Jump to content
Coopers Community

Dunkelweizen questions


Cassius

Recommended Posts

After trying and enjoying the Hefeweizen recipe, I thought I'd try the Dunkelweizen from the recipes resource. I've never used grains before and can't seem to locate Crystal Wheat Grain or Midnight Wheat Grain on the websites of the three LHBSs nearest to me. Is it possible they're under a different name or are they just a bit more obscure? Is there an easy swap from a more commonly used grain or an online store with a wider range that doesn't charge too much for shipping?

For yeast, the recipe says you can use a wheat yeast of your choice. I used MJs M20 for my first Hefeweizen and really enjoyed the flavour profile so was going to use it again. The first time I used it the attenuation was a bit less than expected (OG: 1.042, FG: 1.016) but still made a delicious beer so I didn't think much of it. Since then I did a bit more reading and read a post on another forum from a guy who said that it does an initial burst of fermentation over the first 48 hours and then goes dormant and then finishes off the last little bit at the 2 week mark. Does this sound likely or even possible? I've got a pretty good system at the moment of having two fermentors going at 2 week intervals so I'm bottling and brewing one fermentor every weekend, so I'd prefer not to wait longer than 2 weeks.

TIA, Cassius.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/25/2020 at 5:03 AM, alilley said:

Is there a difference between a dunkelweizen and a munich dunkel apart from the wheat malt? Chocolate and coffee are not flavours I'd expect from a dunkel. Maybe a little choc, but definitely more of a toffee flavour.

Apart from the wheat malt they are fairly similar. Quite malty from the munich malt, a little bit of chocolate flavour but I wouldn't be expecting coffee from either. The darker grain (eg. Carafa) is only added in small quantities and mainly for colour. Not enough to create a roasty profile.

And obviously the yeast is different; lager vs hefeweizen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/24/2020 at 10:52 AM, Hairy said:

Those grains can be hard to find.

Just find the equivalent in barley with a similar EBC. A crystal malt and perhaps one of the de-husked Carafa. 

Presumably one or both of these grains adds flavour in addition to colour? Will the barley grain provide similar flavour if I just pick one with similar colour?

Thanks for your help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/24/2020 at 8:48 AM, Cassius said:

After trying and enjoying the Hefeweizen recipe, I thought I'd try the Dunkelweizen from the recipes resource. I've never used grains before and can't seem to locate Crystal Wheat Grain or Midnight Wheat Grain on the websites of the three LHBSs nearest to me. Is it possible they're under a different name or are they just a bit more obscure? Is there an easy swap from a more commonly used grain or an online store with a wider range that doesn't charge too much for shipping?

For yeast, the recipe says you can use a wheat yeast of your choice. I used MJs M20 for my first Hefeweizen and really enjoyed the flavour profile so was going to use it again. The first time I used it the attenuation was a bit less than expected (OG: 1.042, FG: 1.016) but still made a delicious beer so I didn't think much of it. Since then I did a bit more reading and read a post on another forum from a guy who said that it does an initial burst of fermentation over the first 48 hours and then goes dormant and then finishes off the last little bit at the 2 week mark. Does this sound likely or even possible? I've got a pretty good system at the moment of having two fermentors going at 2 week intervals so I'm bottling and brewing one fermentor every weekend, so I'd prefer not to wait longer than 2 weeks.

TIA, Cassius.

I’d be keen to have a crack at this too Cassius, watching the thread with interest 🍺

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Red devil 44 said:

I’d be keen to have a crack at this too Cassius, watching the thread with interest 🍺

Excellent. Spoke to my LHBS and he said that he stocks Roast Wheat, which is the same as Midnight Wheat. He then said maybe to try 150g wheat and 150g crystal instead of 300g crystal wheat. I'm not sure if that's how it works haha but unless one of the gurus on here tells me otherwise I'm going to pick up those ingredients and brew it this weekend. I'll keep you posted.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

@Red devil 44 bottled this on the weekend. Tasted very nice going into the bottles. Perhaps not as dark as I'd have liked but the Dunkelweizens I've tried have had quite a range of colours and flavours so I will just up the grain quantities next time if I feel it needs a bit more. Very excited to try this one; might be one I try a single bottle a little early 😉 .

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Cassius said:

@Red devil 44 bottled this on the weekend. Tasted very nice going into the bottles. Perhaps not as dark as I'd have liked but the Dunkelweizens I've tried have had quite a range of colours and flavours so I will just up the grain quantities next time if I feel it needs a bit more. Very excited to try this one; might be one I try a single bottle a little early 😉 .

Sounds good Cassius, it’s certainly on my 2020 brew list 

Cheers RD 🍺

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Time to make my second attempt at a Dunkelweizen. The one I did that I posted here is OK, but it really doesn't knock my socks off. I think it's largely to do with the M20 yeast but I'm also going to change up the specialty grains a bit. I'm currently doing smaller batches for experimentation purposes. This is what I'm thinking.

 

10L batch

1.5kg liquid wheat extract

25g Saaz hops in 20 minute boil (3L boil size)

100g roasted wheat and 200g dark munich in an overnight cold steep.

Half sachet of Lallemand Munich Classic.

 

The only thing I'm really wondering about is the grain steep. That gives me about the right colour but I'm not really sure what flavours those give. Would it be too sweet perhaps? And is 100g of roasted wheat going to give enough of the coffee/chocolate flavours I'm after?

TIA, Cassius.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...