Amber ales and wheat malt

[splocal]

HI guys its been a little while.....I have a question about a recipe. I am trying to find/make a clone for the amazing red nectar ale brewd here in CA. On there website they are very informative about what malts they use hops and even hop schedule. I was surprised to see that they use some wheat malt in the recipe. I was wondering if any of you have made an amber ale with wheat malt before I am trying to figure out how much to use. here is a link to there site with almost a complete recipe thanx for any input.
http://www.nectarales.com/?page=red-nectar
also I was considering using WLP008 east coast ale anyone have a better suggestion? The two row grain bill should be easy to figure out than its just how much crystal and how much wheat thanx for the help guys!

[corkybstewart]

I use small amounts of wheat, less than 10%, in lots of beers. Wheat gives body and head retention and when used in small amounts is pretty much undetectable.

[splocal]

Thanx Corky I was wondering how some of the beers I like have so much body. I know oatmeal and flaked barley help with that also higher gravity beers but some of the beers I have tried are not to sweet but have lots of body and like you said there are no noticeable wheat or oatmeal flavors. So If I had a grain bill for a 5 gal batch of lets say 9# two row 1# wheat and 1/2# crystal 75 would that give me a nice malty amber beer with good body? I am tryin to get in the neighborhood of 5% ABV with a red lovibond color of 22. Do the wheat and crystal bill look right for that?

[corkybstewart]

I would use 1/2-3/4 pound wheat, no more than that, and the crystal looks good.
For a deeper color I throw some black patent on top of the grain bed when I start sparging, it gives color but no roasted flavors.

[beerking]

+1 on everything Corky said. I, too, use a bit of wheat in almost every beer I brew. For a 5 gallon batch, 1/2# is pretty much my norm, although if I am brewing a lighter colored beer which I want very clear I will drop down to 1/4#. I found I was getting a little cloudiness in Helles and Pils, and even Pale Ale with 1/2#. That is probably because my water is EXTREMELY soft, including Ca down around 40 ppm. Since low calcium is detrimental to yeast flocculation, this could be the cause.

[splocal]

thanx guys that settles it 9# two row 1/2 # wheat 1/2# crystal 75 and 1/4# black patent during sparge for color thanx again!