Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Guter Weizen IPA

So I was in Disney World for the Epcot Food & Wine Festival, it was a great time. I went to the Germany showcase, and they had a beer called Indra, brewed by Braufactum. It was delicous. It was kind of like a dunkel, however it was a wheat based IPA. In my opinion it was a great combination of the two styles, and I had to brew it or something like it, it was portrayed as a fusion between a German wheat and an American IPA. And so began my journey to replicate this fine brew.

Going to their site and translating through Google Chrome, I was able to get the basic ingredients: Light Wheat Malt, Vienna Malt, and Caramel Malt, and the hops were Cascade and Magnum.

Notes were: A bright golden yellow color, slightly cloudy and with a slight head. Amazing opening aromas of oak, and behind that are a mixture of honey, orange soda and spices emerge. On the palate the blends of an earthy undertone with an herbal finish.

Going with these I formulated the following grain bill:

1 lbs Caramel Wheat Malt
1 lbs Caramunic Malt
5.5 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) Belgian
6 lbs Vienna Malt

BIAB (Brew in a bag):
Mash  @ 153F for 60 min
If BIAB (Brew In A Bag) Raise Mash temp to 168F for 10 min otherwise Sparge with water @ 168F

90 min boil
0.5 oz Magnum @ 60 min
0.5 oz each Magnum & Cascade @ 30 min
1 oz Cascade @ 5 min
1.5 oz Cascade Dry Hopped 5 days

Yeast: WLP300 - Hefeweizen Ale Yeast

I typically ferment for 7-10 days in the primary, with the WLP300 I started out at 65 and slowly raised the temp to 70, to bring out the banana esters from the yeast, but not so much that they were over powering. I then rack the beer to a secondary for about two weeks where at the end of the first week I added the dry hops.

The beer came out great. The color was a bit off, but the taste was close enough from what I remember, because I have not been able to find that beer anywhere else, for comparison.





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