Looking for comments, suggestions on this hefe recipe. First a little background. My wife wants to brew a beer and this is the style she has chosen, I have never done a decoction and now is not the time to try it. We just tried three different hefes to get a feel for what we are looking to achieve. We sat down with a Blue Star from North Coast brewing, a Weihenstephaner to see if we wanted to use the WL300 or if it would be to bananaee. and the Ayinger as a comparison in the Bavarian realm. My opinions are what they are (the blue star was boring, as is most american wheat beer, the Weihenstephaner tasted a little like nail polish remover, the Ayinger was pretty good though) But it's my wife's opinion that matters this time around. She liked the Weihenstephaner but thought it was a little harsh and hot. She liked the Blue star but didn't think it was what she was after, she wanted more of the Bavarian character. So finally to my recipe... after this one question.
If I control the temp to 62ish on the WL300 but under pitch (2 vials to 11 gallons) will I be able to maintain the spicy clove character without the nail polish remover?
Okay here is the recipe
All malts are Weyermann organic,
10.5 Lbs Pale Wheat Malt (60%)
6.5 Lbs Pilsner (37.14%)
.5 Lbs Vienna (2.86%) (this is here because I am not going to do my first decoction as my wife's first brew so I am trying to simulate that result, I also have access to Munich and caramunich if one of those would be better)
1.25 oz Hallertauer at 60 Min.
Mash at 150 for 60 minutes, batch sparge.
A couple other questions
Would using some raw wheat gain me anything in this recipe? If so what? or rather what would adding some raw wheat do to the flavour of this beer?
I can not find organic rice hulls, I don't want a stuck sparge but I am also fairly adamant about using organic ingredients where ever possible. I am using a 72 qt coleman extreme (blue in case you are wondering) with braid the length of the cooler. am I going to struggle with stuck sparges with this much wheat if I don't use rice hulls?
My wife really liked the 'buttery' mouthfeel in the Blue Star, this got me thinking and I wonder if it would be crazy to add a little bit of oats to get something like that.
Thanks!