Keg of Bavarian Hefe just blew! Waaaah!

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EdWort

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17 days and my keg of Hefe is gone. Sniff......

I must say, it is cool to head out to the garage and pick out a corny that is carbed and ready to go. I keep my 3 gallon corny ready with fresh water to rinse the beer line. CO2 makes cleaning it a breeze.

My wee heavy Kolsch (6.7%) from August will help me drown my tears as I mourn the finishing of my first Bavarian Hefeweizen.

FirstKolsch.jpg


On the bright side, another keg of Hefe will be ready when I get back from Germany in December.
 
I seriously need to make another manifold for outside my kegerator, so that I can have the waiting kegs up and ready to go when one's done. I have a spare corny, I just need another line that isn't in the fridge.
 
I just use a separate CO2 bottle that I swap among kegs in the lagerator that's set to 39 degrees. No manifold, just patience and persistence at heading out there and changing the keg to which it is attached.

It was pretty cool though. It took me less than a couple minutes to change it out minus time spent wiping some tears....sniff.
 
I only have my one CO2 bottle as well... My kegerator has only been up and running for about 4 months, and I've only had to swap out a couple kegs. I've got a secondary (the red) waiting to go in as soon as I have space. My blonde is about gone. Maybe I'll fill a growler or two to empty it. :p
 
My kegerator has gone through a keg of Texas Tan, Apfelwein and now the Hefe since late September (It's a 3 faucet system). My hefe was so good it lasted on 17 days and that's without a party or visitors. I still have my Porter on tap from September, but it's on the second keg of Apfelwein.

I'll settle into a routine eventually, but having a second bottle does help significantly in having kegs on deck ready and waiting for the inevitable blow.
 
Mine has four taps, and friends usually come over to guzzle about once a week. They aren't the dark or hoppy beer type so I try to keep something on tap for them. My keger started with a Bitter and Smoked Porter, then a Hefeweizen and Blonde Ale. By the time I got the Blonde in there, they already polished off the hefeweizen! The brown replaced that. Now the bitter is finally gone and the new hefe replaced it. The blonde is about gone and I bet inside three weeks this hefe is almost gone also!
 
Four taps! Wow! Since I just started brewing again after a 7 year sabbatical, I'm just getting into the swing of things finding some standard fare. So far, I'm always going to have some Apfelwein and Bavarian Hefeweizen available cause they are both so good and so quaffable. That leaves one tap for a specialty brew, but having a freezer in the garage that has a 6 corny capacity helps. I've already decided to get a bigger freezer to keep kegs ready and my smaller one for a fermentation chamber, but that will have to wait till I get more room....Gotta get Das Brauhaus built.

Dang this Kolsch has a kick!
 
Yeah, having four is great. I don't go through it fast (the friends do!) but the variety is nice. I patterned mine after tnlandsailor's "The Great Fridge Project" where he put 6 into his! I don't have room for that, but it was great building the four. I've got some pics in my gallery.

All your Apfelwein has me thinking I've gotta make some cider too. I'll make that a go for sometime here during the hollidays.
 
Brewsmith said:
All your Apfelwein has me thinking I've gotta make some cider too. I'll make that a go for sometime here during the hollidays.

Yeah, I cant' wait till it get's real cold (in the low 40s) and I can make some grog with it. Folks from Frankfurt call it Heisse Ebbelwei. Good stuff!
 
Well my next brew setup project is a fermentation fridge, so lagers and anything requiring a colder fermentation will be possible, not to mention just a stable environment for my ales. I already have the fridge, I just have to rewire my garage...
 
After reading this, I need to set up a second tap on my tower...you guys are making me jealous, and when Yuri gets jealous, gadgets happen...

Besides, I have a spare tap or two sitting around...
 
You want to come over and help me modify my garage? :D There's four beers on tap with your name on it, plus all of the bottles...
 
Brewsmith said:
You want to come over and help me modify my garage? :D There's four beers on tap with your name on it, plus all of the bottles...
If you lived within a couple hours drive, I'd be happy to help! A bigger bribe may go a long way...

The only guy I know of here who lives somewhat closeby is BrewPastor, and I don't think he needs any more gadgets... Maybe they put something in the water in southern New Mexico...
 
Maybe I need to put in a brewery in my family's place in AZ. That would get you about 240 miles closer! :p
 
I might be jealous of your multi-tap setups, but I just kicked a keg of good brew, so I tapped another of the same batch. And there's a third lying in wait. 15 gallon batches rock!
 
Yuri_Rage said:
After reading this, I need to set up a second tap on my tower...you guys are making me jealous, and when Yuri gets jealous, gadgets happen...

Besides, I have a spare tap or two sitting around...

