Recipe is from brewing classic styles:
2lbs Pilsner
7lbs Wheat
3lbs Munich
6oz Special B
6oz Crystal 40
2oz Carafa Special II
Mittelfruh 1oz 4.0% AA @60mins
WLP351 x2 - Lot# 1035263 - MFG: Feb 22, 2017
Servomyces
Whirlfloc
I'm reading that Dunkelweizens traditionally were a softer water beer. So we I've targeted the Decarbonated Munich profile on the Brewer's friend calculator.
Here will be our brewing salts that we will add to 10 gallons of distilled water:
2g Chalk (CaCO3)
2g Gypsum (CaSO4)
4g Calcium Chloride (CaCl2)
2g Epsom Salt (MgSO4)
1g Salt (NaCl)
Planned Decoction procedure:
1. Dough in at 122-125F for a protein rest. Rest for 15mins. I'm going to assume the water should be around 130F.
2. Pull off 12 quarts of thick mash and get to it about 150F. Let the thick mash sit for 15mins.
3. Then boil the thick mash for 20mins.
4. Add that thick mash back to the thin until temp reaches 148F. We may have some thick mash left over. That's ok.
5. Let this mash sit for 15mins.
6. Pull off 6 quarts of thick mash and boil for 20mins.
7. Add the thick mash back to the mash tun until we have reached about 158F.
8. Let this mash sit for 15mins.
9. Pull thin mash from the tun and boil it.
10. Add it back to the mash tun for mash out. Let sit as long as needed to warm up sparge water.
11. Sparge as normal.
12:57 - I'm getting a later start than I would have wanted but whatever. It's a hobby not a job. Let's relax and let it happen. I've measured out the brewing salts and the grain. I'm boiling the O2 stone now. When that's over I'm going to the store for ice and water. I think I'll also do a propane tank switch while I'm there.
1:29 - Forgot the propane tank. Such is life.
2:08 - Heating up the initial water now. The first big surprise here is the amount of water we use. Much more then my usual batch sparge method. Beer Smith says 25.8 quarts which seems outrageous to me but when I check another source it seems correct. So for my 12lbs of grain I will be using a little over 6 gallons of water. Wow!
2:20 - Protein rest is now at 128F. Beer Smith says to hold here for 35mins. I assume that's 35 mins total. First off that's a little high so we will keep the lid open. Second, if I perform steps 2 and 3 right now that would be about 35 mins. I still have to assemble the boil kettle.
2:45 - Beer Smith says to pull off 8.3 quarts of mash. Brewing TV has led me to believe 12. So I split the difference and pulled 10. I got Ellie to stir while we heated it up to 150F and we will let it sit for 10mins. Ellie noted "it's thick." That's right it is.
3:17 - Didn't get quite enough mash. We are at 145F now so we missed by a little bit. I'll be sure to pull off more the next go around. I'll pull 6 quarts. Brewing TV wins. Beer Smith loses.
3:54 - Ok I pulled off 6 quarts and when I put it all back in the temp was 152F. So we missed pretty big there. Life goes on.
4:54 - Sparging. We got a stuck mash. So that sucks. The mash is running really slow. I guess I'm just going to go and wait it out. The mash grains looks like mud now it't now wonder that it's stuck. Lesson learned I guess.
5:21 - Second half of the sparge went much better. Pre-boil gravity is 1.055. Seems a little high.
6:41 - We are going with the old immersion chiller today. I want to get to 62F and I'm not sure I can get there with the plate chiller. So I got all the tubing out to be sure that it would work and came up one with one connection that wouldn't fit in the chiller. I went on a scavenger hunt in the brewery looking for the mating connector and found it. Luck! See sometimes things do work out.
The mash ending up looking like mud when I went to get out of the mash tun. No wonder it got stuck. Below is a pic of the thick mash as we boiled it. It was really cool to see it gelatinize.
Here's the mash tun when I got all done. Not sure if shows up well here but it looked like mud.
8:00 - Trying something new today. I'm going to remove the chiller after we are done chilling and then whirlpool it. That should make all the hops and proteins gather in the middle. It will take an extra 10 mins but I think it may be worth it. So I'm whirl pooling it now. The OG will be 1.066 and I took a sip of the sample and it is without a doubt, the best wort I've ever had. It could be because it's mostly wheat malt and high gravity at that. I'm not sure. But maybe, just maybe, there is something to this decoction thing after all.
8:37 - Done for the day. I started around 11:30 today. That makes this a 9 hour brew day. I'm going to go ahead and say that it was the longest ever. Well now at least I can scratch decoction off of the bucket list. I'm not sure if I'd ever do it again. If the beer is amazing maybe. Otherwise it just takes too long.
Special thanks goes out to my wife Ellie. She helped me decoct the beer. We took turns stirring and she kept me company. And made me some food. And looked after the baby (he is a handful). I know she reads these so I just wanted her to know that I appreciate her. Love you boo!!!
Special thanks goes out to my wife Ellie. She helped me decoct the beer. We took turns stirring and she kept me company. And made me some food. And looked after the baby (he is a handful). I know she reads these so I just wanted her to know that I appreciate her. Love you boo!!!
