New here (virgin brewer), question about time untill drinkable....

So I'm new, just got my "kit" with the works including 6gal primary and 5gal secondary glass carboys, thermometer, hydrometer, racking tube, yada...yada. Also just got done constructing my "son of fermentation" chiller/warmer. My house is actually about 60* at night, so I will be installing a light bulb inside on a thermostat to keep the brew warm. In the summer it will be used to cool the brew as needed.

Anyway, here's a recipe that was recommended to me by a friend in UT for a lemon hefe (it's on another site):

Lemon Lingerie

6 lbs Wheat Liquid Malt Extract (60% wheat / 40% barley).
My LHBS didn't have this in liquid, so I got 5lbs wheat DME (recommendation of my LHBS. but I don't know the ratio of wheat to barley)

1 oz Cascade 5.9% @ boil
They only had Cascade 5.4% in pellet form
½ oz Cascade @ 30 minutes
About 10 Cascade pellets @ 55 minutes
(60 minute boil total)

White Labs American Hefeweizen Yeast (WLP 320)

Ferment at 68 degrees

Add the zest of 2 organic lemons when transferring from the primary to the secondary.

So I am hoping to drink this by Christmas and/or New Years (if possible). I might brew this Sunday or next weekend.

What would you recommend for time in each (primary/secondary/bottle)?

Also, the only hops I got were in pellet form and 5.4%. Are they available in another form? Do I need to modify the recipe to use pellets for all steps? I don't like bitter beers, so I'd rather err on the low hop side. I'm drinking a Widmer Hefe right now. It's one of my favorites if that tells you anything.

Thanks in advance!

Steve

Steve,

if you ferment this at 68*F for 3-4 weeks in your primary (no need for a secondary); and then bottle for 3+ weeks, you'll be fine!

welcome to HBT!

p.s. if your house is 60 at night, that should be okay. don't worry about warming it up. your fermentation temps will usually be ~4-5 degrees warmer than ambient temp due to the yeast activity

Dude, you brew this on Sunday and it'll be ready to drink it waaaaay before Christmas. It's a hefeweizen so extensive aging will actually be not so good for it. If you're kegging it can be drinkable in 2 weeks. Bottling, it's possible to be ready in 4 weeks... 3 weeks if you don't want to wait for it to fully carbonate.

Good luck ^_^

Welcome!
It looks like a pretty solid recipe to me. I agree with AZ, 3 - 4 weeks in primary and 3 weeks in the bottle and you'll be drinking it by Christmas.

If using lemon, I'd definitely transfer it to a secondary glass vessel after 2-3 weeks and then add the lemon. I put lemon in a primary plastic fermenter and it now permanently smells of lemon.

Good luck!

Thanks for the quick replies!

So I know I don't NEED secondary fermentation, however that's when the lemon is added, so I'll not skip it.

If I bottle on Nov 1st, I'll have 7 weeks and a few days until xmas so how does this sound:

3 weeks primary, 1 week secondary, 3 weeks bottle, enjoy...

If the lemon isn't strong enough for my liking, I'll leave it in the secondary longer next time.

I only built the fermentation box in case I need it. I'll probably leave the door off until I confirm temp of the brew.

Steve

Steve, sounds like you know what you're doing! you're right on schedule!

If you're going to do secondary, I would flip the numbers - a week or so in primary followed by 3 weeks or so in secondary.