Dunkelweizen Homebrew All Grain Recipe

This was one of my favorite beers I’ve brewed this year.  I know the Peanut Butter Porter and Black Cherry Stout were popular, but there is something to be said for a very simple style of beer, done well.  In German “Dunkel” means dark and “Weizen” is wheat, Dark Wheat.  What you have is a maltier and darker wheat beer.  I really love this style of beer and while it is simple to make, it is harder to do well.  I think this is a great recipe, and highly recommend using the liquid yeast, but be warned it can be extremely active.

The Grist:

• 5 lbs Dark Wheat (7° L)
• 3.5 lbs German Pilsen (1.7° L)
• 1 lb German Dark Munich (15.5° L)
• .5 lb Caramunich II (46° L)
• .25 lb Special B  (147° L)

Mash:

Mash grains at 153° for 60 minutes with 12.8 quarts of water (1.25 quarts per pound of grain).  Sparge 45-60 minutes at 170°.  make sure you do a run off and add it back to the mash tun.  I also give the grains a good swirl every 20 minutes or so during the mash.

Boil:

• 60 min – 1 oz Tettnang Hops(4.3%)
• 10 min – 1/2tsp Wyeast Brewer’s Nutrient Blend

Fermentation:

Wyeast #3068 Weihenstephan Weizen Yeast, no starter. OG: 1.060 (80% efficiency).  fermented at 72° (yeast range is 64-75°)

Enjoy!  If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear how it turns out.