Brewing/ recipe questions

[bbushmaster]

Hey everybody I am going to try a fruit ale but my recipe calls for 5lbs Weizen dry malt but I cant seem to find any reference about it is there anywhere to buy it or does anybody have an alternative you could recommend also does anybody have any views on AMERICAN ALE YEAST II - 1272 or do you think this would be a good yeast to use or maybe have another yeast in mind that would work. well gunna really think this one through before i brew

[Johnny Max]

Weizen DME is 50% malt and 50% wheat. Just order dry wheat extract from Austin Homebrew Supply
www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_21_72_133&products_id=146
It is 45% Wheat and 55% Malt. That should do the trick. As far as that yeast, it will do fine. It ferments clean, but can impart a nutty flavor. Last time I used it for an old ale it fermented so hard it blew the air-lock off and I had cooled it down to 55 degrees

Just Brew it!
Johnny Max & Captain Ron

[bbushmaster]

cool but actually i have a few more questions like I said before I am a beginner and my book does not answer some of these questions first of all is there another yeast that you no of that would work good with a berry or fruit beer the reason I named the yeast above is it said it gives a fruity flavor. and in your opinion is it better to put the fruit in at the end of the boil or just in the fermenter I was thinking of putting all together 5 pounds of fruit and maybe 2 1/2 at end of boil and 2 1/2 in the fermenter do you think that would work and if your putting it at the end of boil do you put it in a mesh bag or just throw the fruit in the pot. and one more question in two parts ;D should i cut the fruit or berries into pieces or leave them whole and whats the best way to clean them, I was thinking maybe a quick blanch in boiling water what do you think?

[Johnny Max]

Okay, you can put the fruit in your boil pot or your fermenter, but the yeast will scrub out a lot of the fruit flavor. If you want the flavor to come through you will have better luck adding it to your secondary. If you do not rack to secondary add the fruit to the carboy after the fermentation slows. Personally I don't like adding a bunch of fruit to the carboy, now I add it to a fermenting bucket. A guy in our club used to add the fruit or berries in a big muzlin bag and heat them up in water to 180 F then just mash and squeeze the juice out and then add the juice. I have never done that, but I like that idea. I have a juice extractor and I even extracted the juice from carrots and made a carrot beer. I normally just extract juice heat it up to 180 F than addit. I have not used it, or seen it since I moved here a year ago. I will talk to the Queen and if she knows where it is, you are welcome to use it to extract all the juice. If it can get juice out of carrots, it can get juice out of anything.
Hey, A strange idea. What about a turnip beer or radish!

Just Brew It!
J-Max & C-Ron

[bbushmaster]

I dont no maybe radish because it kinda has a bite to it it could be interesting

[bbushmaster]

one more question in my book it says add the pectic enzyme during the boil should i still do it that way if im putting the fruit juice in at the end after fermantation

[Bob McGill]

On when to add fruit. Mosts fruits - if heated - higher than about 160F will give you a permanently cloudy beer. If its to be a weizen, this is acceptable. I have seen no recipes that add fruit to the boil pot. Some do add at shut-down and hope you get the temperature down quickly so as to not set the pectin (leading to cloudy beers). My suggestion would be to heat fresh fruit in a double boiler to about 150F to kill most bacteria and add it to the secondary. If you want the fruit aroma to really come out, add a small amount to your bottling bucket (you can add sterilized fruit exclusively at this time, but you need to understand the sugar content of the fruit you add). One correction in Johnny Mc's explanation of wheat DME. He mentioned that it is a blend of malt and wheat grain. I'm sure he meant to say barley malt and wheat malt.

[bbushmaster]

Hey thanks Bob that helped and I've actually went to a different recipe now still fruit beer but im putting berries in it but im glad you said something I was going to heat them to about 180 degrees then squeeze the juice into the secondary and then later at bottling if I didnt think the fruit was prevalent enough I would add fruit flavoring. whats your views on pectic enzyme, here's the recipe tell me what you think BEGINNER BEER ;D
5.75 lbs light extract
.75 lbs wheat extract
.5 lbs wheat
.5 lbs two row
.75 lbs light crystal
.5 lbs cara-pils
.75 oz willamette
.5 warrior
6 lbs fruit
1/4 tsp salt