Orange Hefeweizen (ala 'shocktop')

[Drzava]

Could the 300g of Carapils in this recipe be substituted with 300g of Crystal Malt instead? I'm planning to order ingredients for a couple of brews and trying to 'combine and save' as much as possible!

[LordEoin]

Yup, but the darker the crystal the darker the resulting beer.

While we're on Dark Crystal... Pour a beer and enjoy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfqINPrSTA0

[Drzava]

Cheers Eoin. I presume Crystal Light would be fine? It's half the price of Carapils so I'm thinking of getting a kilo or two and steeping 200g or so for each kit, a la your Carapils recommendation. I'm also planning to do an Imperial Stout to your recipe (which calls for Crystal) in this thread.

[LordEoin]

light crystal will do pretty much the same thing as carapils

[Drzava]

I have the Craft Range Wheat in the FV at the moment. Do you think harvesting the yeast from the FV would be a viable alternative to using the WB06? It's labelled as a wheat yeast, and judging from a gravity sample taste, its doing a great job!

Sorry for all the questions!

[molc]

Careful with light crystals as well as they can make the beer very sweet. The yeast is harvestable but not sure what type is with the craft range wheat myself.

[LordEoin]

The craft range yeast should be fine to wash and reuse.
It's easy, just make sure everything's properly sanitized
http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie/wordpress/brewwiki/washing-yeast/

[MUL-BRU]

How do Lord Eoin,
I have this Brewing at the Mo...I modified the recipe slightly so that I would get a second batch in with the 1kg bags of ingredients (Carpils & Dextrose)...
If you were to do it again, which I am going to do, could you recommend a Yeast...I'd like to do a "Compare & Contrast" by JUST changing the yeast.
I was thinking of the White Labs WLP30 HEFEWEIZEN ALE YEAST.....would you concur?

[LordEoin]

You mean WLP300?
or WLP 320,351,380,  danstar munich, mangrove jack M20.

You could also wash and step up the yeast from the bottom of a few bottles of wheat beer like schneider weiss aventinus for example

The problem with this kit's yeast is that it's just a plain clean fermenting ale yeast, similar to US05, so replacing it with any hefe yeast turns it from a fairly bland wheat ale to a lovely hefe

[MUL-BRU]

Was off the grid there for a spell....

You mean WLP300?
Yup I meant White Labs WLP300 Hefeweizen Ale Yeast....
I used your recipe already but just to change it up would the WLP300 be a good substitute to compare or would you recommend anything else?
Bearing in mind that this is the MUL-BRU X.
I have been collecting a different bottle for this BREW.
See picture



You could also wash and step up the yeast from the bottom of a few bottles of wheat beer
WITCHCRAFT I cry, what alchemy is this you speak of?
Harvesting the yeast from commercial brews.....this is surely but a myth, an old wives tale, a walk on the dark side.

This is definatly something I would be interested in.....

I am playing with the thoughts of gettin' a fridge for the temp regulation for over the winter..
So much more to learn....

[Drzava]

The craft range yeast should be fine to wash and reuse.
It's easy, just make sure everything's properly sanitized
http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie/wordpress/brewwiki/washing-yeast/

Harvested my yeast from the Craft Wheat yesterday. I'm going full on lazy - just decanted it into a sterile (autoclaved) bottle and am planning on lobbing it pretty much straight into the witbier wort without washing which some people suggest is OK if done reasonably soon (about 2 weeks for me). Hopefully I won't regret it! Also planning to do the Imperial Stout I mentioned above with Brewmaker stout, plus the Coopers Wheat yeast (which seems to be a clean ale yeast, with some suggestion it's actually S-05).

[RobShamrock]

My batch of this had a good bit of time in the bottle to condition with being busy before my hols, being away for two weeks and too full of beer for another week when I got back, I have to admit I must have lost my palate for wheat beer with all the others I've been drinking not much of a fan of this to be honest, its taste fine and all its just not a flavour I'm too keen on, Will try another few bottles the weekend to see if I can be turned back. Also mine came out crystal clear !, Have I done something wrong ??

[MUL-BRU]

My batch of this had a good bit of time in the bottle to condition with being busy before my hols, being away for two weeks and too full of beer for another week when I got back, I have to admit I must have lost my palate for wheat beer with all the others I've been drinking not much of a fan of this to be honest, its taste fine and all its just not a flavour I'm too keen on, Will try another few bottles the weekend to see if I can be turned back. Also mine came out crystal clear !, Have I done something wrong ??

NOW THIS IS BAD NEWS. Sucks that it didn't turn out that good for you.....Sucks even more if you have just bottled 45 bottles and there is a further 21 litres in FV2....Arrrgggghhh.  Did you brew with Coopers Wheat kit before??

[RobShamrock]

No not done coppers wheat before its a grand brew no off flavours just not my cup of tea

[LordEoin]

horses for courses