Hey all, I couldn't find any posts of people making a Wheat IPA with Whispering Wheat... maybe like a "Cascade Imperial Wheat IPA". ;-)

For my 4th Mr. Beer batch, I was wondering what you think of combining 2 cans of American Devil with 1 can of Whispering Wheat (mainly because I have these 3 HME's left and dying to use them up in one batch). If so, any special tips?

I also have some whole Cascade hops I may use to dry hop the batch a bit... crank up the IBU's a bit more!

Right now, I'm mostly just experimenting... hoping for a great beer but okay if it doesn't work out. However, I don't want to invest too much time if it's just destined for failure.

Thanks and cheers!

throw the recipe into qbrew to see what values you get for IBUs and such. I don't think it would be bad BUT it may be too bitter. I haven't used the american devil though. Dry hopping with cascade would be good, it won't add any bitterness (IBUs) though, just aroma and maybe a bit of flavor.

hmmm... might be good, actually. a really big bodied IPA... i would rely on the extra hops for either a flameout addition, or for a dry hop addition. i would also look at other yeasts, since this one is big on the fermentables... US-05 dry yeast would be great.

You might get away with using all 3 packs of the Mr. Beer yeast, if you rehydrate it, but I'd like to second Chunk's suggestion of using US-05...it should be great for this beer!

I'd also like to suggest dry-hopping with the cascades.

Good luck, and be sure to let us know how it turns out!

An echo: US-05 would be a great yeast to use for an IPA.
This yeast has never let me down.

I think this would be an interesting brew to taste... Brew it Up !

I do have some Cooper's yeast (2x7g packets), and also some Nottingham (11g packet). Would the Nottingham work perhaps?

How about something like this?



Whispering Devil Imperial Wheat IPA
-----------------------------------
Style: Imperial IPA
Batch: 2.13 galExtract

Characteristics
---------------
Recipe Gravity: 1.070 OG
Recipe Bitterness: 76 IBU
Recipe Color: 8° SRM
Estimated FG: 1.018
Alcohol by Volume: 6.8%
Alcohol by Weight: 5.3%

Ingredients
-----------
MrB. American Devil IPA 2.42 lb, Extract, Extract
MrB. Whispering Wheat Weizenbier1.21 lb, Extract, Extract

Cascade 0.25 oz, Whole, 12 minutes
Cascade 0.25 oz, Whole, 5 minutes
Cascade 0.50 oz, Whole, 30 minutes
MrB. American Devil IPA 2.00 oz, Pellet, 5 minutes
MrB. Whispering Wheat Weizenbier1.00 oz, Pellet, 5 minutes

American Ale yeast 1.00 unit, Yeast,

US-05 is pretty fool-proof and clean tasting.

I don't have problems with Cooper's but there was a quality issue with Notty not that long ago that made me turn to US-04 if I wanted an English ale taste.

if you can keep the Nottingham in the low 60s, that would be your best bet from what you have on hand. if you have a LHBS, the $3 for the US-05 would be worth it IMO!

and I really like the recipe idea that you have, but I would seriously tone down the hops from what you put into qbrew. since it seems like you REALLY wanna have a hop boil (nothing wrong there! ) stick with just the 5 minute one and go with the 1/2 oz, and then do a dry hop with the other 1/2 oz. you will get some nice flavor and big aroma that way.

otherwise, I fear that this beer would get way too bitter...as opposed to nice and hoppy fresh.

Okay, noted! I'll tone it down on the hops a bit... plus try to track down some US-05. Not sure if they have it at my LHBS. My basement is constantly around 68 degrees, not in the low 60s...

Thanks!

Great suggestions from all, I too would shoot for the US05 and tone down the bittering hops. The HME should bring enough IBUs so use those Cascades as a dry hop for some flavor and aroma. It will probably taste nice and fresh versus muddy and bitter from over bittering.

Just a question about US-05... what is the importance of using this over Nottingham? I don't know I can get it easily and hoped to start brewing today...

Thanks all!

Nottingham is a great yeast, and should do a great job. It's a very clean yeast, especially when fermented cool, but will give some esters at warmer temps (not like Windsor or S-04, though).

US-05 is similarly clean, but it gives a bit more frutiness that tends to play very well with citrusy American hops.

No reason you can't use the Nottingham, though. I've done some great IPAs with that yeast.

Nottingham would work, but its an English yeast and would attentuate more it usually leaves the beer dryer and crisper. US05 is an American ale yeast wich you would find in most American Pale ales and IPA's. Itd just a better choice for a maltier beer ro hold up to all those hops...a great all around yeast.

I do have another batch for a regular IPA I'll be doing later on... perhaps I will just go ahead with the Nottingham (sorry to those who recommended this, but I need some time to track it down). I do really like citrusy IPA's, so I'll probably try to get a few packets of the US-05 somewhere to use in that batch.

Anyhow, I'm also excited because I'll be spending the next few weeks building my Kegerator... and hope to keg this batch before my birthday in early March!

Cheers,

Jeremy

Well, I brewed this up... hopefully it works! First time using the hydrometer without really knowing how it works. I got a reading of about 1055 just before I pitched the yeast. Recipe says I'd get 1070. Not sure what that will do, but I'll check again in a week or so when I add the hops.

I plan on fermenting for 2 weeks... or possibly 3 if I need to.

Cheers!

That's a pretty big discrepancy...did you calibrate your hydrometer with tap or distilled water, and did you account for temperature variation?

Or did you overfill the LBK, or leave a good bit of malt in the cans?

sweet! best of luck with all of that stuff.

About the hydrometer, I let it sit in the sanitizing solution... didn't calibrate anything. Then just took it out and dropped in the keg. It was hitting the bottom, so I tilted the keg at about 30 degree angle to get it to float. This is my personal scientific method... I guarantee plus/minus 100% accuracy. LOL

I didn't mean to do it so haphazard, but with everything else I had to be on top of to do this batch... I didn't really take time to learn how to use it.

I didn't leave too much malt in the cans, I actually put a bit of hot water in the can and swirled it around to get the last bit in there. I did spill a tiny amount of the wort, and maybe filled to 8.7 gallons... but I don't think this all would have a huge impact?

Room temp was about 70 degrees.

yeah, that sounds pretty jenky hahaha

get yourself one of these...



... so you can use the hydrometer correctly. nothing wrong with "jenky" once in a while, but that's probably where the predicted/actual OG discrepancy came from.

Haha, yep that sounds like what I need to do!

Note to self... learn how a hydrometer works and when to use it!

You could have used the tube the hydrometer came in in a pinch. But I would suggest getting a hydrometer jar, they're relatively inexpensive.

some hydrometers come in tubes that don't hold liquid....mine won't hold anything without leaking profusely.

when I bought mine (midwest I think) some reviewers said that the tube the hydrometer shipps in works great on its own...

they were wrong, and mine leaked all over the first time I tried it out. BUT, since I am cheap, I discovered that a quick wrap of duct tape around the bottom of the tube/cap end keeps everything inside the tube where it belongs...and I saved the $5 or whatever a "real" hydro test jar goes for. YMMV of course