In the Fermentor: Wheatwine

Wheatwines are a style that I've just started looking into. I've only a had a couple of them and that was enough to pique my interest.

For my brew, I've decided to to take what's essentially a Hefeweizen on steroids grain-bill, toss in some CaraWheat malt for a touch of sweetness and then hop it to American Barleywine levels with American hops. A clean Ale yeast, plus the high bitterness will make sure no one mistakes this creation for a Weizenbock.

Since my canning pot setup doesn't allow for huge amounts of grain, I've taken the partial-mash approach and added Malt Extract to push up the Original Gravity. Although it feels a little odd brewing a big beer in August, something this strong needs at least 3-4 months to mature. I'll be back around Thanksgiving with a final report.

Here's the five gallon brew:

Grains:
8 lbs Rahr White Wheat
4 lbs Rahr Pale Ale
8 oz Weyermann CaraWheat

Hops:
1 oz Galena (13.4% a.a.): 60 min
1 oz Falconer's Flight 7 C's (9.9% a.a.): 20 min
1 oz Falconer's Flight 7 C's (9.9% a.a.): 5 min

Extras:
3 lbs Briess Bavarian Wheat LME

Total Boil Time:
60 min

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 - American Ale

Mash Schedule:
Protein Rest: 125 for 20 min
Saccharification Rest: 151F for 60 min
Mashout: 168F for 15 minutes

Original Gravity:
1.092
Estimated Final Gravity:
1.023

IBU: 70
SRM Color: 11

Fermentation Schedule:
2 Week Primary
2 Months Secondary
2 Weeks Bottle Conditioning

Cost: $19 per case

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