First homebrew is a hefe

[southsidebrewingco]

Hello all,

New to brewing but have learned lots just from browsing this site for the past week! Brewed my first beer on 12/6 it is a NB hefe extract. Keeping it at a constant 64 degrees and fermentation seems to be going well. Removed the blowoff tube and replaced with the air lock bubbler after the first 4 days when fermentation slowed down. Some of the Krausen appears to be falling now. How's it look to you experts? My plan is 2 weeks primary then 2 to 3 weeks bottle condition before tasting. Thanks for all the help here.

 

[Kdog22]

Looks good! I did that same exact kit from NB for my first beer brew about a month ago. I did mine with the upgraded 3068 yeast. I left mine in the primary for 3 weeks at about 70 degree room temp to ferment out. Bottled mine and conditioned for 2 weeks before I cracked the first one open.

I'm a huge hefeweizen fan and let me tell you that this kit makes an awesome hefe! The 3068 yeast did the job perfectly.

 

[billl]

Looks good.

For a schedule, you will "probably" be fine on that timetable, but ultimately, the yeast sets the schedule. Take gravity readings to confirm that fermentation is complete. Possible more importantly, taste it before bottling. If it's good, go ahead. If it tastes off, sour, etc give it another week and check again.

 

[Darwin18]

Great first approach and excellent focus on temperature control. Keep that up and you'll be doing great.

 

[southsidebrewingco]

I have had the bottle covered with a towel so it stays dark...not really sure if this is necessary or not? I plan to do an American Wheat with some orange zest next then Caribou Slobber after that. I am a big fan of the wheat beers so i'm sure most of my focus will be in that area. Any thoughts on Grolsch style bottles for their ease?

 

[southsidebrewingco]

Hydrometer purchase this week I just finally understood what that was all about!!

 

[firestem4]

Keeping the beer out of UV light is essential. UV will skunk up the beer pretty darn quickly, even during fermentation, so you did a good step covering it at least.

My first batch was a partial mash American hefe using my LHBS house recipe. It was wonderful. I love wheat beers and was glad to have made that one as well. Welcome to the addiction, err, obsession, err, hobby!

 

[Darwin18]

Any thoughts on Grolsch style bottles for their ease?

Seems a bit unnecessary and expensive, especially if you ever plan on gifting out homebrew or entering out competitions. You're not likely to get those back. A nice basic capper will let you reuse non-twist off bottles and bottle caps are super cheap. You can even get customized caps with your brewery name/logo.

 

[southsidebrewingco]

I do have 4 cases of new bottles. The flip top bottles came to mind for their ease of capping and just for my use at home. LOL my friends will be just fine with a 12oz capped bottle or its no beer for them!!

 

[flatlanderHQ]

Love the Grolsch bottles. Swing tops are the way to go for sure. They are green, so keeping bottled beer out of the light is important. You can easily get replacement gaskets when you need them, which is not that often. They last well. When you sanitize, make sure to remove the gaskets and sanitize the gaskets and the swing top portion.