May's Brew - Lemon Weiss (Summer Beer #2)

The only photo that exists of what was a great summer beer!

May's beer in my "beer per month" goal for 2013 was a Lemon Weiss, a Weissbier brewed with an American Wheat strain of yeast.  I dubbed the beer a "weissbier" because after kegging, the beer really cleared out and was quite effervescent.  I imagine this was due to the strain of "American" wheat yeast which was used.

I'm unsure exactly where the yeast was sourced, however, I do believe I read that this Wyeast strain was sourced from a Pacific Northwest brewery (potentially Rogue) and was designed to impart the same characters as a "traditional" hefeweizen yeast strain but on a MUCH smaller scale.  I can say with certainty that there were very subtle hints of the banana, clove and bubblegum flavors that characterize a hefeweizen, however it was nearly indistinguishable.  Also the yeast REALLY settled out which is very UN-characteristic of a hefe.

My biggest mistake was using the zest of TWO lemons in the secondary.  I really could've only used one, however, the beer still turned out delicious and not a single person turned this down.  In fact, the beer turned out so well that it was gone in about 2 1/2 weeks.  It's quite unfortunate as I'd love to show a picture of it's light golden base with nice frothy head, however my mere words will have to do until next summer ;)

Tasting Notes:  The nose was very faint Hefeweizen clove and banana, Up front on the palate was lemon zest and spicy notes, finished nice, clean and effervescent much like a lager. Was quite "sessionable" (thus explaining why it's gone).

The great part:  This was a super easy extract brew with some steeping grains...here's the recipe:

Barrister's Lemon Weiss

3 lbs Wheat Dry Malt Extract
3.5 lbs Light Dry Malt Extract

Steeping Grains:
0.5 lbs Dextrine Malt
0.5 lbs White Wheat

-Steeping Grains added to 6.5 gal H2O in grain bag until temp of 165 F.
-Upon boil, Dry Malt Extract added.  60 min boil.

Hops and Dry Hopping Schedule:
(.75 oz Saaz, 1 oz Sorachi Ace, 2 oz Cascade)
0.75 oz Saaz - 60 min
0.50 oz Sorachi Ace - 25 min
0.50 oz Cascade - 25 min
0.50 oz Sorachi Ace - 10 min
0.50 oz Cascade - 10 min
0.50 oz Cascade - Flame Out
0.50 oz Cascade - Dry Hop at 10 days
Zest from 2 lemons - Dry Hop at 10 days

Fermentation:
Wyeast American Wheat 1010 at 68 F for 10 days, rack to secondary for 7.

OG:  1.052; FG: 1.011; ABV = 5.4%