Good Oven Spring with a Whole Wheat Loaf

As I have written before, I sometimes do 100% whole wheat flour loaves.  I usually add vital wheat gluten (VWG) to improve the rise of the dough.  As I have also mentioned, I get better results in the winter--the lower temps inside the house seem to help the dough ferment (though this year I've been finishing the dough rise in the oven with the light on.  I saw a tip online somewhere that doing so would increase the temperature a bit and it does).  Too much rise on the counter translates to less in the oven.

This loaf was baked just before Christmas:

As you can see, it's nicely-shaped and the loaf broke at the top, which 100% whole wheat loaves usually do not. The crumb is still fairly dense (ignore the uneven slicing):

 

Flavor-wise, this is normal red whole wheat bread.  It looks pretty much like the non-VWG loaf I discussed previously...so maybe this isn't so impressive, after all.

It can be done, however, even if I seldom achieve it.  This loaf took a lot of extra water--2 3/4 cups total, for 3 3/4 cups of flour and 1/2 cup of VWG.