first brew Hefe Q's, did i mess this up?

I made my first Hefe also my first home brew. Im a bit concerned about the lack of explosive fermentation i always hear about with hefe.

I made a starter with light DME and WLP-320 American hefe yeast 2 days before brewing. followed my recipe and got to the end added my yeast starter, placed covered inside ~65-70°. I got about 3 days of airlock activity, and about 2-3" of foam on the top of my brew.

Its been in the primary for 6 days now, and i still have 2" or so of foam (shouldn't that subside?) and zero air lock activity. I haven't taken a hydro reading to see where i stand on the gravity but 3 days seems really short for fermentation and i didn't get much foam either, did i screw this up?

recipe: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/help-getting-lined-out-my-first-hefe-84252/

Sounds fine. I just bottled a hefe last week and I didn't have any blow off. I left it in the pail for 2 weeks and when I bottled, the krausen had already fallen.

you are good to go!
Welcome to the obsession, let us know how it all turns out in the end

well here are a couple of shots of the beer in the primary, let me know what you think

Its BEER!!!!!

now stop worrying and relax

Looks yummy!!!

LOL, thanks guy, glad some people know what its suppose to look like. It sure looks awful dark but im sure that will change over time and in a little less quantity. So should i leave it in the primary or rack to a secondary? Ive always heard its a hefe and clarity doesnt matter but i racked directly from my brew pot through my CFC so im assuming there is some cold break material in there, will that cause any issues having the beer sitting on it for a month/3 weeks?

Anyone? Should i rack off my primary? Sat will be 2 weeks....

zachatola said:

Anyone? Should i rack off my primary? Sat will be 2 weeks....

Click to expand...

Here's a good thread that talks about this question: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/when-go-primary-secondary-43014/

The upshot seems to be that leaving it in the primary for long periods of time will not hurt it, and might even help clean up any off flavors, but that it's not necessary and racking to secondary doesn't hurt, either. Essentially, do what you're most comfortable doing. Hope that helps!

Well being that its a Hefe and by nature cloudy, i think i may leave it in the primary. I have always heard that the secondary is great for getting extra clearing but im new so i am feeling my way through the dark here. LOL

thanks for the link though

You're welcome. I'm thinking about doing a hefe this weekend so I may be facing the same situation soon!

I was expecting some serious blow off, but mine didnt get any bigger than the pic so im not sure what the deal was there but im hoping that it isnt a sign of how my beer is going to turn out. LOL

Looks perfect to me. I've not brewed a hefe (up next) but I've brewed beer, and that, to me, looks like a soon-to-be-delicious beer. Believe me, I am as up-tight as anyone when it comes to my beer. ANY little deviation from what I THINK it should look like -in all my infinite wisdom- and I'm calling in the experts. So trust me, I know where you're coming from here. It really is like raising a kid. You just want the best for them...

Seriously, listen to these guys and you'll be golden.

Deacon

This is your first beer you've ever brewed and your making starters and running a CFC? Cheers to you!! Way to jump right in!

Your beer will be fine. If you decide to rack to secondary, make sure you get the same hydrometer readings 3 days in a row...

LOL, yea thanks guys, ive been kinda lurking for a while doing some reading (books and posts). Ive always read that a starter is a very good thing to make so i figured why not give it a run, and then the CFC, a buddy that brews talked me into it and said that it was WELL worth the money to just build or buy one. I haven't used any other kind of chiller before so im guessing they are a little slower but the CFC i made works awesome and chilled my brew down to ~70-75 with ease. Luckily in the Seattle area the ground water is pretty cool year around so i don't have to pre-cool the water or anything.

Zach,

you're brew looks great. I am guessing this is a traditional hefeweizen... the color looks great. You will be amazed at how much it will lighten when it is in a glass. All 5g together just make it look darker, you will get used to that.

I am a proponent of using secondary tanks, but for a weiss bier, it just isn't worth it. Unless you are getting creative and want to clear it for some reason, just let it sit in the primary for at least 2 weeks. When you decide to bottle, put your carboy in the position you will be racking from and let it sit for 2 days, this will settle everything to the bottom in place, so you don't have to move it when you want to rack of the trub (hope that made sense).

Cheers

Thanks, im glad it looks par for the course. I was hoping it wouldnt be too dark, i have done a couple of apfelweins, but this is my first beer, i was hoping it would have a nice golden color to it. Its a mini mash, so i hope it has a good flavor, and good color and what not to it, ive heard mini mash is a nice middle of the road for taste vs level of difficulty.

I wasn't planning on doing the secondary on my hefeweizen, i think im going to just leave it in the primary. That makes sense on the rest and settling time. Thanks for the pointer. Honestly i cant really tell ya if its "traditional" or not, i think i posted the recipe in my first post (link), i wanted to shoot for a "American / Oregon" style of Hefe, i like the clean crisp flavor of the widmer brothers (portland OR) hefe. Ive never been a real big fan of strong banana flavors so i chose to use the WLP-320 yeast, which is suppose to not produce a lot of banana flavor. We will see LOL

what was your orignal gravity?

i dont remember right off the top of my head i had it written down, i think i may have either read it wrong or did something to mess up. I remember it being low, like WAY low. But the more i talk to people the more they seem to think that i must have read it wrong since my grain bill alone with my DME would have gotten me farther than i was reading. So off the top of my head i cant remember, so i can only guess what it is...

i did my first batch of hefe last friday it like 1.065 i thought that was quite but then i have no basis for comparison. airlock was real bubbly first for days but nothing to explosive. my looks about like yours in color right now hope it gets lighter.

Mine is getting a bit lighter. My airlock was going totally nuts for the first day or so, but after that nada. It was kinda odd to me but being my first beer i wasn't too sure. 1.065 sounds a tad high, but i dont know maybe thats typical for hefes.... Sounds like you have a successful brew.

well i bottled the hefe last night here are a couple of pics of the hefe. Tasted and looked pretty good from what i could tell.



color





What do you guys think??

looks good to me! i just brewed up a hefe the other day and have had the same result, lot of airlock activity but nothing crazy, i have a blowoff but i dont think it was necessary. I think the color looks great.

Cool thanks, i hope it turns out. It tasted good, but i think it might still be a bit green. Its only been in the primary for 3 weeks. So still needing some time to age i think.