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2nd and 3rd brew- Wheat beer.

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  • 2nd and 3rd brew- Wheat beer.

    Good day all,

    Im still relatively new to Homebrewing. Have been reading on the Forum a couple weeks now and got some awesome information. So firstly Thank you to everyone!

    We started our homebrew by buying the basic from NFP in Emerentia about 5 weeks ago. this Kit came with a NFP Larger Extract. its been conditioning in the bottle now for about 2 and a half weeks. Had my first one over the weekend and wasn't impressed at all! Hoping it will get better with time, i find that the taste is lacking something, it has a very watery tasting finish.

    So for my second brew i did some more research. I have a great love for Weiss, and thought i will give this a bash. I got a recipe from Justin at Brewcraft, aswell as all the ingredients.

    So last week friday was brew day.

    We decided to brew 2 batches. One with honey and one without. just as an experiment.

    Our Ingredients were:

    Brew 1-

    1 tin Black Rock whispering Wheat.
    1kg - Brewcraft brew enhancer
    500g unhopped spray dried malt
    zest of 2 oranges
    15g coriander
    1 tea spoon pink pepper.
    500g bluegum honey
    1 pack - MJ Craft series Yeast - Bavarian wheat M20

    Brew 2 -

    1 tin Mangrove Jack bavarian Wheat LME
    1kg - Brewcraft brew enhancer
    500g unhopped spray dried malt
    zest of 2 oranges
    15g coriander
    1 tea spoon pink pepper.
    1 pack - MJ Craft series Yeast - Bavarian wheat M20

    We put these into 25L carboys to ferment. We went away for the weekend and when we got home this morning got quite a shock at how vigorously it fermented over the weekend. we decided to put blow- off tubes and good thing we did becuase we would have had huge mess if we didnt. Blow offs are now off and we put airlocks on.
    It is fermetning at 18 - 20 degrees C.

    Any input would be appreciated. I have a few questions regarding this brew. i know there are lots of people on here with extensive knowledge.

    Q1.
    When fermentation has stopped. should we transfer to a secondary fermenter? or should we just bottle. there seems to be quite a thick cake at the bottom of my carboys.

    Q2.
    Was is a mistake using honey? The OG difference between the 2 brews were about 1.048 vs 1.036

    Q3.
    Is such a vigourous fermentation normal? our first brew was very 'tame'


    Got a few more questions which ill add later. got to get back to work

    See pics attached.

    Regards,

    Wikus Kritzinger
    Attached Files

  • #2
    That first Wiess recipe sounds like a winner.

    Those hydrometer readings look fine to me. Possibly a little low for Weiss if memory serves.

    What is your volume in the carboy? For a 25L fermenter I wouldn't go over 21L.

    If you want to limit the ester flavours and aroma (vanilla/banana), rack it to a secondary after about 7 days. If not, leave it for about 14. After 14 days you can either rack it or bottle it. Personally, I leave it another 7 days in the secondary before bottling.

    Lastly, NFP don't give out enough yeast with their kits. Regardless of the yeasts quality, 2g is not enough for 18-20L. Mangrove Jack packets are about 10g which is what most yeast calculators I've seen will recommend for the same volume.

    I've spoken briefly about it to the new owner of NFP, but he is still on the same story the last owner gave him.

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by kingcur View Post
      That first Wiess recipe sounds like a winner.

      Those hydrometer readings look fine to me. Possibly a little low for Weiss if memory serves.

      What is your volume in the carboy? For a 25L fermenter I wouldn't go over 21L.

      If you want to limit the ester flavours and aroma (vanilla/banana), rack it to a secondary after about 7 days. If not, leave it for about 14. After 14 days you can either rack it or bottle it. Personally, I leave it another 7 days in the secondary before bottling.

      Lastly, NFP don't give out enough yeast with their kits. Regardless of the yeasts quality, 2g is not enough for 18-20L. Mangrove Jack packets are about 10g which is what most yeast calculators I've seen will recommend for the same volume.

      I've spoken briefly about it to the new owner of NFP, but he is still on the same story the last owner gave him.
      Thanks for the advise. i was following the recipe which asks to fill fermenter to the 23l mark. maybe it was a bit on the high end as the Krauzen was crazy, completely clogged my tubes. i think in future will only fill 21l or so..On friday i will transfer to secondary and wait another week or so for bottling.

      Comment


      • #4
        Welcome.

        As regards Q1, transferring to a secondary is optional. Some people do, some don't. I do, but bear in mind you do have the issue of oxygenation moving from one vessel to another.

        Q2. What was the thinking behind the honey? It was not a mistake was the second one the 1.036? Honey is extremely fermentable so you'll probably end up with a dryer beer.

        Q3. How vigorous your ferment depends on a lot of things such as yeast health, temperature, oxygenation etc. but vigorous ferment is generally good.

