Good Evening! I’ve been tasked by some co-workers with creating a wheat beer with an ABV above 10%. While “creating” the recipe is very easy, I feel as though the actual creation of said brew will be more challenging. The simple answer is to just add more fermentables, but is this realistic?
German wheat? American hefe? Wheat ale?
Your choice of yeast is a factor. Make sure the yeast strain you chose is able to handle an ABV that big. US-05 can go pretty big, and WY099 Super hi grav can (obviously) get it done. You may want to “spice” this beer with a fruit or flavor of some sort to help with the alcohol feel/taste. Of course, if you control the ferm temps, depending on your yeast…it can get that high ABV and still be smooth.
Good Luck…Namaste!!!
I love a good wheat wine! Basic idea, to simplify it to the extreme, is to increase the malt and hops. Search for “wheat wine recipes” online and you should find some. Pitch lots of yeast. Short’s anniversary ale is absolutely fantastic - it’s a 10%+ ABV wheat wine with blood oranges and green peppercorns. I think it’s in the ballpark of 70IBU. Might give you a starting point.
Good luck!
