I am throwing a party in a few weeks and want to have 6 taps to fill up the jockey box. I will only have 2-3 weeks to ferment and condition the American Wheat (chosen because I need an “easy drinker” that can remain cloudy). I know I could use WLP001/US05/WY1056 and it would work out fast and fine, but I have some WLP029 slurry and was thinking about growing up a starter from it and using it (would give me a chance to build up a slurry for my long-queued Sticke).
I know both the Alt and Kölsch strains at Wyeast are recommended for American Wheat, but I was wondering if WLP029 would work equally well. Also, would it be nice and finished in 2-3 weeks? I know that lagering with this yeast is commonly done, but for an American Wheat where I will keep it cloudy, is this still necessary? My plan was to pitch at 56, ferment at 58 for 2 days, then rise 2 degrees every 2 days until I hit 68 - leave it there for a week or so (ideally at least one week after fermentation is finished), crash chill, and keg it, force carbonate (shake method), then serve 2 days later.
WLP029 would work well for a American Wheat. It should finish up in plenty of time. I pitch aaround 58 and ferment at aroun 62 and raise the temp up near the end to fully attenuate.
I was also planning on using more late hops than typical of the style (recipe below). Would there be any problem with that? I have made a similar cloudy wheat beer with more hops and it turned out great, but that one was made with WLP001 and got 4 weeks of primary before kegging.
Wort Volume Before Boil: 8.50 US gals
Wort Volume After Boil: 6.00 US gals
Volume Transferred: 5.50 US gals
Volume At Pitching: 5.50 US gals
Final Batch Volume: 5.20 US gals
Expected Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.034 SG
Expected OG: 1.048 SG
Expected FG: 1.011 SG
Expected ABV: 5.0 %
Expected ABW: 3.9 %
Expected IBU (using Tinseth): 27.5
Expected Color: 3.0 SRM
Apparent Attenuation: 77.1 %
Mash Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Duration: 90.0 mins
Fermentation Temperature: 58 degF
Fermentables
German Wheat Malt 5lb 4oz (46.7 %) In Mash/Steeped
Canadian Pils Malt 5lb 0oz (44.4 %) In Mash/Steeped
US Rice Hulls 1lb 0oz (8.9 %) In Mash/Steeped
Hops
US Glacier (5.6 % alpha) 14 g Loose Whole Hops used 60 Min From End
US Glacier (5.6 % alpha) 28 g Loose Whole Hops used 15 Min From End
US Citra (14.0 % alpha) 28 g Loose Whole Hops used 5 Min From End
US Citra (14.2 % alpha) 28 g Loose Whole Hops used At turn off
US Apollo (19.0 % alpha) 14 g Loose Whole Hops used At turn off
I don’t see a problem with that if you want a lot of hop aroma. These beers often have a neutral nose, so adding more interest isn’t bad. Ever have Three Floyds Gumballhead?
I have never seen Three Floyds beer here in CA or in OR or NY when I lived in those states. That said, I have read a lot about it and brewed a Gumballhead-inspired beer a while back - a hybrid between American Pale Ale and American Wheat beer (“Hopfenweizen”) that was fairly hoppy and dry hopped with Amarillo (bittered with Summit). I liked that beer a lot, hence the decision to make another late-hopped wheat beer (this way no one will ask for a slice of lemon), but I decided to go sans high bitterness just for the sake of having something on tap that BMC-drinkers could enjoy… and I am sick of brewing witbiers for events like this.