        I'd love to try your honey batch
        Give a man a beer, waste an hour. Teach a man to brew, and waste a lifetime!

        Comment


        • #5
          Thanks for the input Simon.

          The Brew with honey was 1.048 and the one without was 1.036. no real thought process behind the honey addition. Just thought it could give it a nice/different flavour.

          Will keep you updated on the progress.

          Comment


          • #6
            I've done two 20L batches with honey. 500g(about 10% of fermentables) gives a subtle flavour, 1kg(20%) is noticable. From what I've read, more than 1kg can be over powering. Honey can be substituted 1:1 with any other fermentable. Over a certain %age and it would probably be better to call it mead.

            One of my brewing buddies keeps bees so we have a ready supply of honey.

            I would expect subtle the honey tones to be welcome in a weiss.

            Comment


            • #7
              i really hope the honey makes a notable difference.
              quick question. we have now cleaned up the whole mess.cleaned and sanitized the carboy bungs, but since yesterday it still hasnt started bubbling again. the temp has remained constant at about 19 degrees. so far it has only been in fermentation for 4 days. could it be finished already? going to leave it till friday atleast before taking first sample reading. and will then decide whether were gonna put it in secondary or not.

              Really not looking forward to cleaning the Krauzen off those carboys! gonna be a mission!!
              Attached Files

              Comment


              • #8
                I would check the SG now to see where things are. I have had many finish in 4 days and it sounds like the yeast was very active (although you have very little headroom in the carboys).
                "I’m Allergic to grass. Hey, it could be worse. I could be allergic to beer." – Greg Norman

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by wikusk View Post
                  we have now cleaned up the whole mess.
                  I had also had two beers go crawling out on me! Also in a cupboard... I feel your pain!

                  I agree with SimonB, secondary is optional, Unless you are going more things to the wort, like adding fruit, dry hopping, etc. Otherwise, just leave it.

                  Beers can finish fermenting in less than 24 hours, or take a lot longer than two weeks. It is up to the yeast and their health and environment.

                  Buckets are easier to clean

                  You can't see the fermentation process in a bucket
                  SimonB
                  Administrator
                  Last edited by SimonB; 2 July 2014, 09:09. Reason: fixed quote

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Cool. thanks for all the input guys. decided that were not going to put into secondary. rather just leave in primary for an extra week.
                    Its bubbling nicely again now. started off very slow yesterday but is nice and consistent now. im sure it wont be done till atleast the weekend. then well leave it another week still.. im not sure what the FG reading is meant to be. it didnt come with the recipe. so well just take couple reading over a few days.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Good day all,

                      Today we bottled one of our brews, the one without the honey. Fermentation stopped about 3 days ago.. the other one with the honey is still slowly bubbling away...

                      Bottling went smoothly, we got 50, 440ml bottles out. Now i had a bit of a brain fart today while priming th ebottles, and i really hope this isnt going to come back and bite me. I think i worked it out wrong but i primed the bottles with 3ml of dextrose per bottle and not 2,9...grams. i think all the beers are going to be under carbonated... is there any way of fixing this?

                      With our Honey and wheat beer we decided to put it in secondary. it will only be racked in a weeks time.

                      Regards,

                      Wikus
                      Attached Files

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        How much does 3ml weigh? Was it powder or liquid dextrose?

                        If you are talking powder, then I think you are correct, the beer will possibly be under-carbonated.

                        However: Good news: Just leave the bottles to condition as usual. In 2 or 3 weeks, open a bottle and try. If the beer is under-carbonated, then simply open all the bottles, add conditioning sugars, close and allow another 2 to 3 weeks.

                        Other techniques you can try:
                        Add sugars with this Sugar Measure
                        Use a bottling bucket and mix your sugars in there, prior to bottling
                        Carbonation Drops make your life easier
                        Mix the full amount of bottling sugars with water and boil the mix (kill the nasties). Use a syringe to add the mix to the bottles (measure out the correct weight beforehand).

                        My personal preference is for the carbonation drops. I know it is not exact, but so far it made well carbonated beer for me.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Thanks for the advise. on friday evening we opened one of the bottles to see how it carb after 12 days. There was definitely pressure in the bottle. but after pouring it realised there was NO head and only a few bubble.(but it tasted AMAZING!) so we decided to uncap all the bottles and re-prime them all. worked out that 3 ml of dextrose is about 2grams and we needed 5.3 grams per bottle. (maths was WAY out!!) We added the sugar by dissolving it in water and adding it in with a syringe. I think in future we will batch-prime. think it will save allot of time and headaches.

                          After re-priming we bottled our Honey weiss which has been in secondary for the last 12 days. This time getting the priming right first time...now we just have to wait before we can enjoy!
                          Attached Files

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