First Beer Attempt - Hefeweizen

[Apple_Jacker]

Hello all. New to the beer brewing side of things; I've made ciders and wines before but never beer. I've been researching different recipes and ingredients for some time now and overwhelmed myself with information, so I decided to go for a kit. It's True Brew Bavarian Hefeweizen 5 gallon beer kit. I started it 2 days ago and everything is going great so far. It was warmer than I wanted it yesterday, but I got it down now to around 72 degrees...its been hot down in the South land the last few days! The bubbling in the airlock is down to about one every 12 seconds. In a few days or so once it settled down some more ill post my bottled beer for y'all.

 

[duboman]

Looks great but don't rush to bottle, be sure you get two stable gravity readings over. 3 days before you bottle, fermentation must be complete or you will be a bumming' dude if bottled too early.

 

[Apple_Jacker]

I bottled AND overcarbed too early a large batch of cider last year...at least I didn't have bottle bombs but it sure was messy when I would open one to drink them! I plan on just following the directions and my hydrometer readings before bottling.

 

[billl]

Just FYI - most kit directions kinda suck. Plan on more time for every step.

Also FYI, for hefe yeast, the higher the temp goes, the more banana and fruit you'll get. If you like that, then brewing a little hot may be perfect. If you prefer a spicier taste, you'll want to keep the temps down.

 

[hulkavitch]

I did i hefe for my first beer and will never do one again without temperature control. I tasted like that cloves gum. I have heard that the information that low temps create cloves and high banana is not true. Mine fermented warm. Jamil z. Recomends 62 degrees for a good balance but stresses minimizing temperature swings.

 

[tbrown4]

Drinking my first hefe now, from an extract kit. It sat at 62F. Clove notes, light citrus. Very slight banana, not much. I'd like to get some sort of temperature control capabilities to try this at a higher temperature, same with saisons too.

 

[Apple_Jacker]

Hmm, well I guess I will know in a few weeks how it tastes! If it has a strong banana taste, that wouldn't bother me much.

 

[hulkavitch]

Yeah i like the banana side as well. Hefe's are kind of tricky. I didnt really realize that before i chose it as my first. I hope yours turns out great.

 

[Meatyboy]

I just bottled my Bavarian Hefe tonight, sample tasted fairly fruity with a hint of clove. Fermented at around 71 degrees. From what I've heard and read, Hefe's like to be drank green, and carb quickly, so I'm hoping by middle of next week I'll have a hefe to drink.

 

[tbrown4]

I just bottled my Bavarian Hefe tonight, sample tasted fairly fruity with a hint of clove. Fermented at around 71 degrees. From what I've heard and read, Hefe's like to be drank green, and carb quickly, so I'm hoping by middle of next week I'll have a hefe to drink.

NB kit? That's what I did. It carbed up in just over a week, 8 days to be exact.

 

[duboman]

I just bottled my Bavarian Hefe tonight, sample tasted fairly fruity with a hint of clove. Fermented at around 71 degrees. From what I've heard and read, Hefe's like to be drank green, and carb quickly, so I'm hoping by middle of next week I'll have a hefe to drink.

I love my Hefes, all will carb up in about 7 days and taste pretty good but IME the second week in the bottle after a few days in the fridge is when they really shine!

 

[Apple_Jacker]

Sounds like I'll be having a good brew to look forward to!

 

[adamjackson]

I did a hefe last month. It came out VERY plain but nice and drinkable and pretty good clarity. If I may suggest..what made my wheat beer go from good to great is I added 2 ounces of blackberry extract to the batch post-fermentation and before kegging it. 2 ounces really made it amazing.

 

[brewer_sam]

My bavarian hefe is approaching the 2 week fermentation mark. I'll be bottling in a day or two. Ferm temps for me were kept around 62-65 deg. I've never brewed a Hefe so I'm curious how this will come out.

 

[Apple_Jacker]

Well I just bottled up 59 bottles yesterday afternoon. The directions said I should end up with 48 to 50 bottles...I probably should have measured the water bit better! At any rate, it tasted pretty damn good. It has a pretty nice banana and clove smell and I am able to taste the banana pretty well too. It tasted lighter than I anticipated, but that's probably because I used more water than what the recipe called for. I have the bottles sitting in as cool of a location as I can provide to carve up. I'll test a bottle next week to see where it is at, but so far so good.

