2016 Orange Summer Wheat Ale

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One of the better brews during the “early” stage of my homebrewing career was an orange wheat ale. Inspired by Hangar 24’s offering, my overall recollection is that I got some nice orange flavor into the mix. I would like to make this again, but with the massive changes in my brewing techniques (particularly the switch to all-grain), I needed a nearly complete reformulation. I’m also adjusting the recipe for the hops I have on-hand.

It’s still a fairly simple recipe, and one that I hope turns out well. My other experimental change this time is to modify the way I handle the oranges. In the previous batches, the whole oranges (crushed) went into the fermenter along with the zest. For this iteration of the recipe, I’m going to soak the zest in vodka and add it at kegging.

2016 Orange Summer Wheat Ale

  • 5.75 lbs. white wheat malt
  • 2.5 lbs. 2-row malt (Great Western Malting Co.)
  • 0.5 lbs. 10° L crystal malt
  • 0.25 lbs. rice hulls
  • 1.25 oz. Mt. Hood hops pellets (5.75% alpha, 30 minute boil)
  • 1 pkg. American Hefeweizen Ale yeast (White Labs WLP320), prepared in 1.25 L starter
  • Zest of 3 medium to large oranges (1 navel, 2 Valencia), steeped in a few ounces of vodka
Procedure
  • The day before brewing, I made a starter of 1.25L water and 125 g of light DME. I added the yeast culture, and let it run for around 20 hours.
  • I mashed in with 3.6 gallons of water at 164.5°, to hit a mash temperature of 152°. The temperature was down to 149.5° after 40 minutes.
  • After 60 minutes, I added 1.25 gallons of water at 185°, which raised the mash temperature to 154°. I let it sit for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected the first runnings. Then, I added 3.75 gallons of water at 190°, and a little ice to cool the mash down, and got a temperature of 165°. I let it sit for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected the rest of the runnings.
  • All told, I collected 6.9 gallons of wort with a gravity of 1.036. This equates to 74% mash efficiency.
  • I started the boil, and added the hops after 30 minutes. After 60 minutes total, I turned off the heat and chilled the beer to 72°. I pitched the yeast and sealed the fermenter.
  • Starting gravity was 1.043, with 5.5 gallons into the fermenter. Fermentation had taken off within 12 hours. Because my fermentation chamber was currently on hold for lagering, I am fermenting this beer at ambient temperature. This means the brew is about 68°, give or take a degree.
  • I brewed this up on Monday, February 9.

3P Kegged

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After 11 days at 65°, my pre-Prohibition pilsner is down to a final gravity of 1.008. This equates to 5.5% abv and 83% attenuation. The low mash temperature definitely did the trick for drying out the beer! On Saturday, January 30, I dropped the temperature down to 40°, and on Sunday dropped it again to 35°. This evening (Sunday, January 31), I kegged the beer. I am fining it with 3/4 tsp. of gelatin in 1/2 cup of water, mixed in with the beer. I’m force-carbonating and lagering at a temperature of 34°.

The beer has cleaned up pretty nicely, although is still pretty hazy. I expect the gelatin should take care of that in short order. I can definitely pick up the corn in the grist, as expected for a beer in the American pilsner style.

3P Update

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I checked the gravity for Dad’s Pre-Prohibition Pilsner on Sunday, January 17. At this point, it was down to 1.018, from 1.051. This puts the beer at around 64% apparent attenuation (and 4.3% abv), so it’s time to start ramping up the temperature. The temperature at this point was around 52°. For the first 12 hours, I just let it free rise in the fermentation chamber. The next morning (January 18), it was at 55°. I then put my heating pad in the chamber, and set it at 60°. By that evening, it was at the desired temperature. I then gave it the final bump up to 65°, which it had reached by the morning of January 19.

Per the guidance from Brulosophy, I will leave it at this temperature for four to 10 days. I’ll probably do a check next weekend.

The beer is a quite pale straw color, and pretty hazy yet (not surprising). The krausen was ridiculously rocky on it–I suppose it’s a product of the grains plus the yeast strain. I am a bit surprised that I don’t pick up any really obvious off-flavors (e.g., diacetyl), but perhaps that is just my bad palate.

Jarrylo Session IPA Kegged

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Tonight (10 January 2016) I kegged my Jarrylo Session IPA, which has been fermenting for 11 days. The yeast had dropped very clear, and the beer had a malty flavor (all that Munich!) with a rather subdued bitterness. I’d probably place it in the pale ale rather than than IPA category. Nonetheless, it’s shaping up nicely!

Final gravity is 1.017, down from 1.047, for 3.9% abv. I added the dry hops (weighted down with two stainless steel washers–I note that three would probably be advisable, as the bag didn’t really sink as much as I’d hoped!). I’ll be force carbonating, and hopefully can let it go at least a week before tapping.