Bash-Shell.Net

This batch is more of an experiment than I intended and I will almost certainly be brewing it again in the near future to correct some of the current differences. I'll keep this page updated after I get final gravity readings and have the beer kegged and on tap to try.

Measurements taken using both a hydrometer and a refractometer with multiple measurements taken using the hydrometer at different temperatures as my sample cooled.

Preboil SG: 1.031

Original gravity: 1.043 (mismeasured, I believe)

Final gravity: 1.009

Volume in Fermenter: 2.8 Gallons

TLDR;

I swapped wheat and Carafa II Special fromRechtschreibfehler with rye and chocolate rye. Due to homebrew store supply I had to use a different yeast than intended. I also have some weird gravity readings and although there were multiple measurements taken with multiple tools, I seem to have consistently misread. The end result is not what was intended, but is actually pretty good and I may do it again on purpose.

The Yeast and Fermentation

I have been using Lallemand Munich Classic for my Dunkelweizen and I like it. This seems to generally be a well liked yeast which gets the flavors right. This recipe is supposed to be Rechtschreibfehler but as a Roggenbier, so the wheat got swapped for rye and the Carafa II Special got swapped for Chocolate Rye. Unfortunately, my local homebrew shop was out of Munich Classic. The closest yeast in stock was SafAle WB-06 which I figured would be close enough other than the much higher attenuation rate of 85%+ rather than Munich Classic's 75%, so I went with it. When I got home I did some more research and it seems to be fairly different from a standard German or Bavarian Hefeweizen yeast like you would normally use in a Roggenbier. People report not really getting much flavor until fermenting at 70F+ as opposed to the usual lower 60s and then the flavor profiles reported still vary wildly. One forum post even says that this is closer to a typical Belgian yeast strain, which may be why the flavors are not what people are expecting for a German/Bavarian style Weizen and also explains the higher attentuation and temperatures.

After the research, I pitched about 67F around 10:30pm, let the wort continue to cool to 59F, where I saw signs of fermentation already at 9am the next day. From there I let the temperature ramp itself up to 70F and set my temperature controller for 70F initially and am slowly bumping it up to 72F. When set for 70F, it will heat until the sensor reads 70F but the sensor usually gets up to around 1F higher as wort temps even out.

Weird Gravity Readings

My gravity readings are way off and I'm not sure what happened. My pre-boil SG measured with two different instruments was roughly correct at about 1.031. Given that it was taken at a high temperature, volume differences due to limits of how accurately I can add water, and volume differences from minor volume loss while heating, etc. I'm not super worried about that being a touch lower than the estimated expected pre-boil SG of 1.034. The very strange part is that my OG reading was 1.043, which is incredibly low for the estimated 1.055. The extra 0.3 gallons in the fermenter accounts for about 0.005 gravity points but I have no idea where the rest went. I obviously measured something incorrectly at some point.

Between the yeast and the gravity readings I definitely need to brew this again properly. For now, I've got some crazy belgian rye beer deal and I'm very curious to see how it turns out.

Final Post Fermentation Readings

So I've been doing something wrong I guess when taking my refactometer readings and adjusting them correctly for fermentation happening, but I'm not sure what. I believe I also likely got my original gravity readings wrong. I have hit my expected final gravity (or close enough) at 1.009 and Brewtarget estimated 1.008 FG from my 1.055 OG with WB-06s attentuation rate of 85%. So given that my pre-boil gravity was correct and my final gravity is correct, I'm guessing my original gravity was also correct and I just failed at reading everything. That also seems odd given that I used both a hydrometer and refractometer multiple times, but it makes sense with the math.

Now I need to empty one of the kegs (one is very close, with just a couple pours left), clean it, and get this kegged and carbonated. I'm definitely excited to see how this crazy rye belgian/saison deal turns out and then to brew it again with the intended yeast.

2020-09-27 Kegging Complete

I tasted a sample of the beer uncarbonated while kegging this morning. This is a very odd flavor profile. As many people on forums point out, there's a sour/tart flavor which doesn't seem to belong and I'm not sure if I've got any clove. I'll update again after getting this carbonated and at the proper temperature. I got it down to 40F before kegging and am force carbonating at about 25 psi and will turn it down later to try to avoid overcarbonating, so it should be at drinkable later or tomorrow although maybe not fully carbonated.

Final Conclusion

The WB-06 definitely gave it more of a sour/saison tang and very little clove or banana, just like many others have reported. The color is both what I expected and not what I expected. It is much more in line with color charts for the calculated SRM, but the math also says it should be darker than Rechscrheibfehler and it definitely is not. I have felt all along like Rechtschreibfehler and the original recipe it came from were darker than expected, though, which may just be the color tone of Carafa II Special. I am enjoying the flavor given by the WB-06 and while I will brew this again with Munich Classic for a proper comparison, I may continue brewing it with WB-06 as well.