1.040 Hefe

[schmeek]

First extract brew in a while, tried the blood orange Hefe yesterday and missed my pitch temp and was out of ice so I used cool water to bring it to 72F. Sadly that took me down to 1.040 OG. Should I try boiling a pound of DME in a quart of water and adding that to primary or leave it alone? I'm afraid of it tasting bland :/
Recipe was supposed to be 1.050 OG at 5 gal and I have about 5.5 gal

 

[m00ps]

let it go for now and you could try to DME thing after maybe like a week if you taste it. Never try to open youor fermentor in the initial stages of fermentation

what temperature do you have it going at now? Temp is important for Hefes in particular because it will shift the yeast flavor from clove to banana

 

[schmeek]

It's at 63 in a cool brew bag. I'm using wyeast 3333. Would adding extract after initial fermentation would create off flavors? Why shouldn't I open the carboy during initial fermentation? I do with mead making to add nutrients all the time and no harm done.

 

[m00ps]

adding extract after fermentation starts doesnt create any off flavors. I add all my honey and syrups to belgians after high krausen to keep the aromatics that would be lost in the boil

I just advise against opening the bucket at first because this is when the beer is most vulnerable to infections. Down the line, the alcohol conmtent will help keep bugs out of it

63 is a good temp to be at, it will be more clove-ish. I'd bump it up to the higher 60s after a week or so to help the yeast finish. Or slowly bump it up now if you wanted banana

 

[schmeek]

Just thought I'd share the results. I ended up just leaving it alone and hoped the blood oranges would add some sugar throughout fermentation. Nice orange color, better than I was expecting. Decent head retention and nice citrus complement to the clove/banana. I used wyeast 3333 for the first time and it is great! It's a bit light on the phenolic sand maltiness but that could be attributed to the low gravity. All in all I'd say it was a success!

 

[OscarBrau]

I have a blood orange hefe bubbling away right now. The recipe I used (From Extreme Brewing) is about 1.046 without the oranges (based on brewers friend). So, 4 medium oranges should add about 4 points. Great beer!