Beer Forum

"Panty Melter" Orange Blossom Honey American Wheat

This beer drinks like its a 4.5% beer but it packs about 7% ABV.
The citrusy Orange Blossom Honey flavor and aromatics make it a chick magnet.
Your wife/girlfriend will absolutely love this beer. You will like it too, as its an easy drinker but
it can knock you on your ass.

Recipe Specifics

Efficiency: 78%
Batch Size: 10.25 gal
Boil Time: 90 min
Mash Temp: 131 °F

Starting Gravity: 1.068
SRM: 3.80
Bitterness: 25.0 IBU (Rager)
BU:GU: 0.37


Grain Bill:
Pilsner Malt (Germany) 6.0 lbs 1.037 1 SRM 28.6%
White Wheat Malt (USA) 7.0 lbs 1.039 2 SRM 33.3%
Crystal 10L Malt (USA) 2.0 lbs 1.035 10 SRM 9.5%
Orange Blossom Honey (USA) 6.0lbs 1.042 0 SRM 28.6%

Total Weight: 21.00 lbs

Hops

Variety Oz Alpha Boil IBU

Hallertau 2.00 4.5 60 20.4
Saaz 2.00 3.75 15 4.5
Saaz 2.00 3.75 0 0.0

White Labs - WLP320 American Hefeweizen Ale Yeast

Recipe Estimates
Yeast Cells Needed: 480 billion
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.017 - 1.020
Alcohol %ABV: 6.21 - 6.65
Calories/12 oz.: 224 - 226

Yeast Properties
Attenuation: 70% - 75%
Flocculation: Low
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium
Optimal Fermentation Temp: 65 - 69 °F

Notes

Use a step mash - 131F protein rest for 15 mins and a 152F Sacc rest to convert.
90 min boil time eliminates DMS from the Pilsner malt.
Add Orange Blossom Honey at 2 mins left in the boil only so it is
Pasteurized and preserves the Orange Blossom aromatics.
Aim for an overall soft water profile for soft hop presence.

In my experience, German Hefeweizen yeast (such as WYeast 3068) produces too much
clove and banana which clashes and overpowers the honey in this beer. The Pyramid/Widmer
yeast from White Labs (WLP320) adds a very slight touch of the phenolics and it melds
well with the Citrus from the honey. Save the 3068 for your Bavarian Hefe's.
An interesting variation is to use crystal 80 instead of crystal 10 for a nice Dunkel version.

You can make this as an extract recipe by subbing out 12 lbs of Wheat DME for the Pilsner and Wheat malt.
The extract version is just as good as the all grain, in fact, the first version of this was a 5 gallon extract version.

Just wanted to say I brewed this recipe not too long ago as my first American hef. Came out around 6-6.5% but was definitely an easy drinking beer. Sad to say but I had to push to kill the keg to make room and now I'm over hefs for a while, haha. I did however have some trouble finding orange blossom honey, so I had to use wildflower. The differences in smell were definitely there the first few beers I poured but it eventually melded pretty well. I also had to switch the caramel 10 to 15, but I don't think that made too much of a difference. Thanks for the recipe!

Glad you liked it. Try it with Orange Blossom some time. BIG difference.