Summer Lovin' American Wheat
Brewed: 6/9/2024 Kegged: 6/19/2024
National home-brew day was coming up, and I asked the Beer Model if she would like to brew a beer that day. She said "yes". I gave her some choices on what to brew and eventually, she decided on a beer like New Belgium Brewery's Sunshine Wheat.
Sunshine wheat is a light, crisp, easy drinking, refreshing American Wheat beer with a nice citrusy orange and coriander flavor and just a bit of a honey malt coming through.
The Beer Model decided she would like to call her beer "Summer Lovin'". That is better than any of the names I had come up with, so that is the name we went with.
I created the recipe for her using most of the ingredients from the New Belgium web-site, although I did take some liberties. Instead of carapils, I used some honey malt, which has worked real well for me in the past. I also used East Kent Goldings instead of Target hops, which really should not make a huge difference, especially since they only provide the bitterness. Just as with Sunshine Wheat, I will use coriander and orange zest for flavoring. Summer Loving Wheat may be a bit higher in alcohol than Sunshine, but not much.
This was SheppyBrew's first all-grain wheat batch.
The second batch was pretty much the same as the first one except I adjusted it to be slightly larger and made in the mash tun instead of BIAB. I also used Chinook hops and threw them in as a first wort hop rather than a traditional 60 minute addition.
Batch 3 was the same, except I got rid of the double infusion and adjusted the hops to match what I had in stock.
Batch 5 was the first done in my Anvil Foundry.
Batch 7 was a Big Brew Day brew at my friend Doc's house.
Batch 8 was my 2024 "June Seasonal" and back in the Foundry.
If you would like to read on the blog about brew day or other Summer Lovin' related content, follow this link.
If you would like to read on the blog about brew day or other Summer Lovin' related content, follow this link.
| Summer Lovin' Wheat --- Batch 8 (357) |
| Style | American Wheat Beer | Batch Size | 5.50 gal | |||
| Type | All Grain | Boil Size | 6.48 gal | |||
| Brewhouse Efficiency | 68.00 | Boil Time | 40 minutes |
Recipe Characteristics
| Recipe Gravity | 1.050 SG | Estimated FG | 1.009 SG | ||||
| Recipe Bitterness | 22.5 IBUs (Rager) | Alcohol by Volume | 5.5 % | ||||
| BU : GU | 0.447 | ||||||
| Recipe Color | 5.1 SRM |
|
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| Measured OG: | 1.048 | Measured FG: | 1.008 | ||||
| ADF: | 83 | Measured ABV: | 5.3 |
Ingredients
| Amt | Name | Type | # | %/IBU | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.79 gal | Denver, Colorado | Water | 1 | - | - |
| 4.00 g | Calcium Chloride (Mash) | Water Agent | 2 | - | - |
| 2.00 tsp | Lactic Acid (Mash) | Water Agent | 3 | - | - |
| 4 lbs 12.0 oz | Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) | Grain | 4 | 45.2 % | 0.37 gal |
| 4 lbs 12.0 oz | White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) | Grain | 5 | 45.2 % | 0.37 gal |
| 8.0 oz | Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) | Grain | 6 | 4.8 % | 0.04 gal |
| 0.500 oz | Magnum [14.40 %] - Boil 40.0 min | Hop | 7 | 22.5 IBUs | - |
| 1.00 Items | Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 mins) | Fining | 8 | - | - |
| 1.00 tsp | Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 mins) | Other | 9 | - | - |
| 8.0 oz | Honey [Primary] | Honey | 10 | 4.8 % | 0.04 gal |
| 1.0 pkg | Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] | Yeast | 11 | - | - |
| 2.00 oz | Orange Zest (Primary 5.0 days) | Flavor | 12 | - | - |
| 0.50 oz | Coriander Seed (Primary 7.0 days) | Spice | 13 | - | - |
Mash Profile
| Name | Description | Step Temperature | Step Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saccharification | Add 30.86 qt of water at 155.9 F | 150.0 F | 45 min |
| Heat | Heat to 156.0 F over 10 min | 156.0 F | 20 min |
If steeping, remove grains,
and prepare to boil wort
Water profile:
Ca=68,Mg=8,Na=21,SO4=51,Cl=89,HCO3=104
Lactic acid addition brings estimated pH from 5.8 to 5.3
Boil wort adding hops and yeast nutrient as specified. Add honey after the boil.
Cool to as close to 60 degrees as possible to pitch.
Ferment under 65 for a couple of days, then let heat up to about 70.
Add orange zest a couple days into fermentation.
Total fermenation time 2 weeks.
Keg and force carbonate. Drink when ready
Brewing Record
| Brew Date: | Strike Temp: | |||||
| Mash Temps: | ||||||
| Pre-boil OG | (1.043 SG) | Pre-boil Vol | (6.48 gal) | |||
| Actual Mash Efficiency | Pitch Temp | |||||
| Fermentation | ||||||
| Day 1: | ||||||
| Day ... | ||||||
| Day ... | ||||||
Brewing Notes
6/4/2024 Bought ingredients today. Planning on brewing Sunday.
