Impatient noob question!

I recently brewed my first batch (a true brew amber ale kit) and about a week and a half after bottling it i decided to pop one open and see how the conditioning and aging was going and it turned out great. So for my second batch i brewed a true brew American wheat kit, but before bottling i noticed that the foam (or the foam residue left over from fermentation) didn't reach as high in the primary as it did for my amber ale kit. i didnt think anything of it and bottled the beer as usual. About a week and a half after bottling i decided to try one beer to see how conditioning was going and i noticed that the beer smelled very similar to how it did at the time of bottling. The carbonation was fine and the beer was relatively clear, but it tasted as if i was drinking it right out of the fermenter. Is this just the result of me being impatient or did i mess up somewhere along the way?

What did it taste like?

What was your final gravity?

What was your fermentation temperature?

BTW, the brew really should sit in bottles three weeks before drinking, and welcome!

ya i know i should have waited but read somewhere that tasting a sample of it early may help indicate any problems and whatnot. The taste was kind of hard to describe, i guess it was kind of yeasty, more yeasty than i any of the wheat ales that i have tasted in the past. I forgot to take a final gravity reading. Thanks for the advice though. Ill just wait it out for a few more weeks before tasting again.

I have noticed that wheat beer does not seem to change it's character much once fermentation is complete.

I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact it should be drank while still young?

Cpt_Kirks said:

I have noticed that wheat beer does not seem to change it's character much once fermentation is complete.

I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact it should be drank while still young?

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Yeah, wheat beers don't really benefit from extended aging time. The three weeks is for proper carbonation, which is important for wheat beer, or any brew for that matter.

Hey jstiller, what was your ferment temps and what yeast strain did you use? Also, how long did it sit in primary and, if applicable, secondary?

I used muntons active brewing yeast and the fermenter was at around 63-65 degrees for the whole week that it was in the fermenter. I did not use a secondary. I just realized that i did not properly hydrate the yeast before i added it to the fermenter, i just dumped the packet into the ferenter without hydrating at all. You think that might be an issue? It idnt seem to be one for my amber ale though...

Next time you do an American wheat, use a liquid yeast like Wyeast 1010 or White Labs WLP320, and make a starter. Wheat beers and hefe's are a style that really should be made with liquid yeast. It's a little extra money, and work, but it's well worth it. Also, 1 week in primary is a bit short. Do two weeks in primary before bottling next time.

HOOTER said:

Next time you do an American wheat, use a liquid yeast like Wyeast 1010 or White Labs WLP320, and make a starter. Wheat beers and hefe's are a style that really should be made with liquid yeast. It's a little extra money, and work, but it's well worth it. Also, 1 week in primary is a bit short. Do two weeks in primary before bottling next time.

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Agreed the only beer I buy liquid yeasts for are Hefe's and Wheats. I think good dry yeasts are fine for other ales.I dont brew lagers.

Safale has a dry yeast for wheats and I have tasted 3 different wheat brews that used it. It's good! Danstar just came out with one, too. I believe it's Munich.

To address your original concern about the foam, which I assume you mean the krausen in the fermenter, don't sweat it. Different yeasts have different krausen characteristics. Some have a ton, some have very little. And if you ferment in a non-transparent bucket, your krausen may have risen and fallen back into the wort. The point is, krausen is a bad indicator of what is going on with your beer, your hydrometer is the only accurate gauge.

devaspawn said:

Safale has a dry yeast for wheats and I have tasted 3 different wheat brews that used it. It's good! Danstar just came out with one, too. I believe it's Munich.

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Danstar Munich - German Wheat Beer Yeast
Strain used by a number of commercial breweries to produce Bavarian-style wheat beers. The propagation and drying processes have been specifically designed to deliver high quality beer yeast that can be used simply and reliably to help produce wheat beers of the finest quality. Quick start and vigorous fermentation, which can be completed in as little as 4 days above 17° C. Medium to high attenuation Non-flocculent strain; some settling can be promoted by cooling and use of fining agents and isinglass. Estery to both palate and nose with typical banana notes. Best used at traditional ale temperatures. Optimum temp: 55°-66° F

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Safbrew WB-06
The US release of this highly-anticipated dry yeast selected for wheat beer fermentations. WB-06 produces estery and phenol notes typical of Bavarian-style wheat beers. Flocculation: low Final gravity: high. Optimum temp: 59°-75° F

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I haven't used either of these but I probably will someday. Neither sounds appropriate for an American wheat but they'd probably make a killer Hefe.

Ok cool. Thanks for all the advice!!!