This post is one in a series following five brewers limiting themselves to a select set of ingredients and brewing several beers each with only those ingredients. The goal of these limitations is to push creativity and to see what can be done within the confines of a single set of ingredients. More about this concept can be found here. The ingredients chosen for this project were Maris Otter, White Wheat (malted), Light Munich, Amarillo, Nugget, WLP810 San Francisco Lager and WLP090 San Diego Super Yeast. The brewer must use all ingredients (with the exception of choosing one yeast strain). The rest of this series can be found here.
Author: R. Goyenko
The weather was getting warmer, which admittedly affected my choice of recipe for this round of brewing—I wanted something on a lighter side, so after looking at the possibilities with the limited ingredients available, I decided to go with an American wheat beer.
Recipe
I needed a substantial wheat bill for this beer, so after some research on the style and other recipes, I ended up deciding to use equal parts wheat malt and Maris Otter with a small portion of Munich.
I felt like I had a pretty good understanding of the hops we were limited to. My perception of Nugget has been that it provides earthy notes and pretty heavy hop aromas and flavors. I thought that this character would clash with the light style of an American wheat beer, so I decided to use it as a small bittering addition at the 30-minute mark. On the other hand, I think Amarillo makes much more sense as a hop choice for a wheat beer due to its citrus, orange, and floral characteristics. Because of this, I decided to use it as a later boil addition as well as in the whirlpool.
I tried both yeast options for this series (WLP810 San Francisco Lager and WLP090 San Diego Super Yeast) in my two previous Limitations beers, and they both produced clean beers without too much ester character. I think both yeast strains could be acceptable for a wheat beer, with my only note being that both yeast strains produced a clear beer after staying in the fermentation vessel for some time. After using each of these strains in previous beers, I harvested some yeast for later use. Unfortunately, I put them both in identical containers and failed to label the containers. Since I had no idea which container held which strain, I naturally decided to use both of them to see what the end result would be.
All of these choices resulted in the following recipe:
- Mashed at 149°F for 60 min.
- 46% UK Maris Otter (5 lbs.)
- 46% White wheat malt (5 lbs.)
- 8% Light Munich (0.8 lb.)
- Boiled for 60 min.
- 0.5 oz. Nugget (30 min.) at 14% AA (21 IBUs)
- 1 oz. Amarillo (5 min.) at 8.6% AA (7 IBUs)
- 1 oz. Amarillo (170°F whirlpool for 20 min.) at 8.6% AA (23 IBUs)
- Co-pitched WLP090 San Diego Super Yeast & WLP810 San Francisco Lager Yeast
- Fermented at 68°F
- Raise to 70°F at end of fermentation
- OG: 1.050
- FG: 1.010
- ABV: 5.3%
Brew Day
This was the best kind of brew day: uneventful. I gathered my brewing water and calculated the strike temperature to hit my desired mash temperature. I mashed in using the full volume of water and hit my desired temperatures within a degree (it was a smidge lower that my target). After that I let the mash rest for an hour and then collected the sweet wort. I measured the pre-boil gravity, and since it was right on target I started the boil without any further adjustments.
Since the yeast I was going to use had been sitting in the fridge for some time, I opted to make a vitality starter. I sparged the grains to get a little extra wort, and I boiled those “second runnings.” I then added both yeast strains to the wort and set the vitality starter on my stir plate.
As the wort boiled, I added hops at the 30 and 5 minute marks. I also put my wort chiller into the kettle at the end of the boil to sanitize it. At the end of the boil I quickly chilled the wort to 170°F and added the whirlpool addition of Amarillo, which sat for 20 minutes (I cleaned and sanitized the fermentor during this time). Then I chilled the wort to 68°F, which didn’t take long since my groundwater was still fairly cold despite the warming weather.
I measured the gravity, which came in at 1.050—perfect for the recipe. I transferred the wort into the fermentor where it waited for the vitality starter to finish. When the starter was ready, I pitched it into the fermentor.
Tasting
Appearance: Dark gold color and clear, though it took about a month to completely clear out. I was expecting the amount of wheat used to result in a cloudier appearance, but that didn’t happen. There was a big, frothy, white head that lasted a while. The color was a little darker than typical wit beers and much clearer.
Aroma: Herbal, spicy, and floral nose with citrus—lemon. Bready and grainy malt aromas with slight tartness. Initially this beer had a much more intense aroma consisting of what I think is typical for Amarillo—orange, citrus, and floral. This aroma subsided quite a bit over time, but it was still a nice and pleasant beer.
Flavor: Citrus, light bready notes, bitterness was on the medium-low level. There was a familiar slight tartness that I usually get from beers with a big wheat addition. I wish the flavor were a little lighter to make it a quintessential wit beer; it was almost there, but was more robust and not as light.
Mouthfeel: Medium body, finished medium to dry, with light tartness. Slight bitterness in the finish.
If I were to brew this beer again with the same ingredients, I would increase the wheat portion of the malt bill to about 70-80%, reduce the Maris Otter to 17-27%, and only use 3% Munich. The beer was nice, but I think having less MO and Munich would make it lighter, both in color and in taste. I wouldn’t change a thing about the hop additions.
