Time for a Weissbier

Time to make some beer.  I've been brewing beer for about a year now, starting off brewing using Malt Extract and some hops, but quickly progressing up to All Grain.  I've so far brewed about 20 different beers from All Grain, but never a Wheat Beer.  Part of the reason was I didn't really have the right equipment, part was there were just so many other things to brew.

So, time to get a wheat beer underway.  My recipe is below, and for those who are a bit pedantic, yes it's true I can't really call it a Weisse beer as it has less than 50% Wheat in it.  I know this now, I didn't when I came up with the recipe and did the brew.


Growling Weisse Brewed 3 July 2011

Brew Length: 50 Litres
Original Gravity (OG): 1.051 (°P): 12.6
Final Gravity (FG): 1.013 (°P): 3.3
Alcohol (ABV): 5.01 %
Colour (SRM): 5.0 (EBC): 9.9
Bitterness (IBU): 16.6 (Average)

5Kg Maris Otter Malt
5Kg Wheat Malt
750g Munich I

80g Tettnanger  @ 60 Minutes (Boil)

All the Grains patiently waiting in the Mash Tun getting ready to be turned into some lovely juicy beer.  The water, or liquor as brewers call it for some reason, was added at a strike temperature of 72C to get a Mash at 67C.  This was left there for 90 minutes to extract all the lovely sugars from the grain.

Time to get it all working, The sparging process underway,liquor running into the Mash Tun rinsing all the sugars from the grains and the wort is getting pumped into the boiler ready for the boil.

All the hops are going in for the entire boil of 60 minutes for this brew. Unlike a hoppy beer where you would add lots at different intervals, usually later on in the boil and after it has finished to get all the hoppy flavour and aroma, you don't need that in a Wheat beer so they all go in early.







The whole lot boiling away in the boiler.  Always nice to have 60 Litres of wort jumping around in front of you at eye level, I'm sure Mr Health and Safety would not be too pleased.

At the end of it all though I end up with 50 litres of wort which looks to be about the right colour, and about the right gravity.

Looks to be about 1.052 which should be just right.

It then goes into the fermenters with some yeast for about a week at 20 centigrade to turn the sugar into alcohol and make beer.

A week later and it's turned into something resembling wheat beer, I have transferred it into kegs and force carbonated.

In a few days time I shall be able to sample it and see if we have success.