Very strong wheat flavor...

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Brewcrew86

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2012
Messages
96
Reaction score
1
Location
Quad Cities
I am currently working my first brew. I have a bb weizenbier extract kit. I kept it for a week in the primary and put it in the secondary last night. I took a gravity reading at 1.012, which is in the correct range. The problem is that the wheat flavor is very strong....too strong. I did a full boil and only added 5 gallons of water. I did not compensate for evaporation. Will I be ok after a couple weeks in the secondary and a couple weeks in the bottle? Please help!

Thanks!

Wayne
 
It's easiest if you post your recipe, but if you hit the right OG and FG readings then you shouldn't worry about evaporation. The wheat flavor you describe is just what fresh wheat beer tastes like. It does subside over time though. If you don't like it, just use less wheat and more 2-row next time.
 
What kind of flavor are you associating with the wheat? Is it a very bready, almost chewy flavor? If that's the case it won't back off too much over time, though the carbonation does help cut the perceptable bready flavors and gives it a little more of that "beery" flavor. I've found a lot of the kit wheat beers, especially of the german variety, can have strong bready finishes, and with the right yeast can have a nice banana flavor that goes along nicely with it.
 
If you started with exactly 5 gallons of water and didn't compensate for your amount boiled off you will have a beer with a strong flavor. There is probably not too much you can do to compensate now without making a mess of the beer so drink it up and learn from the experience. :(
 
Yeah, I think you guys are right about the amount of water. It makes sense. How much water should start with next time to compensate for evaporation? I will be using a 5 gallon extract kit.
 
If you have a pot that is big enough start with about 6 1/2 gallons or even a little more. You want to have about 5.25 to 5 1/2 gallons going into the fermenter so that when you bottle and lose a little to the yeast and trub layer and a little more in the bottom of the bottling bucket you still will have a full 5 gallons to go into the bottles.

If your pot isn't quite big enough you can add water in the fermenter to make up the correct amount before you pitch yeast.
 
I have a ten gallon pot so that will work. I cannot believe I lose over a gallon through evaporation. Learning the hard way is fun...

Thanks for the help.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top