Honey Orange Wheat

[ibwahooka]

Hey all,
Here is the recipe that I'm making for my wife and father-in-law for Thanksgiving. I will be updating it in about a week when I attempt to make it NA.

Shawn's Honey Orange Wheat
5 gals water
3.3 lbs Briess Bavarian Wheat Malt Extract
3.3 lbs Briess Golden Light Malt Extract
1.5 lbs South Carolina Wildflower Honey
1 oz Sweet Orange Peel
1/2 oz Perle Hops
1/2 oz Perle Hops
1 Packet Brewers Yeast

Bring 1.5 gallons of water to boil, remove from heat and add Bavarian Wheat and Golden Light malt extract. Add honey and stir vigorously to mix. Return and bring to boil; allow to boil with no sweet orange peel or hops for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes add sweet orange peel and continue boiling for additional 15 minutes.

Add 1/2 oz of Perle Hops and boil for additional 20 minutes. Remove from heat. In primary fermenter add 3 gals of cold water, then filter hot wort through strainer or similiar to remove any big bits. When wort reaches between 75-80 degrees, aerate thoroughly and add yeast to the foam that is created.

Cover and add airlock and let sit for 5-7 days.

To be continued.....

-Shawn

 

[STLBrewer]

I would not add the orange peel until there is only 5 - 10 minutes left in the TOTAL boil. Boiling for longer than that will most likely drive off the aroma, some flavor and add an unwanted bitterness from any of the pith that may have made it's way into the batch.

Just my two cents...

 

[ibwahooka]

I was trying to go for a little stronger flavor of orange since I have to reboil when I try to get rid of the alcohol. Wish I would have known that earlier.

DOH!

Shawn

 

[STLBrewer]

Well, when you re-boil...add more orange peel (after a taste test, of course) toward the end of that boil (or right at flame out) and you may be happy with the results!

When adding anything that can be considered a spice to a beer, there are three timelines that are important...bitterness, flavor, aroma. They break down a little like this (in a total one hour boil):

60 - 30 minutes is for bittering (little to flavor or aroma added)
25 - 15 minutes is for flavor (adds little bitterness and little to no aroma)
10 - 0 minutes is for aroma (adds little to no bitterness and little flavor)

You can also add ingredients to secondary, just like a mead...unless you plan on re-boiling like you are. That would probably change the game plan a little on the secondary "dry" additions...

 

[ibwahooka]

Well Josh, I just took it off the boil and it smells like it has a very nice orange flavor to it. I'm going to let it ferment for a week before I rack to the secondary and I will take a small taste test then and see what it tastes like. I may add just a little more orange to secondary if need be.

-Shawn

 

[STLBrewer]

Sounds like you may have done just fine, then! I hope all turns out well with it and keep us posted.

It sounds like an overall sound recipe that I may have to borrow if yours turns out good!!

 

[ibwahooka]

I will let you know in about a week then.

-Shawn

 

[ibwahooka]

So, here's an update on the beer.

Racked into a secondary tonight and also got a chance to taste it. So far this is a really light crisp beer with undertones of honey and orange to it. The color is a very light amber and the honey and orange are definitely not overpowering. My wife should be really happy with this batch.

I think next time I will not make this batch NA and brew the hops in all at once though.

-Shawn

 

[ibwahooka]

Ok so here's what I did.

I put the brew back into my brew pot and got the temperature up to 180 degrees for 15 minutes. At the 15 minute mark I added in my last 1/2 oz of hops to ensure a good flavor to the beer. After 15 more minutes I pulled out my hops bag and let the brew "boil" for another 15 minutes. So a total of 45 minutes to help boil off the alcohol.

I removed from the heat and allowed the brew to cool. It probably took another 45 minutes before the temperature dropped below the alcohol boiling point, so 90 minutes of total alcohol boil off time. I let it sit overnight to help cool down the brew so I could prime it properly.

Checked the color of the brew and it is a beautiful amber color with strong smell of honey and orange. Although the taste currently is slightly orange and honey it is a beautiful wheat beer.

I primed the beer with 5 oz. of clover honey to complete the taste of the beer and added a packet of brewers yeast. I wasn't quite sure how much yeast to use, so I will just watch the first couple of glasses for sediment. I will update in 24-48 hours to see if I achieved priming the beer or not. BTW I kegged all 4.5 gallons of the brew, so no sharing this time.

-Shawn

 

[ibwahooka]

Finally got the brew into the kegerator and it is primed and ready to drink. Now I just have to try it out!

Will post results after dinner tonight.

-SHawn

 

[ibwahooka]

Ok so here's my thoughts. It does taste like a very good wheat beer with tones of orange and honey in it. It tastes like there is still a little bit of alcohol left over, but I'm going to get some other opinions before I put my final thoughts on if I achieved non-alcoholicness.

 

[ibwahooka]

Small update. Had about four glasses last night and I think the ABV was about 1-2%. Success!

 

[dr9]

Question:

What if you don't boil the extract, but simmer it at 180 for an hour?

 

[Hethen57]

Sounds like a great beer recipe...would this recipe make a regular alcoholic beer (that doesn't sound good ;D...but you know what I mean) if you didn't do the secondary boil-off?

 

[ibwahooka]

Sounds like a great beer recipe...would this recipe make a regular alcoholic beer (that doesn't sound good ;D...but you know what I mean) if you didn't do the secondary boil-off?

it would be a great regular beer. I would suggest you try it if you are into making beer.

 

[akueck]

Question:

What if you don't boil the extract, but simmer it at 180 for an hour?

Are you referring to the original beer recipe or the "de-alcoholizing" step?

The wort must be boiled for the hop acids to become water soluble.