First brew in 6 years!

[scottvin]

Well, it's been six years since I last brewed and recently visited a friend who does homebrew and had a nice sampling of 6 beers of his. That got me excited about brewing again so I decided to order some stuff from NorthernBrewer.com and am brewing this weekend!

I wanted to start off nice and easy so I chose the Bavarian Hefeweizen.

Any tips you can offer about this beer?

Thanks in advance!

 

[scottvin]

Some questions before I start:

1) I bought a wort chiller, do I need to PBW and StarSan it before placing it in the wort?
2) At what point should I place it in the wort?
3) From what I read on NB website, they say to add the LME at 15 minutes left in order to lighten the color and flavor. (from the reviewers, not NB)
4) I think I know the answer to this but, I must have broken my hydrometer when I moved so I should probably go get another one before I start brewing?

That's all I have for now.. thanks!

 

[phuff7129]

Just make sure your chiller is clean and put it in will a few minutes left in the boil to sanitize.

I add 20% of my lme at the beginning of the boil and the rest with 15 minutes. I do believe you have to have some malt in the boil to help with hop utilization.

YOU NEED A HYDROMETER!

Good luck!

 

[scottvin]

Alright, I made this beer tonight. I added .5 pound of LME at 60 minutes and 5.5 pounds of LME/1 pound of DME at 15 minutes. The beer still looks a little dark but I assume it will clear up later?

I used a wort chiller and brought the temperature down to 100 degrees within 10 minutes. that was nice!

Pitched the yeast and closed it up. Hopefully I will have some activity tomorrow!

edit - OG was 1.051

 

[chainsawpancake]

im sure you will

 

[akervin]

I read somewhere that if your don't prep a copper wort chiller properly then it can can get nasty, turn green, and be a factory for bacteria.

I'm not exactly sure what the cause may be but you might want to do some more research. I read it in John Pulmers book how to brew. I don't use a brass wort chiller so I didn't really pay attention. I wanna say it was an acid wash of some sort.

 

[Newbeerguy]

I read somewhere that if your don't prep a copper wort chiller properly then it can can get nasty, turn green, and be a factory for bacteria.

I'm not exactly sure what the cause may be but you might want to do some more research. I read it in John Pulmers book how to brew. I don't use a brass wort chiller so I didn't really pay attention. I wanna say it was an acid wash of some sort.

Hmmm, I used a coppper chiller for a few years and never had any issues. I always put it in the kettle with about 5 minutes left in the boil and just made sure to clean in off with water after I was done. I wouldn't worry though, I bet things will turn out fine here.

 

[BOBrob]

Alright, I made this beer tonight. I added .5 pound of LME at 60 minutes and 5.5 pounds of LME/1 pound of DME at 15 minutes. The beer still looks a little dark but I assume it will clear up later?

I used a wort chiller and brought the temperature down to 100 degrees within 10 minutes. that was nice!

Pitched the yeast and closed it up. Hopefully I will have some activity tomorrow!

edit - OG was 1.051

I put the chiller in 10 min. to the end of boil and rinse it after use. Please tell me you pitched the yeast at closer to 70F and not the 100F mentioned above.

 

[scottvin]

yep, once I mixed in the cold water with the wort, the temperature read 69.

When I woke up today, the ambient temperature in the room is 63 and the fermometer reads 69.. I guess the yeast are being active!

 

[scottvin]

Should I worry about the ambient temperature in the room being low even though the fermometer reads 69/70?

Thanks!

 

[Naptown]

welcome back, I too, am back from a little break. I think my equipment was on hold for about 5 years. I have a pale ale in my primary right now. Feels so good.

 

[BOBrob]

That temp should be good for a Hefe. Depending on the yeast, you may want a blow off tube the first few days. Welcome back to brewing! Cheers

 

[scottvin]

That temp should be good for a Hefe. Depending on the yeast, you may want a blow off tube the first few days. Welcome back to brewing! Cheers

I put one in just in case!

 

[scottvin]

This beer doesn't seem to be taking off like other people reviewed. I am getting little burps in my blowoff jug however.

 

[scottvin]

I am getting more frequent bubbles now - yay!

 

[scottvin]

I noticed that the blowoff stopped bubbling so I took a gravity reading and it is already at 1.022 from 1.051,

 

[scottvin]

Here it is! And it's really great!

 

[gcdowd]

Congrats!

 

[Newbeerguy]

Lookin' good. Whats up next?