2026 Quarter 3 Community Recipe

[Brew Cat]

No, BIAB certainly doesn’t mean I cannot decoct, my laziness does. I’ll take your word for it that Melanoidin replaces the need for it anyway. Check.
My reasoning for open fermentation is to reduce the pressure buildup on the yeast which *might* allow for more yeast flavors to develop. I have no idea if this is true but it’s what I’ve read. I ferment all of my Farmhouse/Saisons with just the blowoff run into the sink. No liquid is necessary. It’s more of a pseudo open fermentation. If my fermenter had more headspace, I would just cover it with a piece of foil for a few days. Not sure either way makes a difference since they are technically not closed. Once fermentation begins to slow, that’s when I’ll close up with an airlock.

if you do open ferment you would scoop out some braun hefe to simulate the O2 ingress of the reall thing and also get the dead and dying yeast out of your wort which you don't want to do with a heffenwiezen since you are going for the yeast esters
I believe in theory anyway

 

[Donoroto]

Once there is a krausen, chance of infection is very low.
I think dead yeast sinks.

 

[Brew Cat]

Once there is a krausen, chance of infection is very low.
I think dead yeast sinks.

Correct

 

[Brew Cat]

 

[Sandy Feet]

Banana will always predominate. Clove is always in the background at best. More banana? Ferment at 66.

3068 and the dry yeast deliver somewhat muted results. But wlp300 is around $20 a bag, nearly matching the cost of the grain. Others make hefe yeasts, and they are unique: any other yeast will not taste as much like a hefe.

Biab does not preclude a decoction: if you can see the wort and malt, you can scoop some out into a big pot. But the melanoidin replaces the decoction’s effects: don’t decoct if using melanoidin!

Boiling it down to syrup is not decoction. This style will suffer from that.

Open fermentation is a thing, but since the precise yeast strain is the key, I recommend as closed a fermentation as you can manage. Open fermentations depend of the ‘desired’ yeast being in the environment already (Google ‘yeast ring’).

The end of a blowoff tube should be submerged in liquid. It doesn’t have to be star-san, but that’s what I use. But set the liquid level such that any reverse flow will draw air and not liquid into the fermenter: the volume of that tube needs to be larger than the volume of liquid covering the end.

Watch the dates on the 300. I have done two batches with it. Both of them were a month to the good with dates, but started very, very slowly. I'm barely getting some activity now, and I pitched at 3pm yesterday. I know once it gets going it will be a monster, but it is taking its sweet time. I running over 68 in the fridge right now too.
I'm doing a Dunkelweizen this batch, but I did use 1/2 lb rice hulls in the bag, and my efficiency was a little more normal to what I expected this time vs. the Hefe.
My Hefe was an efficiency shit show. The recipe I tried for the Hefe was much more simple than Don's, so I really want to hear what happens with the Munich, etc. added. I think I mashed at 149 with the Hefe and 150 with the Dunkleweizen.

 

[Craigerrr]

The yeast is not the easiest for me to obtain, planning to brew this weekend, so this Hefe will get pushed back until I figure that out

 

[Donoroto]

Any dry Hefe yeast will do, but some are better than others.

 

[Craigerrr]

OBK has the 006, will ask my LHBS to order it in for me, but I need to give them more than a few days notice

 

[Zefram]

I've not made a wheat-based beer in a while, so I'm excited to give this a go. Any input on Lallemand Munich Classic as a dry yeast option? It supposedly has a balance between banana and clove if the temperature is mid- to upper- 60s (which might be a challenge this time of year!).

 

[Brew Cat]

I've not made a wheat-based beer in a while, so I'm excited to give this a go. Any input on Lallemand Munich Classic as a dry yeast option? It supposedly has a balance between banana and clove if the temperature is mid- to upper- 60s (which might be a challenge this time of year!).

The Munich Classic is a very good wheat beer yeast
It's my go to for what it's worth
In a pinch I've used wb-06 and many others
Your process is more important

 

[Brew Cat]

By the way I'm just finishing up a Schneider Weisse recipe using Munich Classic open fermented
Took off within 12hrs had a nice white pillow on top at 67F

 

[Donoroto]

I've not made a wheat-based beer in a while, so I'm excited to give this a go. Any input on Lallemand Munich Classic as a dry yeast option? It supposedly has a balance between banana and clove if the temperature is mid- to upper- 60s (which might be a challenge this time of year!).

I’m a fan. As I mentioned, the flavors will be slightly more muted than what you might get from a liquid yeast, but for the most part, it’s not a huge difference.

