Summer Lovin' American Wheat
National home-brew day was coming up, and I asked the Beer Model if she would like to brew a beer that day. She said "yes". I gave her some choices on what to brew and eventually, she decided on a beer like New Belgium Brewery's Sunshine Wheat.
Sunshine wheat is a light, crisp, easy drinking, refreshing American Wheat beer with a nice citrusy orange and coriander flavor and just a bit of a honey malt coming through.
The Beer Model decided she would like to call her beer "Summer Lovin'". That is better than any of the names I had come up with, so that is the name we went with.
I created the recipe for her using most of the ingredients from the New Belgium web-site, although I did take some liberties. Instead of carapils, I used some honey malt, which has worked real well for me in the past. I also used East Kent Goldings instead of Target hops, which really should not make a huge difference, especially since they only provide the bitterness. Just as with Sunshine Wheat, I will use coriander and orange zest for flavoring. Summer Loving Wheat may be a bit higher in alcohol than Sunshine, but not much.
This was SheppyBrew's first all-grain wheat batch.
The second batch was pretty much the same as the first one except I adjusted it to be slightly larger and made in the mash tun instead of BIAB. I also used Chinook hops and threw them in as a first wort hop rather than a traditional 60 minute addition.
Batch 3 was the same, except I got rid of the double infusion and adjusted the hops to match what I had in stock.
If you would like to read on the blog about brew day or other Summer Lovin' related content, follow this link.
| Summer Lovin' Wheat --- Batch 9 (376) |
| Style | American Wheat Beer | Batch Size | 5.50 gal | |||
| Type | All Grain | Boil Size | 6.48 gal | |||
| Brewhouse Efficiency | 65.00 | Boil Time | 40 minutes |
Recipe Characteristics
| Recipe Gravity | 1.050 SG | Estimated FG | 1.009 SG | ||||
| Recipe Bitterness | 22.2 IBUs (Rager) | Alcohol by Volume | 5.5 % | ||||
| BU : GU | 0.440 | ||||||
| Recipe Color | 5.2 SRM |
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| Measured OG: | 1.050 | Measured FG: | 1.008 | ||||
| ADF: | 83 | Measured ABV: | 5.5 |
Ingredients
| Amt | Name | Type | # | %/IBU | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.79 gal | Denver, Colorado | Water | 1 | - | - |
| 4.00 g | Calcium Chloride (Mash) | Water Agent | 2 | - | - |
| 2.00 tsp | Lactic Acid (Mash) | Water Agent | 3 | - | - |
| 5 lbs | Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) | Grain | 4 | 45.5 % | 0.39 gal |
| 5 lbs | White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) | Grain | 5 | 45.5 % | 0.39 gal |
| 8.0 oz | Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) | Grain | 6 | 4.5 % | 0.04 gal |
| 0.500 oz | Magnum [12.50 %] - Boil 45.0 min | Hop | 7 | 22.2 IBUs | - |
| 1.00 Items | Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 mins) | Fining | 8 | - | - |
| 1.00 tsp | Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 mins) | Other | 9 | - | - |
| 8.0 oz | Honey [Primary] | Honey | 10 | 4.5 % | 0.04 gal |
| 1.0 pkg | Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] | Yeast | 11 | - | - |
| 2.00 oz | Orange Zest (Primary 5.0 days) | Flavor | 12 | - | - |
| 0.50 oz | Coriander Seed (Primary 7.0 days) | Spice | 13 | - | - |
Mash Profile
| Name | Description | Step Temperature | Step Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saccharification | Add 31.01 qt of water at 156.1 F | 150.0 F | 45 min |
| Heat | Heat to 156.0 F over 10 min | 156.0 F | 20 min |
If steeping, remove grains, and prepare to boil wort
Water profile:
Ca=68,Mg=8,Na=21,SO4=51,Cl=89,HCO3=104
Lactic acid addition brings estimated pH from 5.8 to 5.3
Boil wort adding hops and yeast nutrient as specified. Add honey after the boil.
Cool to as close to 60 degrees as possible to pitch.
Ferment under 65 for a couple of days, then let heat up to about 70.
Add orange zest a couple days into fermentation.
Total fermenation time 2 weeks.
Keg and force carbonate. Drink when ready
Brewing Record
| Brew Date: | Strike Temp: | |||||
| Mash Temps: | ||||||
| Pre-boil OG | (1.044 SG) | Pre-boil Vol | (6.48 gal) | |||
| Actual Mash Efficiency | Pitch Temp | |||||
| Fermentation | ||||||
| Day 1: | ||||||
| Day ... | ||||||
| Day ... | ||||||
4/24/2025 The wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model) says she would like to "help" brew this. So, I guess we'll brew it.
6/2/2025 Bought ingredients yesterday. Hoping to brew this coming weekend. Still need to get zesting oranges.
6/8/2025 Brew day today. Didn't prep anything last night. Want up all that early. Grains in a little after 6, but had to heat up to mash temp and the mash timer didn't start until around 6:20.
6/8/2025 After mash, let warm to just below boiling while I went to church. Pre-boil measured high so I diluted. Ended up right on track with honey and coriander added to the fermenter. Pitched yeast right on top at 11:35ish. OG 1.050. Tilt says 1.045 at 65. Not sure all the honey is mixed in, but I'm sure it will mix once the fermentation starts. No cooling going except ice bottles next to SS bucket. Should be fine. Need to get zesting oranges.
6/9/2025 No bubbling today. I opened the top, and looked. It does look like the yeast is growing, but not ready to go quite yet. Sanitized a paddle and stirred. Hoping it will start later today.
6/10/2025 Fermentation started up late yesterday. Bubbling away today. Tilt says 1.040 at 61 degrees. Removing cooling ice. Here we go.
6/11/2025 Bubbling away. Tilt at 1.025 at 70, Nice little orange aroma coming out of air lock.
6/18/2025 Done fermenting. Need some zest oranges to keg. Tilt says 1.000 at 69 degrees.
6/24/2025 5 oranges 1.625 oz of zest. Need to keg.
6/24/2025 Kegged. Was waiting for Kemosabe to kick, but that keg seems bottomless. So I put into one of the kegs with a floating dip tube. Added 1.625 oz orange zest, a campden tablet, and some coriander. Measured FG at 1.008, which is close to predicted.
6/26/2025 Kemosabe finally blew so I'm putting this into beer fridge. Perfect to be drunk for Beer Models birthday.
6/28/2025 First put out of the keg. Needs carbonation, but it takes like Summer Lovin' batches from the past. Nice orange zest flavor with a simple malt base.
7/4/2025 Carbonation better. Officially on two and ready to drink. Orange zest and coriander. Refreshing.