The Wheat Experiment

I met Satan in Midland to brew a 10 gallon batch of wheat beer. We fermented five gallons with a German Hefeweizen yeast, and five gallons with an American hefeweizen yeast. I posted the recipe earlier, and want to give our results.

We intended to brew on Saturday, but things were to hectic at Satan's place of employment. We returned to his house at 4 and drank far too much. The next morning, I was horribly sick. (Mental note: Beer and Makers' Mark don't mix!) Satan was also hungover, so we got a late start. We had hoped to be doughing in by 8:30 am. Instead, we were rolling out of bed at 8:30 am. I managed to force down, and keep down, a breakfast sandwich from a convenience store (with the aid of at least two Dr. Peppers). Have you ever brewed when you find the entire concept of beer nauseating?

That may explain a couple of errors. We didn't measure the water in the mash tun, just did it by eye. We collected almost 14 gallons of liquor, and boiled it down to 11 gallons. Our original gravity was 1.043, almost 9 thousands of a point lower than predicted. It barely falls outside the low end of the hefeweizen range, and a few points above the low end of the American wheat range.

By the time this posts, we will have the results. I will post them shortly.