What beer is best to brew at this time?

Question

With only 8 solos tries but much "homebrewing apprenticeship" and it being Summer, What beer is best to brew at this time?

Answer 1

I had brewed a BW from this page or one like it. I altered the recipe with an extract addition but it pushed the gravity above 1060. Yeast is important for this style so choose one with the classic clove notes. I like the warm temperature advise my range is 66-72F for the same desired result.



Bavarian Weisse or Weizen



Weisse has a target original gravity of 1.040 to 1.056, color of 2 to 9 SRM, and bitterness between 10 and 20 IBUs. It has very low bitterness, low to medium body and high esters as well as banana and clove flavor derived from the yeast.



Bavarian Weisse or Weizen is almost always made from only two base malts: wheat malt and pilsner or pale malt. The percentage of wheat malt varies from as little as 20% to as much as 60%, but 40-50% is a good average number. Note that wheat malt can’t be steeped and must be mashed, so if you are an extract brewer be sure to use wheat or weizen extract as the base malt. Decoction or a single infusion mash is acceptable with a recommended conversion temperature of around 152F.



The hop schedule for Weisse is minimal - typically a single noble hop addition at the beginning of the boil. Hallertau hops are most commonly used, though Saaz, Tettnanger and Hersbrucker are also popular. A low hop rate giving 15-17 IBUs is typical. The use of distinctive Bavarian wheat yeast is critical to the style , as so much of the Bavarian flavor profile is derived from the yeast itself.



Bavarian Weisse is highly carbonated, at 2.4-3.0 volumes. Hefeweizen (with yeast) is served relatively young with the yeast still in suspension giving a cloudy character. Krystal (clear) is filtered commercially to give a crystal clear finish.

http://www.beersmith.com/blog/2008/05/08/wheat-beer-recipes-weizen-and-weisse-styles/

Answer 2

Have never done a weisse but I do make hefeweisen during the warmer weather. You want a relatively high fermentation temperature (75°F) to get the overtones of banana and clove. It's not a complicated beer if you brew with extracts.



BTW, the "cold unit" I use for lagering is a marine cooler (on end) with a rotating series of 2L soda bottles of ice. During the winter, I can keep the unit cold enough with 2 bottles on top of the fermenter and two recovering in the freezer.

Answer 3

This is a great time of year for Enghlish Bitters and other lighter ales. With more experience I suggest the real challenge of decoction mashing with 6-row to produce a Continental Pilsner. But for now the wheat beer is a great plan.



Brewing a wheat beer is not such a big deal but a Berliner Weisse can pose some problems. Many beers of this style use a very high barley to wheat ratio. The beers' best benefit from this is a great foam. But the mash can be gummy and this can result in a stuck mash. Certain beers are aided by use of rice husks in the grain bed to aid wort run-off Berliner Weisse is one of them. The other thing is to be sure to use a proper yeast strain. This top fermented wheat beer is aided with warmer fermentation temperatures and both the yeast and Lactobacillus fermentations. You want good ester production and the yeast is key to this. The above link to Wyeast labs have some good examples. You might also consider yeast blending with some Belgian sour beer strains.



White Labs



WLP300 Hefeweizen Ale Yeast

This famous German yeast is a strain used in the production of traditional, authentic wheat beers. It produces the banana and clove nose traditionally associated with German wheat beers and leaves the desired cloudy look of traditional German wheat beers.

Attenuation: 72-76%

Flocculation: Low

Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 68-72°F

Alcohol Tolerance: Medium



* WLP351 Bavarian Weizen Yeast

PLATINUM STRAIN – July/August

Former Yeast Lab W51 yeast strain, acquired from Dan McConnell. The description originally used by Yeast Lab still fits: "This strain produces a classic German-style wheat beer, with moderately high, spicy, phenolic overtones reminiscent of cloves."

Attenuation: 73-77%

Flocculation: Low

Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 66-70°F

Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

Answer 4

Since it is getting warmer I'd say brew something more tolerant of higher fermenting temps: wheat, wit, farmhouse, or (more radically), saison.



Berliner weisse is a specific substyle of wheats that requires souring bacteria; many folks that brew with "bugs" keep a second set of gear to use on them to avoid cross-contaminating their normal beers. I would say it's an advanced style.

Answer 5

Go with the summer beers Pils, wheats, and Helles. Good luck with the Berliner wheat it is a bit temperamental brew to make.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

Wheat beer is a great choice for summer. You might want to plan a heavy winter beer and brew it up by mid summer. Give it time to settle for great winter quaffing.

Answer 8

a nice cool wheat beer is always nice this time of year, a heffeweizen, or an IPA.

Answer 9

Which ever one you want!



My neighbor's boyfriend just brewed some Porter.

Answer 10

make a nice pale ale or a dry stout