Springfield Brewing Co.’s Mueller Wheat

Springfield Brewing Co.’s Mueller Wheat clone (American Wheat)

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.045 FG = 1.007
IBU = 18 SRM = 5 ABV = 4.9%

Ashton Lewis is the Master Brewer at Springfield Brewing Company in Springfield, Missouri and the technical editor of BYO. His latest feature article was “The Dark Secrets of Stout,” in the January-February 2005 issue. Ashton says, “We settled on Weyermann malt about 5 years ago. This malt gives a more consistent cloudiness, which I feel is important for the style. Our wheat is dry, crisp and refreshing — and has a certain ‘snap’ from the malted and raw wheats used, as well as a spicy hop nose from the Liberty hops. The foam has a rich, creamy and rocky appearance. Our wheat beer has been our number one seller since we opened in December 1997 and won a gold in the American-style wheat beer category at the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in 2003 and a bronze in the same category in 2004.”

Ingredients
3.7 lbs. (1.7 kg) Weyermann pale wheat malt
0.69 lbs. (0.31 kg) raw (unmalted) wheat
4.8 lbs. (2.2 kg) pale 2-row malt (Cargill Ida-Pils)
3.20 AAU Perle hops (70 mins) (0.40 oz./11 g of 8% alpha acids)
2.20 AAU Liberty hops (30 mins) (0.40 oz./11 g of 5.5% alpha)
0.56 oz. (16 g) Liberty hops (0 mins)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) yeast
1 cup corn sugar (for bottling)

Step by Step
Use a mash water volume of 2.9 gallons (10.9 L) and mash in at 122 °F (50 °C), rest for 20 minutes, heat to 140 °F (60 °C), rest for 30 minutes, heat to 154 °F (68 °C), rest for 30 minutes and heat to 169 °F (76 °C) for mash-off. Transfer the mash to the lauter tun and do a 20-minute vorlauf before sending wort to the kettle. When the top of the grain bed is covered by ~1 inch (~2.5 cm) of wort, begin sparging with 169 °F (76 °C) sparge water. Measure wort gravity towards the end of collection and do not collect wort weaker than 2 °Plato (SG 1.008). Boil wort for 90 minutes. Cool the wort to 64 °F (18 °C) and aerate. Ferment at 64 °F (18 °C). Fermentation is typically down to ~2.8 °Plato (~SG 1.011) in 3 days. Hold temperature at 64 °F (18 °C) for 4 days or until the gravity is no greater than 2.2 °Plato (SG 1.009). Cool beer to 50 °F (10 °C) and hold for 6 days or until the gravity is no greater than 1.9 °Plato (1.008) and then chill to 32 °F (0 °C). Bottle with corn sugar or keg and carbonate to a level of 2.8 volumes of carbon dioxide.