Yeah, the triple tap tower that SWMBO got me for my birthday was probably one of the nicest gifts.

It automatically implies " Go forth and Brew Multiple Beers"
 
Biermann said:
Ed, I'm brewing Hefeweizen tomorrow . . . I'm going ahead and doing a 10 gallon batch to keep it on hand for awhile. :D

Sweet! I have to move to a 10 gallon setup. It seems the way to go. It's the same amount of work right?
 
EdWort said:
Sweet! I have to move to a 10 gallon setup. It seems the way to go. It's the same amount of work right?
The only thing that's more work in bigger batches is the cleanup. For me, a 30 lb grain bill turns into about 50 lbs of hot spent grains that I have to muscle into a trash bag for disposal. Other than that slight drawback, it's really no big deal. I spend 5-6 hours brewing...just like I would with a smaller batch. Time to step it up, Ed! Build that brew hut and fill it with big kettles and sweet toys!
 
Yuri_Rage said:
The only thing that's more work in bigger batches is the cleanup. For me, a 30 lb grain bill turns into about 50 lbs of hot spent grains that I have to muscle into a trash bag for disposal.

Only more for the deer in my front yard to enjoy. Fat'em up for some lucky hunter.

I don't hunt unless you count my 5.3L Tahoe Magnum. :D
 
Yuri_Rage said:
The only thing that's more work in bigger batches is the cleanup. For me, a 30 lb grain bill turns into about 50 lbs of hot spent grains that I have to muscle into a trash bag for disposal.
My spent grain ends up in the green recycling barrel. I think more grain ends up in there than grass clippings. :D 10 gallons would just be harder to lift.
 
EdWort said:
Sweet! I have to move to a 10 gallon setup. It seems the way to go. It's the same amount of work right?

It's really no more work other than the total pounds of spent grain, as was already mentioned.

So, I brewed it today, and my efficiency problem has been corrected--I got a good 73% efficiency today (was counting on 65).

I tried a slightly different recipe than the one I used before based on the grains I had--

10 lbs Pilsner Malt
10 lbs Wheat Malt

1.5 oz Hallertau, 45 minutes boil
0.25 oz Hallertau last 15 minutes

White Labs Hefeweizen yeast.


Can't wait......

I'm going to have TWO kegs on tap soon!!

cheers!!:mug:
 
Sounds sweet! Let me know how close it is to a German Hefe when you try it.

I think a German Hefe has to be at least 51% Wheat malt in order to be called a Weizenbier or Weissbier.
 
50% or more wheat by BJCP, but who's splitting hairs??

I didn't have the time to run to the store to get more wheat, and I had one 10lb bag of wheat malt and 1 10 lb bag of pilsner malt available, and seeing as I rarely get a day off, it was a "now or never" phenomenon.

One thing that was nice--no stuck sparge this time ;)

My OG hit at 1.056, it has 14 IBU's, so it fits in the style.
 
Hefeweizen2.jpg
Here's my Wagner Weizen in my 0.5L mug my friend brought back from Hamburg. And for any music nuts out there, that sheet music is stuff I'm working on. If you look closely it says copyright me 2006. :D
 
Brewsmith said:
View attachment 538
Here's my Wagner Weizen in my 0.5L mug my friend brought back from Hamburg. And for any music nuts out there, that sheet music is stuff I'm working on. If you look closely it says copyright me 2006. :D

that's awesome. . . I used to play first violin in a couple of symphony orchestras, and gave a try at composing. . . I wrote up an awesome work, but lost interest, and never finished it--and it has since been lost. Beer and music--yet another great combination. :mug:
 
Sweet! I play tuba in a community orchestra over here. We have the Christmas concert coming up next weekend.
 
Brewsmith said:
View attachment 538
Here's my Wagner Weizen in my 0.5L mug my friend brought back from Hamburg. And for any music nuts out there, that sheet music is stuff I'm working on. If you look closely it says copyright me 2006. :D
If you look closely you can see you're not drinking a Weizen out of a Weizen glass...tsk!! tsk!!:D
 
EdWort said:
Sounds sweet! Let me know how close it is to a German Hefe when you try it.

I think a German Hefe has to be at least 51% Wheat malt in order to be called a Weizenbier or Weissbier.


Hey Ed, my hefeweizen has finished fermentation. .

It actually ended around 5.6% ABV, but it tastes almost exactly like Paulaner hefeweizen.

Excellent, to be sure.

To make a long story short, you can achieve a good Bavarian style hefeweizen with 50/50 wheat/barley.

In fact, I read that Flying Dog only uses 45% wheat malt.

This one is almost as enjoyable as my Masskrug Edelweizen, so I think because it is easier to make, I'll be brewing it more often.

Thought you'd like to know. :mug:
 
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