 

[duboman]

Well I just bottled up 59 bottles yesterday afternoon. The directions said I should end up with 48 to 50 bottles...I probably should have measured the water bit better! At any rate, it tasted pretty damn good. It has a pretty nice banana and clove smell and I am able to taste the banana pretty well too. It tasted lighter than I anticipated, but that's probably because I used more water than what the recipe called for. I have the bottles sitting in as cool of a location as I can provide to carve up. I'll test a bottle next week to see where it is at, but so far so good.

You actually want the bottles to be in a location of about 70F to carbonate in a timely manner, if it's much colder they'll take a while

 

[freemanmh]

I bottled my hefe (NB kit) today - got 50 bottles and about half a glass of "sample" left. Tasted pretty good, but a little heavier on the clove than I had anticipated. Mine fermented at about 66-68, but wasn't well controlled (ambient basement temp is pretty consistently in the mid to upper 60s) - next one will definitely be in a swamp cooler. I'm hoping it mellows a bit in the bottle, but even if it doesn't it should still be a fine brew.

 

[Apple_Jacker]

My thermostat is at 78 right now so I have the bottles sitting near an A/C vent to keep them a little cooler than that.

 

[ASassyBeerChick83]

The hubby & I just bottled our first Bock kit brew on the Fourth of July!!
After we bottled it, I placed all of the bottles in a big purple tote & placed a lid on top....
The temp in the house ranges from about 77 to 81 degrees - between the day & the night....
So far - so good... No blow-offs as of yet! It hasn't been a week - but it's close!


Not to high-jack the thread or anything.... But the hubby & I just did our second brew - a Belgian Triple... :rockin:
I have a thread in the Beginners Forum... check it out & let me know what you guys think! - A Couple of Noobs 2nd Brew - Belgian Triple Nipple
We are new in the hobby & I just want it to make it better from here on out!


Peace. Love. & Beer!
CHEERS!

 

[Apple_Jacker]

Its been just over 24 hours since I bottled so I'm not too concerned about any bottle bombs. Now, when I bottled ny last batch of cider...well, I got lucky none of them exploded.

 

[ASassyBeerChick83]

Okay.... Question about bottling & storing.... So, we just bottled our Bock brew on the 4th...
I have placed them in a large plastic rectangular tote box - with a lid.
My house sits between 77 & 81 degrees...
Do I need to do anything to the bottled or just let them sit for the 3 to 4 week period before trying them?
Just keep them nicely stored?

 

[iambeer]

Sass, the complicated answer might be that yeast produces different things under different temperatures. We are talking about a small amount of yeast production per bottle. Of course, it depends on the yeast.

Most of my beers are done in a room temperature environment (70), so I'm not afraid of 80 degrees in bottles. But let's say I was brewing a lager. Well then I'd want to condition under or not much more than 70... I could be wrong.

Best thing to do IMO is to buy a coupla cases of beer, take out the beer and put the bottled homebrew in the cases, tape 'em up and forget about it. As a bonus you get lots of beer (and bottles for your next beer!).

 

[duboman]

Okay.... Question about bottling & storing.... So, we just bottled our Bock brew on the 4th...
I have placed them in a large plastic rectangular tote box - with a lid.
My house sits between 77 & 81 degrees...
Do I need to do anything to the bottled or just let them sit for the 3 to 4 week period before trying them?
Just keep them nicely stored?

Assuming everything was bottled properly with the right amount of priming sugar your storage and conditioning right now is fine and the bottles should carb up nicely within the 3-4 weeks at those temps although they may take longer being a Bock.

Once they are ready then you can fridge them all or some and then you would want them to be stored in a cooler environment. I do not put all my beer in the fridge at once so the ones I don't I leave in a closet in my basement that stays 64 degrees year round and take them as I need them.

You do not want to long term your beer in a very warm environment.

 

[Apple_Jacker]

Tennessee stays too hot to keep beer out of the fridge for too long, and I don't have a basement. One of the things I miss about Michigan...that and the cider. Although, I did get lucky and live within walking distance of one of the few Apple orchards around here. As far as my hefe goes, I originally planned on checking the carb level after 1 week but maybe ill check it after 2.