Day 7: 'Merican Eagle Wheat Beer by Christina Strom

[Scott H]

Specs:
OG: 1.048
FG: 1.010
SRM: 6.97
IBU: 25.7
ABV: 4.9%

Ingredients
2 lbs Wheat DME
3 lbs Pils DME
8 oz Caravienna
4 oz Honey Malt
1 oz Mt. Hood (60min)
1 oz Centennial (30min)

Directions:
Take 2.5 gallons of water and heat up to 150 degrees
Steep grains for 30 min
Take grains out, add in malt extract and bring to a boil.
In the beginning of the boil add 1 oz of Mt. Hood hops.
Boil for 60min.
Cool the wort down and put it into a fermenter, fill it up to 5 gallons and pitch yeast.
Ferment for 7-14 days.
Add 1 oz of Centennial Hops and ferment for 7 days.
Then bottle using 5 oz of corn sugar

Notes from the brewer:
We were going for classic American wheat. I hope everyone enjoys it!

[Scott H]

I haven't tried this one yet, but I have to say that the eagle really made my day. Bravo!

Also Christina, what kind of yeast did you use?

[klinger]

I'm curious about the yeast, too. I just opened this one & got some banana ester when first pouring, but that dissipated really quickly & I didn't get any of that in the taste or aroma.

Being a wheat, I poured the bit of settled yeast into the glass, though I wasn't sure if this is what you intended. It's a pretty beer -- a lightly burnished gold with a small white head. Has an assertive bitterness, not too much but certainly more hop forward than many of the other coffee, roast, spice forward beers we've had so far. One question I have is when the Centennial hops were added? It says at 30 minutes, but in the text it says it was added after an initial 7-14 days fermenting. I'm guessing this really is a 30 minute addition -- there's just a little Centennial citrus floral character that comes through.

This is a very beery beer. Quaffable. I like the added complexity from the caravienne & honey malt. The richer malt characteristic balances the hop bitterness nicely. Nice easy to drink beer. Thanks for sharing.

[spidermonk]

What a fun and unique beer. I guessed it was a wheat of some kind, but it is very subtle and I almost thought it was an odd IPA of some type. As klinger said it is a very drinkable beer, I could easily imbibe several of these.

[Christina]

sorry for leaving the yeast out, it was Wyeast 1010 - American Wheat. For the Centennial hops, I changed my original recipe from dry hop to 30 min in the boil. Looks like I remembered to note it in the Ingredients section, but not in the directions, my bad.
enjoy

[carboywonder]

Christina,

First, let me say this was just what I needed after getting off my bartending shift. Crisp, dry, refreshing...

Crystal Clear too, and great level of carbonation.

A few thoughts... I'm not a fan of this yeast strain. I've used it before, but I don't think it's good for wheat beers, American or otherwise. I've been told it is actually a kolsch strain, though I haven't ever confirmed this. I've heard upping the cystal and raising fermentation temperature helps, but I have not yet experimented much with it.

Drinks like a good pale ale. Too bitter and clean for a wheat, but mighty tasty.

Brian Q

[ricky]

Agreed about this not really seeming like your average wheat. That said, I enjoyed it. I'm still not that good at picking out particular styles, but the mention of the kolsch yeast made me think that it was almost like a hoppier kolsch. Again, I really liked it!

[bryan]

I'd probably duplicate everything others are saying about the beer - fun take on wheat, enjoyed the hop crispness, etc - but wanted to make sure I commented on how wonderfully clear the beer was. Great looking brew.

Thanks for sharing with us!

[Scott H]

Yeah, the clarity was awesome... I was expecting the opposite from a wheat! It had a nice malty body and was very tasty overall. The color is gorgeous on this beer too, so nice and bright. Excellent beer Christina, thanks for this one!

[mavus]

Sorry for the late response, I had the flu last week and have gotten behind on the advent calendar. I really enjoyed this beer, I agree not common to the wheat style but I don't really care about brewing in style if the beer comes out well. I could drink a few of these.
--Jesse