Received a couple pounds of Blackprinz & Midnight Wheat and trying to figure out how to use it. Never brewed a Schwarzbier so that one is first on my list. Next planning on a black cream ale. Anyway, for schwarzbier planning: 5# Weyermann Pilsner malt 5# Durst dark Munich malt 6oz Blackprinz 6oz Midnight Wheat Bittered to 28ibus, fermented with 2 packs S-23 @50F Any feedback?
Looks good, not sure about the wheat addition which is a bit unusual in a schwarzbier, but if you have the malt I guess why not use it One thing I would personally do is drop the IBU's a bit, I personally prefer a schwarzbier thats a bit more balanced towards the malt, and technically your quite a bit out of range for the style
28 IBUs is consistent with the BJCP guidelines for a Schwarzbier: Vital Statistics: OG: 1.046 – 1.052 IBUs: 22 – 32 FG: 1.010 – 1.016 SRM: 17 – 30 ABV: 4.4 – 5.4% Cheers!
thanks for posting...actually my recipe looks at bit out of line on the SRM value as my value is 32, but I'm not too worried about that aspect as much. Might bring the ibu level down a bit but am a big fan of a hop bite so will debate that one for a bit. Yes, the wheat is also out of character, but hoping the sweetness that the burnt wheat brings to the table will be a nice contribution: Midnight Wheat Malt 550o L / No bitter, astringent, dry flavors or aftertaste Starts slightly sweet Hints of roasted flavor Finishes exceptionally clean
I have never homebrewed a Schwarzbier so I really don’t have any personal brewing experience to provide ‘good’ input on your recipe. One of my favorite Schwarbier’s is Sprecher Black Bavarian (yeah, I know it’s not German brewed). Below is a description of Black Bavarian from the Sprecher website: Black Bavarian Facts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alcohol by Volume: 5.86% Degrees Plato (Initial Gravity): 15P Weeks Aged: 8 Bitterness Units: 32 IBU Year First Brewed: 1985 Serving Temperature: 60° Malts: 2-Row Pale, Black Patent, Caramel, Chocolate, Pale Hops: Cascade, Chinook, Mt. Hood, Tettnanger Sizes: 1/4 and 1/2 Barrels, 16oz Bottles Randy's Notes: “I have been brewing this lager since my return from Bavaria in 1969 or over 35 years now.” So, from the above I would recommend that you keep your hopping level ‘up’. Cheers!
If your a fan of the hop bite, why not just brew up a hoppy porter? To me a schwarzbier is essentially a malty/bready dark pils, I think far too many commercial and homebrewed versions fall short in two areas 1) too much roast character - it should be extremely subtle 2) too bitter/hoppy - makes me think of a porter, which I love as well, but when I open a bottle expecting a schwarz and I get a hoppy porter I am disappointed no matter how great the porter is
I agree with the roast character. My goal is to try to keep the roast character subdued by not adding any chocolate or BP as many recipes such as the recipe Jack posted have. So that leaves the 50/50 pils/munich plus a touch of "clean" roast malts to come through. The hop bite is still in debate in my head, if I go for the light end of ibus, i'm going closer to Full Sail's Session Black which i do love too. Hmm...
I brewed a beer that was very similar to this earlier this year. Mine was had white wheat malt instead of midnight wheat, but I used a lb of carafa II for color, so I reckon it is a pretty similar effect: 5# 2-row 3# vienna 2# white wheat 1# de-husked carafa II .5# crystal15 1 oz willamette 60min 1oz cascade 10min CA Lager (Anchor Steam) Yeast in the low 60s (no temp control this winter) single infusion at 150F OG 1.050 FG 1.010 SRM 30ish- very black IBU 25ish Hella good beer. Silky smooth, with just a faint backdrop of roastiness from the carafa that comes across as almost smoky. Pretty much a perfect summer BBQ beer. After drinking it for a while now, I will def. do it again, but next time I'll sub the crystal with more vienna and mash at 155F to compensate for the slight loss of body (as it stands the body is fucking great- I think thanks to the wheat) and use a spicier german hop in place of the cascades.
I will buy a sixpack for anyone who can tell the difference between 30 SRM and 32 SRM by sight (and not side by side).
