Wheat beer recipe check

So this is my second batch of beer I am going to brew so I thought I would give you my idea behind the beer before I give the ingredients. My goal…we will see if it works out…is to make a citrus forward wheat beer that isn’t very bitter with a mid-range hop punch and a smooth finish.

Grain:
Pale 2-Row Brewers Malt 5 lb
White Wheat 5 lb

Hops:
Centennial .5 oz at 60 mins
Cascade .5 oz at 15 mins
Centennial .5 oz at 0 mins
Cascade .5 oz at 0 mins
Citra .5 oz at 0 mins

Extra:
Coriander 0.5 oz at 5 mins
Sweet Orange Peel 0.5 oz at 5 mins
1.5 pounds of cane sugar at 15 mins

Yeast: Safale US-05

So with all that being said, here are my targets prior to brewing:
Original Gravity 1.062
Final Gravity 1.015
ABV: 6.06%
IBU: 23.62
SRM: 3.98

I added the cane sugar in the recipe last minute because I wanted a beer north of 6%, anyone have any ideas of another type of sugar I could use to bump the ABV that wont cover up the hops?

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

THANKS!

I made a few edits, I have read that Citra takes over the flavor profile so I backed it down from 1 oz to .5 oz and put the Cascade in at 15 mins for more flavor then letting the 3 battle at out at the end of the boil.

I’d go 70% base malt, 30% wheat; 1/2 # of sugar MAXIMUM. If you want bigger gravity, get it through base malt.

Based on your description of what you are going for, I’m not sure the purpose of the sweet orange peel and coriander. Maybe consider just doing zest of 1 fresh orange at flameout if you really want an orange flavor/aroma. I would prefer to get it through some Amarillo or more Centennial at flameout/dry hop.

I’d also get rid of the 15 minute hops, and move them all to flameout, or the last 5 minutes added gradually.

Thanks for the advice Pietro, I thought that sounded like a lot of sugar but that is why you guys are awesome. OK, I backed that down from 1.5lbs to just .5lbs and will remember that in the future about the grains, great tip, I also axed the coriander as well, I have just read online from some brewers that they work well together but I am not really looking for any spice notes if it can be avoided.

So you feel like adding the sweet orange peel at the end would be overkill? I am brewing tonight and dont have time to run back to the brewery to get more hops so I am kinda stuck with what I have, although I do have more Centennial in the fridge, you think axe out the orange peel and add another .5-1oz of Centennial?

THANKS!

[quote=“tony269”]

So you feel like adding the sweet orange peel at the end would be overkill? I am brewing tonight and dont have time to run back to the brewery to get more hops so I am kinda stuck with what I have, although I do have more Centennial in the fridge, you think axe out the orange peel and add another .5-1oz of Centennial?

THANKS![/quote]

If it were my beer, that is exactly what I would do. By keeping a recipe simple the first go round, you will be able to build on it much better and add orange to a rebrew if you want. You can also add some of the flameout hops as a hopstand/whirlpool addition during chilling. I’ve had great results with that. Just add them when the beer drops to 180*.

wow, those are some awesome tips, thank you so much, I think you hit it on the head, I have to keep it simple because it is a lot easier to add stuff later and see how it changes it vs having so much going on that it is hard to know what is doing what.

I think I will cut out the orange peel now and just roll with what I have at flameout, if I dont like it or think it needs more gusto then I can add more next time.

THANKS!

Just another suggestion but I’d make the beer and Pietro suggested, if you wanted to see what some orange peel does make a tincture with some orange peel (vodka or grain alcohol plus orange peel) and try it with some samples of beer. If you’re kegging you can scale it up and add the tincture to the keg if you decide that is the direction you want to go.

I made a beer much like the direction you’re headed last summer and it was a great summer beer. I kept the ABV down below 5% though since I wanted it to be an easy drinker and not get tanked.

[quote=“tony269”]wow, those are some awesome tips, thank you so much, I think you hit it on the head, I have to keep it simple because it is a lot easier to add stuff later and see how it changes it vs having so much going on that it is hard to know what is doing what.

I think I will cut out the orange peel now and just roll with what I have at flameout, if I dont like it or think it needs more gusto then I can add more next time.

THANKS![/quote]

any time. Try to keep the fermentation in the mid-60’s and you should have a good summer blonde/APA there. S-05 will be pretty clean in that range, and the lower you can keep it (but above 60), it should throw off some pleasant peach esters that will go well with the recipe.

[quote=“Pietro”][quote=“tony269”]wow, those are some awesome tips, thank you so much, I think you hit it on the head, I have to keep it simple because it is a lot easier to add stuff later and see how it changes it vs having so much going on that it is hard to know what is doing what.

I think I will cut out the orange peel now and just roll with what I have at flameout, if I dont like it or think it needs more gusto then I can add more next time.

THANKS![/quote]

any time. Try to keep the fermentation in the mid-60’s and you should have a good summer blonde/APA there. S-05 will be pretty clean in that range, and the lower you can keep it (but above 60), it should throw off some pleasant peach esters that will go well with the recipe.[/quote]

Not to derail the thread but I have brewed many beers with US-05 at around 67 and have never noticed any peach esters. Just a very clean malt/hop profile. Almost no yeast character at all just like WLP001/WY1056

[quote=“mattnaik”][quote=“Pietro”][quote=“tony269”]wow, those are some awesome tips, thank you so much, I think you hit it on the head, I have to keep it simple because it is a lot easier to add stuff later and see how it changes it vs having so much going on that it is hard to know what is doing what.

I think I will cut out the orange peel now and just roll with what I have at flameout, if I dont like it or think it needs more gusto then I can add more next time.

THANKS![/quote]

any time. Try to keep the fermentation in the mid-60’s and you should have a good summer blonde/APA there. S-05 will be pretty clean in that range, and the lower you can keep it (but above 60), it should throw off some pleasant peach esters that will go well with the recipe.[/quote]

Not to derail the thread but I have brewed many beers with US-05 at around 67 and have never noticed any peach esters. Just a very clean malt/hop profile. Almost no yeast character at all just like WLP001/WY1056[/quote]

right i was trying to indicate that if he kept it lower than the mid 60’s he may notice it. I do my summer blonde w/ US05 at 60* and its pretty evident.

Gotcha. I read that wrong.

Thanks for all the help everyone, this is what I ended up putting in the fermentor last night:

Grain:
Pale 2-Row Brewers Malt 5 lb
White Wheat 5 lb

Hops:
Centennial .5 oz at 60 mins
Centennial .5 oz at 0 mins
Cascade 1 oz at 0 mins
Citra .5 oz at 0 mins

Extra:
.5 pounds of cane sugar at 15 mins

Yeast: Safale US-05

Turned out with an Original Gravity of 1.048, tried a sample from the hydrometer beaker and it didn’t taste half bad, cant wait to try it when it is ice cold from my tap!

Thanks again for the help everyone!