zeit!weizen german wheat
brewed: 23/11/13
pitched: 05/12/13
bottled: 09/12/13
subsequent batch info: no plans
ingredients:
2.5kg german wheat malt
1.2kg weyermann premium pilsner
0.25kg joe white munich 1
25gm hallertau (pellets, 3.5 aa%, 60 mins)
250.00 ml weihenstephan weizen (wyeast #3068)
1.0 tablet whirlfloc
process:
40L split-batch with martin, single infusion, batch sparge, mash in 67C for 60 mins, no-chill, 18C fermentation, 2C cold crash
OG: 1.050 (1.044 expected)
FG: 1.010 (1.010 expected)
%AbV: 5.5% (5.0% expected - 6.0% bottled)
australian standard drinks (1 x 370mL glass): 1.8
ibu: 12.5
brewing notes:
23/11/13 - great brew day today. split a batch of wheat beer with martin; just because. was my first foray into wheat beers. this recipe is a little different from many common wheats that use 50% wheat and 50% pilsner malts. ours is 63ish% wheat, pilsner and some munich in there to add some extra complexity. this was martin's idea as all the ones that have won awards seem to include a measure of munich in the ingredients and many traditional german wheats have a higher wheat ratio.
the zeit!weizen is the base beer for 4 different german wheat variants that martin and myself made. i was to make a traditional german wheat, and then also cold crash a few bottles to let some of the yeast sink out. so i have also made a kristalweizen, which is a german wheat with the yeast dropped out so it's a lot clearer. martin was to make the regular weizen and add a raspberry addition to his second batch.
yes! this is another bowie beer. the name zeit!weizen comes from zeit! which was the name for the re-release for his famous berlin trilogy albums - low, heroes, and lodger. he made these albums in germany, and this beer is german in nature. coincidence?!?!?!! the similarities are uncanny! excited for this one.
05/12/13 - pitched this one this morning! will be my last pitch i daresay before the new year but who knows. very excited to see how this one turns out. this yeast is a beast. pitched about double the yeast accidentally so this thing blew up and went mental in the fridge.
08/12/13 - looks like it's finished, tested today and it's now at 1.010 after 3 days. incredible. going to test it tomorrow and see where it's come along to. perhaps it's time to bottle. had a quick taste and it's VERY yeasty. hopefully this isn't because of using too much.
tasting notes:
17/12/13 - she's not too bad! very spritzy as wheat beers should be. perhaps a little too yeasty but that's how the style is. the weihenstephan yeast is a very signature tasting yeast and is there in abundance. i do like it, it's not my favourite style of beer but i do like it. i'll be interested in tasting the less in-your-face kristalweizen version and martin's raspberry version soon!
21/12/13 - had a first taste of the cold crashed version and DAMN. just the right amount of yeast character for me. not overly-bearing but very very tasty. i think i prefer the kristalweizen style more so than the straight out yeasty un-cold crashed style.
* formula from: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/alcohol/publishing.nsf/Content/standard
brew pics: