Saturday, April 19, 2008

My Newest Homebrew - Maple Wheat Ale

I started homebrewing using the Mr Beer system several years ago, and I still use their fermenters because they're the perfect size - about 2-1/2 gallons. One of the Mr Beer recipes that always interested me was their Maple Wheat. So, I decided to make my own. I don't use their ingredients anymore, but the inspiration was from them. Here's the recipe:
3.3 lbs Briess Bavarian Wheat Malt Extract
16 Oz Pure Maple Syrup
4 Oz Crystal Malt 10L
4 Oz CaraPils Malt
1/2 Oz Hersbrucker Hops
1/2 Oz Saaz Hops
Wyeast 1010 American Wheat Yeast
I really like using Maple Syrup in my beer. I like the flavor it adds. It also kicks up the horsepower! I cracked open my first bottle of this yesterday, and I'm very pleased. I have to say that the alcohol level is unusual for a wheat beer. It turned out darker than I expected, but had a great big head. It tasted like a wheat beer, but had some alcohol in the finish. The hops were subdued, so I probably should have used a little more. I'm looking forwared to seeing how this ages.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm going to try this recipe out. Is it a standard half batch (2.5 gallons).

any directions you have as to when to add anything?

Al said...

Yes, it is a standard half size recipe designed to fit into a 2.5 gal Mr Beer fermentor. I put all the specialty malts in a grain bag and put it in a gallon of water in the pot. I heated the water to about 165-170 and then took the grains out. When it started to boil, I put in the Hersbrucker hops. After boiling for 45 minutes, I added the malt extract, maple syrup and the Saaz hops and boiled it for another 15 minutes. I then cooled it off by stting the pot in a sink full of ice and water.

If I were to do this recipe again, I would probably back the maple off to about a cup instead of a pint, because it really bumps up the alcohol level. It's not something I can drink 2 of in a sitting. Just food for thought.

Al

Anonymous said...

I just transferred to the secondary fermenter after a three day vigorous fermenting (had to use an overflow tube).

What were your aging times before bottling, and did you prime it at all with sugar or more maple syrup when you bottled?

Al said...

I had the same experience with a very vigorous fermentation. I just checked my brew log and I waited an entire month before bottling. I had a lot going on, so it got back-burnered. Normally I do two weeks. I primed with corn sugar, although I have used Maple syrup in some other of my Maple brews. The flavor is smoothing out a little, but still has an alcohol edge to it.

Unknown said...

Hello-you put the hops in before the malt extract? Just curious as it's a bit opposite from what I've done. Thanks for your time.
Alex