5 lbs 8.0 oz
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Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Protein Rest Add 11.00 qt of water at 126.6 F 122.0 F 35 min
Saccharification Decoct 4.52 qt of mash and boil it 154.0 F 45 min
Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 10 min 168.0 F 10 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 1 steps (0.73gal) of 168.0 F water

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There is an addition of 0.05 oz of Calypso only to bring the bittering up to where I wanted it, since the Tettnanger that my HBS carried was a lot lower in alpha acid % than the default on BeerSmith. This addition for Jeff's version will be omitted, and Tettnanger replaced with Amarillo, along with an Amarillo dry hop so that the aroma comes through, leaving a malty finish.

We both will be using Lallemand's Munich wheat yeast for this beer so hopefully the fermentation should be very strong. Actually, while I was at the HBS to pick the grains up for this, the proprietor had suggested Munich yeast before I even had the chance to ask him if he had it! So I think this is heading in the right direction. Can't wait to get this going!

Just pitched the yeast on this. OG came in at 1.052. Lost a little bit of wort to the floor when transferring between the mash tun cooler and the brew pot. Had to add some water to top off the fermenter too, but I think I need to keep working on my brewing method with this mash tun cooler. All of those things considered, I'm happy with how it all turned out. Now the waiting game!

Off to get my ingredients for this brew,very excited to see how it turns out. Some brand new ingredients for me so very intretersted to see how they taste and turnout Fortunately the local home brew shop (part-time as he is away on main job a lot) is in town and said he is fully loaded with supplies Also fortunate is the whole "buy two kits get one free sale at Midwest they had. I will have 3 5 gallon batches of IPAs to keep SWMBO happy while I experiment with this - and possibly the gumball head recipes we came across when looking at possiblities for this recipe. I can brew lbk sized batches of things like this and slip them into the fridge rotation and if she likes them great, if not, still lots of hoppiness in other batches for her

Off to the store
Cheers
jeff

It looks good guys, keep us posted

This is what the RCE was intended to be from the outset. Two brewers putting their heads together, bouncing ideas off each other, working through the questions and overcoming the obstacles, stretching their knowledge, technique, and imaginations, and most important, coming up with a neat recipe for a new beer.

Wheatoberfest.

This is brilliant. I hope you guys are very happy with the beer that results from your joint efforts. Thanks for taking part in the RCE.

The LHBS had everything but red wheat so I am going with white. Still havent decided just how much Amarillo I am going to use. Will FWH give flavor aroma and bittering or just better bittering extraction? If just the bittering I may use a different hope for bittering and save the Amarillo for a nice big dry hopping. Have plenty of high alpha hops that are primarilly for bittering and I really want to have the Amarillo aroma over top of the malty backbone and see how it turns out (I did buy their last 3 oz of Amarillo so I should be good for dry hopping

Mr Hat - thanks again for putting this together, it is a fun way to learn more from folks like Phil and end up with a completely new brew that I never would have come up with on my own.

Cheers & Thanks again Phil, going to try to get this one done tomorrow or tuesday so it can be bubbling away while we hit Colorado.
jeff

First wort hopping will provide just bittering, a couple extra IBUs more than if you threw in a bittering addition at the beginning of the boil, but it will allow the bittering to be more mellow and smooth, which is something I really wanted with a maltier beer style like this (and something I like for any beer in general). The good thing about this is that you can use less hops and get equal or more bittering, which helps save money! For aroma, a steep at flameout and then a dry hop towards the end of fermentation will yield best results.

White wheat should work just as well, but end up being a little lighter in color, but that's all good! Hope you have a good brew day, Jeff! And you're welcome Glad to exchange insight and ideas with you, bud.

This sounds great guys. That has the potential to be a really yummy beer.
I'll be watching this one, for sure.

OK gonna try to crank this one out while doing my exercise bike - two birds with one stone Swapping out the First Wort Hopping to Warrior (since it is clean and a high alpha bittering hop). Mine are 16.7 AAU so going with .5 oz FWH. At flameout I will drop a little (.33 oz) of the Amarillo for flavor and aroma (mostly aroma) and then some more Amarillo for dry hopping.

This one can be fermenting while we are in Colorado, hopefully the cooler weather we are supposed to get holds so it doesnt get too high.
Countdown to new beer in 5,4,3,2,1...

Cheers
jeff

Manowarfan1 wrote:OK gonna try to crank this one out while doing my exercise bike - two birds with one stone Swapping out the First Wort Hopping to Warrior (since it is clean and a high alpha bittering hop). Mine are 16.7 AAU so going with .5 oz FWH. At flameout I will drop a little (.33 oz) of the Amarillo for flavor and aroma (mostly aroma) and then some more Amarillo for dry hopping.

This one can be fermenting while we are in Colorado, hopefully the cooler weather we are supposed to get holds so it doesnt get too high.
Countdown to new beer in 5,4,3,2,1...

Cheers
jeff

Jeff:

Very misguided. Brewing while on a bike, either regular on stationary, is considered "risky behavior". Also, if you drip sweat into the wort it will alter the profile of the brew.

Well, in the time you ride, your mash will be over soon. Just wouldn't recommend doing it when boiling. "Watch out for the hot break!" Lol.

RickBeer wrote:[
Jeff:

Very misguided. Brewing while on a bike, either regular on stationary, is considered "risky behavior". Also, if you drip sweat into the wort it will alter the profile of the brew.

But I had on my Ironman sweat bands I got while SWMBO did Ironman Louisville and MOST of the sweat went elsewhere. That said this could end up as a Dead Sea Wheatoverfest Holding the 4 gallon pot on the exercise bike was a bit tricky

Cheers
jeff

Won't be bottling this until Wednesday at the earliest, but I poured a small sample into a shot glass to taste it and see how it's coming along. This is EXACTLY what I was hoping for! Really good malty flavor, bittered just enough, and tastes real clean with no noticeable detection of esters or phenols. The true test will come after carb, conditioning, and chilling for consumption of course (holy alliteration, Batman!).

Just finished bottling this today. Smelled sooooo good! FG of 1.014 for 5.0% ABV. Looked a little lighter in color than I was hoping for, but that's ok.

I popped one of these open tonight to try with pizza, and it's AWESOME! I think with age this one will get a really nice malty profile, moreso than it already has. The Munich flavor prevails, and I'm ok with that . Turned out a lot more amber than copper, but it's still within the spec for SRM on a Marzen/Oktoberfest. So smooth going down, and has a nice medium body that I hoped would be achieved from the decoction and using flaked wheat. This is going to be a seasonal keeper for sure!