Imperial Weizenbock

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by FathomlessBrewing, May 16, 2019.

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  1. FathomlessBrewing

    FathomlessBrewing Initiate (0) Mar 1, 2018 California

    I'm thinking about doing an imperial weizenbock as the title states. I have a pretty good idea of a grist and whatnot, but never having brewed this style before, I look to those who have.

    Goal: dark imperial weizenbock with an emphasis on caramel, toasty marzipan, and banana flavors. Looking for an ABV of about 9-10%

    Grain Bill:
    25% Vienna
    15% Munich (possibly dark munich, unsure of this.
    40% White Wheat (should I sub maybe 10% with midnight wheat?)
    5% Chocolate Wheat
    3% Pale Chocolate (maybe use c40 instead?)
    1% Special B (may just drop all together and add about more chocolate wheat)

    Hops:
    2 oz Saaz or Tettnang @ 60 minutes

    Yeast:
    Imperial G01

    Mash:
    153F -- 60 minutes

    Boil:
    75 Minutes

    I also want to use a gallon to experiment with. I'd like to add bourbon soaked oak chips and see if that adds a deeper caramel/vanilla flavor that would go well with the beer.

    Inspiration for this beer comes from the Bruery "Ride That Goat".

    Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.
     
    #1 FathomlessBrewing, May 16, 2019
  2. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,250) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah

    Have you seen this? Might be behind a pay-wall:
    https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/homebrew-recipe/beer-recipe-of-the-week-weizenbock/

    Anyway, it isn't as strong as where you are aiming, but the recipe suggests to me that you might want a greater percentage of wheat (it uses dark wheat as 67% of the basemalt) and sweet (it uses special B and C40, at 1# total crystal per 6 gallons). But I don't think your recipe would lead to obvious issues, either. I haven't had many of these, but they were delicious.
     
    #2 pweis909, May 17, 2019
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  3. FathomlessBrewing

    FathomlessBrewing Initiate (0) Mar 1, 2018 California

    Thanks for that! I had seen a similar recipe which is where I drew the inspiration. I know most beers in this style use 65-70% wheat malt but I tried to put a bit of a spin on a "traditional" style.

    I'll try and brew this soon and go from there.
     
    #3 FathomlessBrewing, May 17, 2019
  4. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,250) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah

    I have been brewing one big beer per winter the last few years -- wee heavy, old ale, Baltic porter, American barleywine, dubbel. I was thinking about traditional (dunkel) bock for this winter, but now may be leaning in this direction. It's northern WI in May, the frogs are singing, the blackflies are buzzing, but winter is coming.
     
    #4 pweis909, May 17, 2019
    frozyn and FathomlessBrewing like this.
  5. minderbender

    minderbender Initiate (0) Jan 18, 2009 New York

    I just noticed that there's an article by Jeff Alworth in the latest issue of Craft Beer & Brewing magazine on weizenbock. It includes a recipe, I'm happy to post it if you like. (There's no such thing as a copyright in recipes.)

    Edited to add: The recipe is from Ron Barchet of Victory Brewing.
     
    #5 minderbender, May 21, 2019
  6. SFACRKnight

    SFACRKnight Grand Pooh-Bah (3,348) Jan 20, 2012 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Pale chocolate and c40 arent even close. I've been thinking about doing a dunkeldoppelweizenbock as well. I was just going to go
    50% munich
    35% white wheat
    15% chocolate wheat
    With maybe 1% midnight wheat for color. I know hefe yeast can get out of hand, I was thinking a 50/50 weihenstephaner 1056 pitch into a 4 at starter kept at low temps during fermentation to keep it from getting too phenolic.
     
    #6 SFACRKnight, May 22, 2019
  7. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,250) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah

    15% chocolate wheat with maybe 1% midnight wheat for color? I think you mean dark wheat (e.g., 9 SRM), not chocolate wheat (e.g., 415 SRM)
     
    #7 pweis909, May 22, 2019
  8. SFACRKnight

    SFACRKnight Grand Pooh-Bah (3,348) Jan 20, 2012 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Nope. I did mean chocolate wheat. When I say dunkel I really mean schwarz....
     
    #8 SFACRKnight, May 22, 2019
  9. FathomlessBrewing

    FathomlessBrewing Initiate (0) Mar 1, 2018 California

    Sure, I'd love to compare it.

    This one looks good as well. I had planned on keeping my yeast on the lower spectrum of temperature as well to avoid the phenols.
     
    #9 FathomlessBrewing, May 22, 2019
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  10. minderbender

    minderbender Initiate (0) Jan 18, 2009 New York

    All right here we go.

    Size: 5 gallons
    OG: 1.076
    FG: 1.011
    IBUs: 20

    4.1 lb dark wheat malt
    4.1 lb light wheat malt
    2.25 lb Vienna malt
    1.83 lb dark Munich malt
    1.13 lb Pilsner malt
    9 oz med. caramel malt
    2.4 oz dark caramel malt

    Mash at 112°F for 10 minutes, raise to 144°F for 45 minutes, raise to 158°F for 15 minutes, raise to 172°F for mashout

    4 oz Tettnang (3% AA) at 60 minutes
    2 oz Spalt (6% AA) at 60 minutes
    4 oz Tettnang at 30 minutes
    2 oz Spalt at 30 minutes

    Wyeast 3068 or other weizen yeast of your choice

    Pitch at 61°F, ferment at 65°F
     
    #10 minderbender, May 22, 2019
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  11. FathomlessBrewing

    FathomlessBrewing Initiate (0) Mar 1, 2018 California

    Awesome! I hadn't planned on doing a decoction mash but the more I read about this style the more I feel I should.
     
    #11 FathomlessBrewing, May 22, 2019
    SFACRKnight likes this.
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