 

[Zefram]

The Munich Classic is a very good wheat beer yeast
It's my go to for what it's worth
In a pinch I've used wb-06 and many others
Your process is more important

Thanks. I'm trying to figure out how to do the decoction bit with my setup. I do batch sparge with a cooler normally, but I'm thinking of dropping my mesh bag in the brew kettle so I can add heat according to the schedule (according to their site, as long as the brew bag isn't sitting on the bottom of the kettle if should be fine). I've never really done anything like that, but wanna try it... experimenting is half the fun, right?

 

[Josh Hughes]

Thanks. I'm trying to figure out how to do the decoction bit with my setup. I do batch sparge with a cooler normally, but I'm thinking of dropping my mesh bag in the brew kettle so I can add heat according to the schedule (according to their site, as long as the brew bag isn't sitting on the bottom of the kettle if should be fine). I've never really done anything like that, but wanna try it... experimenting is half the fun, right?

Scoop out a third (or less if you have to) and put in another pot you can take to the kitchen. Bring to a boil while stirring. Let boil 5-10 without scorching and pour back in.

 

[Zefram]

Scoop out a third (or less if you have to) and put in another pot you can take to the kitchen. Bring to a boil while stirring. Let boil 5-10 without scorching and pour back in.

Sounds easy enough. So if the recipe says initial rest for 20 min and then a second rest for 25, what's the best way to handle the timing of bringing that "scoop" to a boil? Do you do the initial 20 min, pull the mash and boil (guessing that's about 15-20 minutes), add back in, then go the full 25 min after that? It seems like the 75 min mash (including the final rest) would be more like 115 min... no harm in that?

Sorry if these are dumb questions... I don't mind tinkering to learn, but I don't want to ruin a whole batch on something that should be obvious.

 

[Craigerrr]

Took the day off to have a bit of fun, visit a brewery for lunch and a pint, then off to my LHBS to pick up some items I am low on and what I need for this one.
For simplicity I will use WB-06 as it is readily available.
I will be brewing one before I get to this, going to rebrew @Hawkbox 's IPA, my friends gushed over how good it was.
Expect to get to this one towards the end of August.

 

[Josh Hughes]

Sounds easy enough. So if the recipe says initial rest for 20 min and then a second rest for 25, what's the best way to handle the timing of bringing that "scoop" to a boil? Do you do the initial 20 min, pull the mash and boil (guessing that's about 15-20 minutes), add back in, then go the full 25 min after that? It seems like the 75 min mash (including the final rest) would be more like 115 min... no harm in that?

Sorry if these are dumb questions... I don't mind tinkering to learn, but I don't want to ruin a whole batch on something that should be obvious.

Extra time is just part of it with a decoction.

You can really do it however. I typically do a decoction after it has had a beta rest. When I’ve done a double I did after putting the decoction portion back in and hit next rest. Anything you do will/can have an effect.

I’m not sure @Donoroto ‘s decoction steps for this one. A small decoction at each step is my plan on this one.

 

[Donoroto]

Sounds easy enough. So if the recipe says initial rest for 20 min and then a second rest for 25, what's the best way to handle the timing of bringing that "scoop" to a boil? Do you do the initial 20 min, pull the mash and boil (guessing that's about 15-20 minutes), add back in, then go the full 25 min after that? It seems like the 75 min mash (including the final rest) would be more like 115 min... no harm in that?

Sorry if these are dumb questions... I don't mind tinkering to learn, but I don't want to ruin a whole batch on something that should be obvious.

No harm in a longer mash.
Decoctions were (and are) used to raise the mash temperature to the next step.

 

[Donoroto]

Extra time is just part of it with a decoction.

You can really do it however. I typically do a decoction after it has had a beta rest. When I’ve done a double I did after putting the decoction portion back in and hit next rest. Anything you do will/can have an effect.

I’m not sure @Donoroto ‘s decoction steps for this one. A small decoction at each step is my plan on this one.

I use melanoidin malt, so decoction is not needed. And an AIO, so step mashes are automated. I start at 105 and walk away for 2-1/2 hours…

 

[Donoroto]

Sounds easy enough. So if the recipe says initial rest for 20 min and then a second rest for 25, what's the best way to handle the timing of bringing that "scoop" to a boil? Do you do the initial 20 min, pull the mash and boil (guessing that's about 15-20 minutes), add back in, then go the full 25 min after that? It seems like the 75 min mash (including the final rest) would be more like 115 min... no harm in that?

Sorry if these are dumb questions... I don't mind tinkering to learn, but I don't want to ruin a whole batch on something that should be obvious.

Oh, and those times are minimums. Longer does no harm (but does no good either).