Whirlpool Wheat

Welcome back to Off The Hinge Brewing!  Tonight is the night the Portland U-Brew Collective is meeting up.  We are a group of home brewers that get together and share our most recent creations or our cellared beers.  We charge no fees for membership and our goal is to share information with each other.  We have a guest speaker/brewmaster tonight from Occidental Brewing (http://www.occidentalbrewing.com/).  I am really excited to learn some new stuff!  I will be bringing my 'End of The World Stout' and 'Lapsang Smoked Vanilla Porter.'  I brewed the Stout in November, it was comprised of Mayan Chocolate and Chipotle powder.  I will highlight the evening in my next post!

Another quick update, last night I dry hopped the Imperial IPA.  I am a bit unhinged, the Cascade hops I was about to use smelled of sweaty socks.  That scent made me turn to the Fuggles, which have a nice aroma of wood and fruit.  I don't know much, but do not use hops that smell of sock or cheese (unless the recipe calls for it).  I checked the gravity too, and well it is the same.  It looks as if the ADF will be 76.4%.  I thought about adding some simple sugars to dry it out a touch more, however I am going with my gut and letting it be.

Lastly, I decided to brew a wheat beer!  I wanted to break away from styles I normally brew.  Get out of my comfort zone.  I also have a touch of Spring fever and want something a bit lighter.  I have always enjoyed the Bavarian Weisse Style, however I am addicted to the American hop character.  I decided on the American Wheat, which is quite similar to the Bavarian Style with more of that good ole' fashion West Coast taste.

According to BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog, wheat lacks key nutrients and enzymes for proper sugar conversion during mashing.  This info helped me decide on my grain bill, which includes, 4 1/2 lbs. of Pale Malt 2-row (this will help provide the proper nutrients and enzymes), 4 lbs. of Torrified Wheat, 1/2 lb. of Carafoam (helps with head retention), and 3 oz. of Carawheat (to add some color).

I have had luck in the past with single hopped beers, and wanted to try it out again.  Mosaic (HBC369) is a new strain and the daughter to Simcoe.  The profile includes, earthy, grassy, herbal, citrus, blueberries, cedar, tropical, spice, and stonefruit.  It is an aroma hop, yet it could be used for bittering and flavor.  The Alpha acids are around 12%.  It has a low cohumulone percentage, which is a plus.  Cohumulone is an alpha acid that contributes a harsh undesired bitterness.

I am using Wyeast's 1010 American Wheat strain.  I made a starter last night and it is bubbling away!  This strain has a low flocculation, which means that the yeast have trouble settling or dropping out.  This causes cloudiness in the beer, however wheat beer tends to be cloudy and it is not considered a flaw.  The attenuation is around 74 - 78%, this tells one how much the sugars are being converted during fermentation.  A high attenuation will dry out the beer.  The profile of this strain is dry, slightly tart and crisp.

No more time to write, must brew!  Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.
Prost!

Um Beer...(Homer Simpson)