Orange American Hefeweizen II, 2008
Sunday, October 5th, 2008After brewing my first orange hefeweizen about two months ago I wanted to fine tune the recipe.
This time I used sterling hops instead of cascade to reduce the biterness. Some people mentioned it was pretty bitter (not a bad thing for me). I had originally set out to replicate the Eugene City Brewery’s Honey Orange Wheat, I thought that would be the next logical step. I also used half the amount of sweet orange peel. The results are closer, but this beer still has way too much flavor. To replicate ECB’s beer, I would need to cut the hops in half again, and probably cut the orange in half too.
One thing I have noticed about both times using coriander, after about 75 days the flavor really starts to settle down. I think these beers were better when they were the freshest. It could also have been oxygen taint. That said, this beer is ready to drink in about 4 weeks!
I brought a growler jug (64 oz) to a party and it was gone in 45 minutes with people asking for more. It is a beer that non beer drinkers can try a little of and enjoy.
| Target Volume (Gallons) | 5 | |||
| Total Cost | $38.32 | |||
| Yield (ounces) | 620 | |||
| Cost per 12 oz bottle | $0.74 | |||
| Boil Time | 60 | min | ||
| GRAINS | Pounds | Points/Gal | Total Points | Cost |
| Extra Light DME 60/40 wheat | 6 | 46 | 276 | $18.00 |
| Honey – Wild Flowers, Oregon | 1 | 35 | 35 | $4.32 |
| Steep – 30 min at 150 F | ||||
| Honey Malt, Domestic | 0.5 | 28 | 14 | $0.80 |
| Sweet Orange Peels – 1/2oz (10 minutes) | $1.00 | |||
| Coriander – 1 oz crushed, (10 minutes) | $1.00 | |||
| HOPS | Ounces | Alpha Acids | Boil Time (min) | Cost |
| Sterling/Saaz | 1 | 5.00% | 60 | $4.00 |
| Sterling/Saaz | 1 | 5.00% | 10 | |
| YEAST | White Labs American Hefeweizen Ale | Cost | ||
| Attenuation Low | 70% | $6.95 | ||
| Attenuation High | 75% | |||
| Optimum Temp | 65-68F | |||
| Flocculation | Low | |||
| Starter | No | |||
| STATS | ||||
| Expected Original Gravity | 1.065 | |||
| Expected Final Gravity Theoretical | 1.016 – 1.02 | |||
| Expected Final Gravity Actual | 1.014 – 1.017 | |||
| IBUs | 15.71 | |||
| Apparent Attenuation | 75.44% | AA = 1 – FG / OG | ||
| Alcohol By Volume – Theoretical | 6.69% | |||
| Alcohol By Volume – Potential | 5.64% | |||
| BREWING: | Squeezed out hops bags medium | |||
| ½ tbs Irish Moss at start of boil | $0.10 | |||
| Used wort chiller for 1st time! | ||||
| Water Source Wort | Filtered water – 3 gallons | |||
| Water Source Dilution | Filtered water | |||
| DATES | Date | SG | Cum. Days | Notes |
| Brewed | 07/15/08 | 1.057 | 0 | |
| Racked | 07/22/08 | 1.028 | 7 | Lost some beer due to jostling carboy, got a lot of yeast uptake |
| Bottled (SG pre bottling) | 08/06/08 | 1.014 | 22 | Late bottling due to continued airlock activity |
| OK TO DRINK BY (40 days): | 08/24/08 | |||
| OK TO DRINK BY (50 days): | 09/03/08 | |||
| BOTTLING | ||||
| Priming Method | 6 oz Corn Sugar | $0.40 | ||
| Caps, cleaners, etc | $1.75 | |||
| Container | Capacity | Qty | Total Volume | |
| Lagunitas | 22 | 12 | 264 | |
| Half Liter (Deutsch) | 17 | 0 | 0 | |
| Bottle | 12 | 19 | 228 | |
| Mini-keg | 169 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jug | 64 | 2 | 128 | |
| Total Bottled: | 620 | |||
| TASTING | ||||
| 08/12/08 | 28 | Very fragrant of oranges, not bitter at all, but starting to develop some body after early bottles. | ||
| 08/28/08 | 44 | Citrus and slight orange flavor still present, very soft biterness. Holds head. | ||
| 09/14/08 | 54 | Citrus and slight orange flavor still present, very soft biterness. Holds head. | ||
4 Responses to “Orange American Hefeweizen II, 2008”
I will be using an extra pound of rice solides to pump up the alchol content. Let ya know how it turns out.. looks like a tasty recipe.
By Rick on Nov 19, 2008
Have fun! I’d reduce the priming sugar to 4oz, since there is a lot of yeast in suspension (Hefeweizen yeast does that), you won’t have any problem getting carbonation.
By Larry on Nov 19, 2008
Hi Larry,
This recipe was posted a while ago and I’m recently getting into brewing. So pardon if I ask dumb questions. You mention ‘steeping’ wild flower honey. Do you add that to 150 degree water for 30 minutes to dissolve? I associate steeping with something I can remove. When do you add the DME? Also, the honey malt, is that steeped during the boil? The orange peel and coriander for 10min. Is that steeped the last 10 minutes of boil? or 10min during what point? Not sure what you meant by squeezing the hops. Last but not least, I can just target my water to yield 5g when I start primary?
Thanks in advanced for your answers. Like I mentioned I recently am getting into this and am learning a lot. It’s fun and the rewards are tasty.
Cheers,
Noah
By Noah on Feb 16, 2010
I was adding the honey before the boil, that’s all. I suppose it could also be added in the last 5 minutes for extra flavor, as most of the honey-ness will be boiled off and you will be left with just the sugars.
DME, I add half at the beginning of the boil, and half at the last 10 minutes.
Honey malt is steeped prior to boil with a grain bag for 30 minutes, then removed before the boil starts.
The orange peel and coriander added to the last 10 minutes of the boil, using a small hops bag.
Squeezing the hops just means pulling it out after the boil and getting all the juices out of it. It is VERY hot at this point, I used to big kitchen spoons or spatulas. I’d just skip that step. There is enough flavor in the batch anyway.
Yes, target your water for 5 gallons, accounting for boil off.
Have fun brewing!!
By Larry on Feb 20, 2010