Schleisseheimerstrasse Hefeweizen

Named after the street in Munich:

I had this slightly expired packet of Danstar Munich lying around:

...and thought "What the hell?" A simple recipe, but I derived the grain proportions from this recipe...credit where credit's due.

Recipe

Batch size: 2 gallons

Grain bill:

• 1.5 lb Marris Otter
• 1.5 lb Wheat malt

Hops:

• 1 oz Harvest hops @ 60 ...not mine, but from a neighbour of my father-in-law:

Target gravity: 1.045 or so

Yeast: Danstar Munich, expired March 2012

Brew Day

April 14, 2012: Same day brewing for once! I got out the Victoria mill and started grinding:

Brought 3 gal water to 66 C, then mashed in w/paint strainer...man, that's convenient. Hit 63 C / 146 F, which is pretty close to what I was aiming for:

Hydrometer reading was way lower than I was after; it came to about 1.021, immediately after the mash, after adjusting for temperature.

Mandatory picture of the kettle:

My oldest son helped out with the decanting and the pitching:

OG into the fermenter(s...two gallon jugs) was 1.030. As I said, way lower than I anticipated. We'll call it a session beer. And the hydro sample...man, I can't remember the last time I tasted such a bitter wort. There was simply no hint of sweetness in there at all -- which I suppose isn't surprising given the lack of crystal, but I think those hops must be pretty strong too.

Bottling

May 21, 2012: Final gravity 1.005, so about 3.2% ABV. Not nearly so completely bitter-tasting as before.

Tasting

The only thing I wrote down: "Was okay; not much to write home about."