6/9/2024 Brewed today. Mash before church. Boil after. Everything went well. OG a little low at 1.048, but I got more than 6 gallons in there. Tilt has the temp at 64F. Might need a bow off tube. We'll see how it looks tomorrow.
6/10/2024 Not a whole lot going on yet, but I do think it will be rocking soon. Tilt day 1.044 at 64.
6/11/2024 Bubbling away. Tilt says 1.029 at 70. Doesn't look like I'll need a blow-off tube.
6/12/2024 Still going strong with lots of krausen. Tilt says 1.019 at 71 degrees. Need to get some zest oranges.
6/13/2024 Still bubbling away, but slowing down and the krausen is starting to fall. Tilt says 1.012 at 70 degrees.
6/14/2024 Bubbling slowed WAY down, and the krausen is almost gone. Tilt says 1.009 at 69 degrees. Need to let it go at least a couple more days just to get it finished up. Also still need zesting oranges. But, can probably keg this early to mid next week.
6/17/2024 Nice and clear now. The wife got some zesting oranges over the weekend, so we are ready to keg anytime. Tilt says 1.008 at 68.
6/19/2024 Kegged. I had some issues with the zest, but I think I got about an ounce and a half in the keg in a muslin bag. Calling the FG 1.008. This puts the beer right at 5.3% ABV. Not getting a whole lot of orange flavor from the coriander, but the beer is pretty much what we've come to expect otherwise. Chilling in kegerator.
6/20/2024 Pretty well chilled, but not carbed yet. Can really taste the zest now. Nice little summer beer.
6/23/2024 Fruity. Subtle orange. Nice thirst quencher. Nice in the summer heat today. The Beer Model gave her endorsement. The beer from the growler (minus zest) is actually really clear. Interesting.
6/27/2024 Pouring really nice right now. Good carbonation without being too foamy. Great orange zest flavor.
7/7/2024 Getting pretty clear. Refreshing with nice orange flavor.
7/21/2024 Just a nice refreshing beer. Not too much of any component. Love the orange zest character in this beer.
7/28/2024 When Dunbroch kicked .25 into a pour I blended this in. Actually not too bad a combo.
8/8/2024 Nice gold beer. Orange. Refreshing.
8/15/2024 Checked into untappd. Nice simple refreshing wheat beer with orange zest accent. Beautiful clear gold color. Nice head.
8/24/2024 Really orangey.
9/8/2024 My wife (aka The SheppyBrew Beer Model) says "No More Summer Lovin'" ... So I guess it's gone. Nice while we had it.
6/4/2024 Bought ingredients today. Planning on brewing Sunday.
6/9/2024 Brewed today. Mash before church. Boil after. Everything went well. OG a little low at 1.048, but I got more than 6 gallons in there. Tilt has the temp at 64F. Might need a bow off tube. We'll see how it looks tomorrow.
6/10/2024 Not a whole lot going on yet, but I do think it will be rocking soon. Tilt day 1.044 at 64.
6/11/2024 Bubbling away. Tilt says 1.029 at 70. Doesn't look like I'll need a blow-off tube.
6/12/2024 Still going strong with lots of krausen. Tilt says 1.019 at 71 degrees. Need to get some zest oranges.
6/13/2024 Still bubbling away, but slowing down and the krausen is starting to fall. Tilt says 1.012 at 70 degrees.
6/14/2024 Bubbling slowed WAY down, and the krausen is almost gone. Tilt says 1.009 at 69 degrees. Need to let it go at least a couple more days just to get it finished up. Also still need zesting oranges. But, can probably keg this early to mid next week.
6/17/2024 Nice and clear now. The wife got some zesting oranges over the weekend, so we are ready to keg anytime. Tilt says 1.008 at 68.
6/19/2024 Kegged. I had some issues with the zest, but I think I got about an ounce and a half in the keg in a muslin bag. Calling the FG 1.008. This puts the beer right at 5.3% ABV. Not getting a whole lot of orange flavor from the coriander, but the beer is pretty much what we've come to expect otherwise. Chilling in kegerator.
6/20/2024 Pretty well chilled, but not carbed yet. Can really taste the zest now. Nice little summer beer.
6/23/2024 Fruity. Subtle orange. Nice thirst quencher. Nice in the summer heat today. The Beer Model gave her endorsement. The beer from the growler (minus zest) is actually really clear. Interesting.
6/27/2024 Pouring really nice right now. Good carbonation without being too foamy. Great orange zest flavor.
7/7/2024 Getting pretty clear. Refreshing with nice orange flavor.
7/21/2024 Just a nice refreshing beer. Not too much of any component. Love the orange zest character in this beer.
7/28/2024 When Dunbroch kicked .25 into a pour I blended this in. Actually not too bad a combo.
8/8/2024 Nice gold beer. Orange. Refreshing.
8/15/2024 Checked into untappd. Nice simple refreshing wheat beer with orange zest accent. Beautiful clear gold color. Nice head.
8/24/2024 Really orangey.
9/8/2024 My wife (aka The SheppyBrew Beer Model) says "No More Summer Lovin'" ... So I guess it's gone. Nice while we had it.