Forgot sugar! Need advice

[Giovanni]

This is a true newbie question, so be merciful with me!
I brewed a Coopers Wheat, and I added dry wheat malt extract, intending obtain a better head and body, but I forgot to add the white sugar at all!
Note that the recipe requested it also if you were using dry malt extract.
The fermentation starded quite early, as the lag stage took only some hours, but finished in less than three days.
I kept it in the fermenter for more than a week.
My OG was 1043 and FG reading was 1011, stationary for some days.
So I bottle conditioned it.
Is going to be a sure bad beer?
I hope no, but I tasted it and I felt it green and "light".
P.s.
The yeast cake was regular.

 

[BigKahuna]

Looks like it's proly ruined forever.


Kidding. Looks fine to me. It will not be as watery as you might have hoped (or as they intended).

You're looking at just over 4% abv, and will have a nice bit of body. You will find that when you stop doing the can kits, and go for all extract and steeping grains, you will have no use for white sugar at all, so I don't think you've killed your beer at all.

6 weeks in bottles....then post back!



Welcome to HBT!

 

[Giovanni]

Ok!
Thank for your kind advice!
I'll take you updated!

 

[Teddi Brewski]

G,
your beer will be great...it is probably just a "light" beer, as wheat beers often are.
PS, When out of sugar, use honey, goes great in wheat beers!

 

[DD2000GT]

I don't add any corn sugar to my kits - except priming sugar at bottling time. I just add 3 lbs. of DME and about 1/2 - 1 oz. of hops the last 5 minutes of boil for aroma/flavoring. The canned kits have the bittering hop extract - but no hop flavor.

Dan

 

[Giovanni]

Hi!
In the next two or three days I'm going to open a first bottle to evaluete it, I know it's too early, but I can't stand without doing it.
Actually it cleared very well and I can read a newspaper trough it. Also in every bottle's bottom I can see a little sediment.

 

[MgMt_Home_Brew]

So how was it???

 

[DutchK9]

If you give it two more weeks, you will be glad you did.

 

[Giovanni]

Fresh news!
Just tasted it: good!
First glass was too cold and the beer was too much "closed", wen it warmed a little it showed a good head, with a foam charcterized by very little sphere, very consistent, tipical flavour's bouquet of weiss and good taste.
It definitively would enjoy some more ageing but I'm satisfied.

 

[Giovanni]

This is a tasting report after 1 month in the bottle: good beer, good head, a lot of fruity flavours, not at all coherent with the style but intriguing, my only remark is that it is very clear, nothing in suspension, no yeast at all, but my girlfriend and my friends will enjoy it.

 

[Germey]

This is a tasting report after 1 month in the bottle: good beer, good head, a lot of fruity flavours, not at all coherent with the style but intriguing, my only remark is that it is very clear, nothing in suspension, no yeast at all, but my girlfriend and my friends will enjoy it.

One common way to pour bottle conditioned wheat beers is to gently pour about 80-90% of it into the glass, the turn the bottle upright, give it a couple swirls, then pour the last bit on top quickly.
hoegaarden bottles have directions to do so right on them.
Glad you are enjoying it.

 

[Giovanni]

Oh yes I already knew the pouring trick, but there isn't any visible yeast sediment in the bottom of the bottle, so swirling has little effect.