If I were to brew this beer again without limitations on ingredients, I wouldn’t use Maris Otter and would instead use regular 2-row. I would probably also add about 5% Vienna malt. I would also choose a less flocculent yeast. This beer ended up being clear, even with a big wheat malt bill. I think witbeers benefit from some cloudiness, which gives it creamier mouthfeel.
| Beer 1 | Beer 2 | Beer 3 | Beer 4 | Beer 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Style | Hoppy Wheat | Pale Ale/Lager | IPL | NEIPA/IPA | Munich Lager |
| Maris Otter | 34.4% | 50% | 50% | 82% | 30% |
| Light Munich | 5.5% | 25% | 41% | 7% | 60% |
| Wheat | 60.1% | 25% | 9% | 11% | 10% |
| Hop Addition 1 | 28.7 IBUs Nugget (60 min.) | 41.3 IBUs Nugget (First Wort) | 21 IBUs Nugget (30 min.) | 41.8 IBUs Nugget (First Wort) | 24.4 IBUs Nugget (60 min.) |
| Hop Addition 2 | 5.5 IBUs Amarillo (5 min.) | 5.8 IBUs Amarillo (15 min.) | 23 IBUs Amarillo—30 min. Whirlpool | 4.8 IBUs Amarillo (20 min Whirpool at 170F) | 8.9 IBUs Nugget (10 min.) |
| Hop Addition 3 | 7.1 IBUs Nugget (5 min.) | 2.3 IBUs Nugget (5 min.) | N/A | 0.8 IBUs Amarillo & Nugget (20 min Whirlpool at 120F) | 6.8 IBUs Amarillo (5 min.) |
| Hop Addition 4 | 16.8 IBUs Amarillo—30 min. Whirlpool | 0 IBUs Amarillo (flameout) | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Hop Addition 5 | 22 IBUs Nugget—30 min. Whirlpool | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Dry Hop | 2.5 oz. Amarillo, 2 oz. Nugget (10 days) | N/A | 2 oz. Amarillo @ Day 1; 2 oz. Amarillo @ Day 4 | 1 oz. Amarillo & 0.5 oz. Nugget @ Day 2, 1 oz. Amarillo @ Day 8; 2 oz. Amarillo & 0.5 oz. @ Day 8 | N/A |
| Yeast | WLP090 at 64°F, raised to 70°F | WLP090 at 66°F, raised to 72°F; WLP810 at 63°F | WLP810 at 65°F, raised to 68°F | WLP090 | WLP810 at 60°F, raised to 65°F |
| OG | 1.059 | 1.058 | 1.050 | 1.063 | 1.055 |
| FG | 1.012 | 1.009/1.014 | 1.010 | 1.012 | 1.013 |
| ABV | 6.2% | 6.5%/5.8% | 5.3% | 6.7% | 5.5% |
| Beer 6 | Beer 7 | Beer 8 | Beer 9 | Beer 10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Style | California Common | Hoppy Wheat | American Pale Ale | ESB | Sticke Altbier |
| Maris Otter | 30% | 21% | 50% | 80% + 10% baked | 9.3% |
| Light Munich | 60% | 12% | 41% | 5% | 72.1% |
| Wheat | 10% | 67% | 9% | 5% | 18.6% |
| Hop Addition 1 | 28.2 IBUs Nugget (30 min.) | 23 IBUs Nugget (45 min.) | 21 IBUs Nugget (30 min.) | 24.4 IBUs Nugget (60 min.) | 16.8 IBUs Nugget (60 mi.) |
| Hop Addition 2 | 4.35 IBUs Amarillo (5 min.) | 8.2 IBUs Nugget (15 min.) | 23 IBUs Amarillo (0 min.) | 6.1 IBUs Nugget (15 min.) | 15.8 IBUs Nugget (45 min.) |
| Hop Addition 3 | 1 oz. Amarillo (165ºF Whirlpool for 20 min.) | N/A | N/A | 2.4 IBUs Nugget (5 min.) | 14.2 IBUs Amarillo (15 min.) |
| Hop Addition 4 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 5.7 IBUs Amarillo (5 min.) |
| Hop Addition 5 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Dry Hop | 2 oz. Amarillo | 1 oz. Amarillo for 9 days; 1 oz. Amarillo for 4 days | 1 oz. Amarillo & 1 oz. Nugget day 1 of fermentation; 2 oz. Amarillo day 4 of fermentation | 1 oz. Amarillo | N/A |
| Yeast | WLP810 at 65°F | WLP090 at 65°F for 5 days; raised to 72°F over 5 days | WLP090 | WLP810 at 65°F for 4 days; raised to 70°F over 4 days | Wyeast 2112 (WLP810 equivalent) at 60°F; raised to 67°F over 7 days |
| OG | 1.050 | 1.059 | 1.055 | 1.057 | 1.055 |
| FG | 1.012 | 1.009 | 1.010 | 1.014 | 1.014 |
| ABV | 5% | 6.6% | 5.9% | 5.6% | 5.4% |
| Beer 11 | Beer 12 | Beer 13 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Style | Festbier | Hoppy Wheat | American Wheat |
| Maris Otter | 64% | 23% | 46% |
| Light Munich | 18% | 18% | 8% |
| Wheat | 18% | 59% | 46% |
| Hop Addition 1 | 23 IBUs Nugget (60 min.) | 13.1 IBUs Nugget (30 min.) | 21 IBUs Nugget (30 min.) |
| Hop Addition 2 | 10.4 IBUs Amarillo (30 min.) | 19.6 IBUs Amarillo (Whirlpool) | 7 IBUs Amarillo (5 min.) |
| Hop Addition 3 | N/A | N/A | 23 IBUs Amarillo (Whirlpool) |
| Hop Addition 4 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Hop Addition 5 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Dry Hop | N/A | 2 oz. Amarillo for 6 days; 2 oz. Amarillo for 1 day | N/A |
| Yeast | WLP810 at 58°F, raised to 70°F | WLP090 at 65°F, raised to 68°F | WLP090 & WLP810 at 68°F, raised to 70°F |
| OG | 1.052 | 1.049 | 1.050 |
| FG | 1.008 | 1.012 | 1.010 |
| ABV | 5.8% | 4.8% | 5.3% |