So my wife has a favorite commercial brew, Sweetwater Sch'weat. After a string of porters and other dark brews for the winter she threw down the challenge to try and clone this brew. After some googling back and forth and some tweaking on my own I ended up with a recipe I liked.
6.5 lbs - 2 row
2.75 lbs - Wheat
0.5 oz - Amarillo (60 minute)
1 oz - Amarillo (5 minute)
In a fit of absolute frustration I had to tweak to this on brew day when I discovered the 3 lbs of wheat I ordered had come up short. Not by much but I added back some 2 row to balance it out and keep the OG where I wanted.
After a successful brew day with no issues of note and two weeks between the primary and secondary I bottled using 1 cup of honey. This one was tough for me because it is actually not my favorite wheat (if going hefe I prefer Widmer, its okay call me an Oregon beer snob I can take it) so tasting it throughout the process I was never completely sure if I was happy with it. It kept tasting bitter to me, but not like fun hop bitter, more like citrus bitter. The client kept insisting she was happy but I was weary, I've never dumped a batch and didn't want to start now. Finally 10 days after bottling we threw two in the fridge and went for it.
I have to say after all that I am happy with it, she loves it, says it may even be better than the original (don't worry, I know she is biased and just stroking my ego) and even I am happy with it. It mellowed some in the bottles I think and is crisp and refreshing, perfect for these very nice spring days in Georgia.
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