Finally got it right....

For my second attempt at recipe design i thought i would try a simple beer like a hefeweizen (my brother was begging me for another after i brewed the AHS hefeweizen for his bday and he loved it). I tweaked around with a recipe and finally brewed it this past weekend. While the fermentation isn't quite finished (hard to keep the fermenters up to temp when i turn the furnace off during the day while i'm at work) so far it tastes REALLY good. Trying to ferment at higher temps for those banana esters and the brew belt seems to be helping with that. My first attempt at recipe design was a belgian that didn't turn out at all the way i wanted it to (it's carbing in the keg right now but i'm actually thinking about dumping it because i don't think i can drink that much). Sorry to rant but i'm just really happy that this recipe of my design actually came out well!

mullimat said:

My first attempt at recipe design was a belgian that didn't turn out at all the way i wanted it to (it's carbing in the keg right now but i'm actually thinking about dumping it because i don't think i can drink that much).

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Congrats on the recipe going the right way. Before you dump that Belgian, buy another corny keg. It's cheaper than you paid for the Belgian ingredients and then you don't have to rush to finish it before you can brew more.

Second the thought on buying another keg! Let that Belgian age some. What are the reasons you don't like the Belgian?

TopDog said:

Before you dump that Belgian, buy another corny keg. It's cheaper than you paid for the Belgian ingredients and then you don't have to rush to finish it before you can brew more.

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+1

or send it to me for a replacement corny, I profess at Belgian Ale disposal

Congrats on the brew!

I really messed up on the proportions of the Belgian which is the reason i'm not a big fan. Didn't do NEARLY enough research as i should have and used way too much Caramunich. Maybe could have also used more hops in it. All in all, it is just a little too strong of a caramel flavor for my tastes. Maybe it will get better with age but doesn't seem too promising. It doesn't even really seem to fit the profile of a Belgian at all. I don't even know what kind of beer it would be classified as. But it doesn't matter, i'm still happy with the Hefeweizen! And btw, i was already planning on getting another keg and probably also getting some more bulk grain this weekend (already got a 50lb. sack of 2 row, 6 lbs. special b, and 4.5 lbs. various hops to start stocking up on ingredients).

BTW, this is the recipe for the Hefeweizen...

6.00 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 52.18 %
5.25 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 45.66 %
0.25 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 2.16 %
1.00 oz Spalter [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 14.7 IBU
1 Pkgs Hefeweizen Ale (White Labs #WLP300) Yeast-Wheat

post it up in the recipe section if it turns out well, never hurts to have yourself published