Chrome Wheel Weissbier

This is a 1999 BJCP style 17a beer.

Recipe: Bavarian Weizen
Volume: 5 gallons
Dates:

Brew date: Aug 10, 2003
Transfer to secondary: Aug 16, 2003
Bottling: Aug 27, 2003

Ingredients:

Water source: basement utility sink filtered dispenser
Yeast: White Labs WLP300 Hefeweizen Ale (pitchable vial)

Grain bill

	Potential sg pppg	Points per gal
5 1/2 lbs Weyermann pale wheat malt 2 lbs Briess pale 2-row malt 2 lb Weyermann Vienna malt	1.039 1.037 1.035	214.50 74.00 70.00
	Ideal: Pre-boil: Target:	358.50 358.50 358.50	/ 5 gal = 71.7 >>> 1.072 * 70% / 6 gal = 41.8 >>> 1.042 * 70% / 5 gal = 50.2 >>> 1.050

Hops

1/2 oz German Spalt Select hops - bittering - 5.6% avg alpha Utilization: 60 minutes @ 1.042 = 25%	*IBU = 0.5 5.6 * 25 * 0.75 / 5 = 10.5**
1/2 oz German Tettnanger hops - flavor - 5.8% avg alpha Utilization: 20 minutes @ 1.042 = 15.1%	*IBU = 0.5 5.8 * 15.1 * 0.75 / 5 = 6.6**
1 oz German Hallertauer Mittlefrueh whole hops - aroma - 5.2% avg alpha Utilization: 5 minutes @ 1.042 = 5%	*IBU = 1 5.2 * 5 * 0.75 / 5 = 3.9**
	Total IBU = 21

Other

1/2 teaspoon Irish Moss
20 minutes 2 teaspoons gypsum
beginning of mash

Activity Log

Yeast Starter:

About 24 hrs before brew, boiled 2 oz of pale malt extract in 20 oz of water in flask for 10 minutes. Cooled in cold water bath in small pot. Pitched vial of yeast and fitted stopper and airlock.

Mash/Lauter/Sparge:

Added gypsum to 2 1/2 gallons of 140 f water and infused onto grain. Mashed at 126 f for 20 minutes. Added 1 1/2 gallons of 185 f water to mash and adjusted temperature with burner to mash at 152 f for 40 minutes. Scooped into lauter tun, recirculating until relatively clear. Sparged with 170 f water until sparge stuck at about 3 gallons of run-off. Poured grainbed back into pot, cleared screen and then recirculated again. Sparged with 170 f water until run-off reached 6 gallons

Boil:

Boiled through first break then added bittering hops. Boiled for 40 minutes then added flavoring hops and Irish Moss. Boiled for 15 more minutes then added aroma hops. Added cooling coil for the last 10 minutes of the 60 minute boil to sterilize. Cooled to ~75 f and siphoned to fermenter taking a reading of 1.061, with a volume of only about 4 gallons. Added about a gallon of water to the fermenter to bring OG reading to 1.050 which means that ~70% conversion was achieved. Aerated by rocking carboy on folded towel and pitched yeast starter. Fitted with stopper and airlock and put on fermenting bench.

Fermentation:

The temperature of the carboy on the fermenting bench is ~69 f.
Observations of primary stage (7 PM start):

12 hours: 3/4 to 1 inch "rounded" foam, 2 bubbles per second
24 hours: foam entirely filled the carboy and began to clog the airlock! It was periodically hissing and spitting when I checked it, so I quickly arranged a blowoff tube. I placed the carboy on the basement floor to lower the temperature a bit. In between blowing pieces of foam out of the tubing into the water, there was a steady, uncountable stream of bubbles.
36 hours: back to 1 inch foam. Replaced blowoff tube with airlock, 1/2 bubble per second
60 hours: 1 inch foam, 1/4 bubble per second, temperature stable at ~67 f
84 hours: 1 inch foam, 1/5 bubble per second
108 hours: 3/4 inch foam, 1/7 bubble per second
132 hours: 3/4 inch foam, 1/10 bubble per second

Transferred to 5 gallon carboy and fitted stopper and airlock at 132 hours. Took SG reading of 1.013. Observations of secondary stage:

168 hours: 3/4 inch coarse foam, 1/9 bubble per second
204 hours: scattered small to large bubbles, 1/35 bubble per second
240 hours: patchy small bubbles on surface, one bubble every couple of minutes

Bottling:

Siphoned two 2 liter bottles 4/5 full, squeezed the air out and forced carbonated. Took FG reading of 1.009 which puts the alcohol content at about 5.2% ABV. Boiled 4 oz of corn sugar in 2 cups of water for 5 minutes and placed in bottling bucket. Siphoned from secondary into bottling bucket then filled and capped 39 12 oz bottles plus one half filled bottle.

See Chrome Wheel Weissbier labels here.

Results:

I took one of the 2 liter bottles to the August UKG meeting. Among many good comments, the repetitive one was, "Nice banana esters and clove phenols, a nice balanced beer."

This beer won second place in its category at the 2003 Spooky Brew Review competition held by CBS at Govnor's Public House in Lake of the Hills, IL.