Coopers Wheat Beer

Started a 5 gallon patch yesterday around 4 p.m. All went smooth and when all sealed I carried it outside and placed it under the back deck. This will keep it as cool as I can here on O`ahu, Hawai`i w/o fooling around w/ice.

Its been a "cool" winter and temps should range from 65 at night to 77 during the day. Inside it gets hotter if we leave and lock up the place. No a/c running here in this house.

I checked it this morning and after something like 14 hours the air lock was groing crazy, one bubble after another. Checked it again about 4 pm (24 hours) and it was still firing away.

Fingers crossed for NO hot weather.

What's going on?
Tuesday afternoon mix ingredents
Wedensday morning bubbling every 1/2 sec
Thursday morning bubbles maybe once a minute
Could the yeast have finished eating already?

I just made the same thing 3 weeks ago and only bottled it after 2 weeks. On bottling night i had a 1/2 pint of it and didnt smell good but tasted fine. Yesterday, I pop the first bottle just because I was thirsty and it put a big smile on my face. Another few more days and it should be good to go.

I live along the equator so I dare say heat didnt affect my beer and made it a bad batch.

If I did that here in Kansas I would have the skankiest beer you have ever tasted. Earlier this month we had a 95 degree temperature swing within 4 days! Went from a Winter Weather Advisory to a Severe Thunderstorm Warning, lol.

If I could just manage to get my yeast starter into a tornado I wouldn't need to build this damn magnetic stirrer I'm currently working on

GreenDragon said:

If I did that here in Kansas I would have the skankiest beer you have ever tasted. Earlier this month we had a 95 degree temperature swing within 4 days! Went from a Winter Weather Advisory to a Severe Thunderstorm Warning, lol.

If I could just manage to get my yeast starter into a tornado I wouldn't need to build this damn magnetic stirrer I'm currently working on

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It's starting to warm up here too,but not that much. I'm still able to maintain a good temp in the low range of the ale yeast I'm using. Maybe if you clamp the starter to an old turntable,& stake it down in the path of the tornado? Twister ale,anyone? Humans being pale? lolz

C-Rider said:

Its been a "cool" winter and temps should range from 65 at night to 77 during the day.

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Now I'm depressed.

StittsvilleJames said:

Now I'm depressed.

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Hey, remember I'm in HAWAII.

Feel sorry for me, I can't brew any pilsner or lager w/out the massive use of ice.

or the magic of modern refridgeration

C-Rider said:

Hey, remember I'm in HAWAII.

Feel sorry for me

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Yes, I feel 'really sorry' for you ...


Oh, and GreenDragon, I was in the States a few weeks back, visiting Kansas. It was 30 below windchill. That was chilly.

I have a problem.
SG was 1.044 before adding the yeast that came w/the kit (11710w)
FG (Sat-4days later) it is 1.036
It only bubbled vigorously for 24 hours
There seems to be something floating on the surface. Not a solid mass kinda looks like some of the yeast.
Temp from Tues to Sat were
High=79F
Low=67F
Smells good.
What do you think?

It's not a ale yeast unless that's what Coopers puts in for their Wheat Beer.
The instruction sheet says it should be good for temps from 6-90 F.

I'm about to make a coopers Wheat batch but i didnt get a kit... After searching around i found that most arent even boiling for any given time.. Recipe's call for Hot water and add ingredients and pitch yeast???

What i'm planing on doing:
Bringing 3 galons to about 160 F
Add my Wheat LME (Coopers in this case)
Add 2lbs of Wheat DME (to kick up the SG)
Bring to a boil for 15 min.
Add Zest (last 5 - 10 Min)
adding some zest and spice (Flameout)
Chill/pitch/ferment.

Am i missing something can i do it without the boil?

Dr1nkBeer said:

I'm about to make a coopers Wheat batch but i didnt get a kit... After searching around i found that most arent even boiling for any given time

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That's because it depends on what you got. Do you have the Cooper's can that is pre-hopped or is it just the Wheat LME? The pre-hopped can is a no boil can and from your list of ingredients I don't see hops so I'm guessing it's the black labeled pre-hopped can. If it is, then don't boil it at all. You can boil the other ingredients but just heat the can in hot water and dump it in the fermenter and add your other boiled ingredients on top. If it's the tan LME un-hopped version you can go ahead and boil it, but you'll need to add hops to your ingredient list.


Rev.

Checked the Primary today after one week.
SG is now 1.020. It started at .-44
Should I leave it another week in the primary or rack to secondary?
BTW I tasted a bit and it wasn't bad at all. Should be good when finished in a few months.

C-Rider said:

Checked the Primary today after one week.
SG is now 1.020. It started at .-44
Should I leave it another week in the primary or rack to secondary?
BTW I tasted a bit and it wasn't bad at all. Should be good when finished in a few months.

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A few months? You can comfortably be drinking a weizen beer 3 weeks from fermentation start. It's a cloudy beer and you don't have to wait for the yeast to drop out, in fact if they do you need to swirl them right back in there and pour the whole lot into the glass.

Rev2010 said:

That's because it depends on what you got. Do you have the Cooper's can that is pre-hopped or is it just the Wheat LME? The pre-hopped can is a no boil can and from your list of ingredients I don't see hops so I'm guessing it's the black labeled pre-hopped can. If it is, then don't boil it at all. You can boil the other ingredients but just heat the can in hot water and dump it in the fermenter and add your other boiled ingredients on top. If it's the tan LME un-hopped version you can go ahead and boil it, but you'll need to add hops to your ingredient list.


Rev.

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Holy crap batman! Very glad you pointed that out! I'm doing the Coopers Wheat Beer kit this weekend for the wife. I typically toss the kit instructions (except the hop schedule) and just follow the normal process. I would have totally boiled it. Thanks a million!

GreenDragon said:

I would have totally boiled it. Thanks a million!

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My pleasure man!

@C-Rider - I do my hefe's two weeks in the primary and then bottle. I found that even after one week my hefe's are nicely carbed up, though this might be dependent on what yeast you use of course (I've used Wyeast). I found them to be ideal at two weeks bottle conditioning - I didn't gain anything at weeks 3 and 4. So I'd say 2 weeks in the primary then bottle for two weeks and drink away. Hefe's are well known to be best young and not aged long.


Rev.

Thanks guys. Ok makes life easier. Leave it one more week then bottle. My bottling crew will be together again and will have it done in 20 min.

Rev2010 said:

That's because it depends on what you got. Do you have the Cooper's can that is pre-hopped or is it just the Wheat LME? The pre-hopped can is a no boil can and from your list of ingredients I don't see hops so I'm guessing it's the black labeled pre-hopped can. If it is, then don't boil it at all. You can boil the other ingredients but just heat the can in hot water and dump it in the fermenter and add your other boiled ingredients on top. If it's the tan LME un-hopped version you can go ahead and boil it, but you'll need to add hops to your ingredient list.


Rev.

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Thats what i thought... and the hops i'm adding is hallertau and challenger.
The can i got is brownish tan yea.. i hope i dont get any heat from the mods but this is exactly what i got.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002WET2XS/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

GreenDragon said:

Holy crap batman! Very glad you pointed that out!

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Yes indeed Greendragon, I usually look around to see what others are doing and mix mingle my recipe's. In this case i was totally unaware of the just add HOT water!.. ;-) and i thought LME was considered the easy brew.

anyone have an extra wart chiller? just thought i'd ask since i'm searching the internet vigirously for one.