Friday, July 29, 2011

Mango Wheat Beer

I was going to make a Strawberry Wheat beer, but my wild strawberries did not fruit this year. They took over my garden, flowered and then went to seed. I was a little disappointed, but decided to go another route and bought a box of mangoes. I have 6 mangoes cut up and waiting patiently in the freezer for their time in the secondary.
This is my first time using wheat and I hope my gravity reading is not too low. I will have some sugar or honey near by just in case.
From my research, I learned that you should mill the barley and wheat grains separately because the wheat is a small grain and might not get an adequate crush.
I had a difficult time figuring out what flavour route I should take. Mango is a subtle, delicate flavour that might not always shine through. So, instead of trying to make it the big taste, I decided to try to complement the fruit with something else. If I was to use a German Wheat yeast, I would probably get some banana notes (if I fermented at a higher temperature) and mango banana is a tasty combination. Citrus also goes well with mango. After much deliberation, I decided on a neutral American wheat yeast and Amarillo hops. I wanted to do Citra Hops, but they were not available at the beer store. It has been said that Amarillo can taste mangoey so the combination should really bring out the mango.

Here is my recipe:

Mickey Mango Wheat beer
2.72 KG / 6 LB of Domestic 2-row
2.00 KG / 4 LB 8 Oz of Wheat malt
.34 KG / 12 OZ of Crystal 10L

21 Grams / .75 OZ of Amarillo 60 mins
21 Grams / .75 OZ of Amarillo 1 min
15 Grams / .50 OZ of Amarillo dry hopped 7 days

Wyeast 1010 (American Wheat)

6 Mangoes in Secondary.

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