Making a shandy

[njohnsoncs]

I've brewed up a batch of Brewers Best (BB) Weizenbier and it's been fermenting for 3 weeks. I took a gravity reading and it's ready to bottle, however I don't really care much for the taste. I know some of the flavors will change during bottle conditioning but, in my experience, the flavors I taste and don't like do not change with conditioning. I noticed this with BB Blueberry Honey ale. I'm wondering if I just don't like some of the BB kits? I did like their IPA. I am moving to a partial mash for my next brews though so hopefully it will lead to more beers I like.

Anyways, I'm considering making it into a shandy by adding 1 pack (0.23 oz) of unsweetened lemonade kool-aid (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001IZI8FA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20). I have seen threads discussing this but I'm wondering if anyone has done this with the BB Weizenbier? If so, how did it turn out?

I really don't want 5 gallons of a beer I don't really care for so I was hoping making it into a shandy will help but it is a gamble.

 

[owmatooth]

walmart carries the unsweetened little packs. I've done this to a blue moon clone that just didn't come out with much flavor. I actually added a pack of the orange kool-aid. one pack for the five gallons was strong for the first few days, but then mellowed and is now a tasty summer beer.

I did a sour shandy with two packs of unsweetened lemonade and one ounce of lactic acid (from lhbs). it definately packed a sour punch. This was on top of a simple allgrain wheat recipie. lemon flavor came through, but need to dial it back on the acid- even though it was a 5 gallon batch.

experiment a bit with a single pint and see if you can get the flavor you'll drink. you can always add more later.

my lhbs had a rasberry extract that I added to a scottish heavy (yeah i'm not to tied to traditional styles). This really made it interesting, almost a chimay red flavor to it, but I was a little heavy on the rasberry, so it's a fruitbomb of a beer.

moral of the story is- go for it, it usually takes a little less than you first taste, but never has it turned out bad.

 

[njohnsoncs]

walmart carries the unsweetened little packs. I've done this to a blue moon clone that just didn't come out with much flavor. I actually added a pack of the orange kool-aid. one pack for the five gallons was strong for the first few days, but then mellowed and is now a tasty summer beer.

I did a sour shandy with two packs of unsweetened lemonade and one ounce of lactic acid (from lhbs). it definately packed a sour punch. This was on top of a simple allgrain wheat recipie. lemon flavor came through, but need to dial it back on the acid- even though it was a 5 gallon batch.

experiment a bit with a single pint and see if you can get the flavor you'll drink. you can always add more later.

my lhbs had a rasberry extract that I added to a scottish heavy (yeah i'm not to tied to traditional styles). This really made it interesting, almost a chimay red flavor to it, but I was a little heavy on the rasberry, so it's a fruitbomb of a beer.

moral of the story is- go for it, it usually takes a little less than you first taste, but never has it turned out bad.

I think adding the kool-aid packet to the priming sugar solution at bottling time is the best way to go. I was going to use 1 packet for 1/2 of the beer. I wonder if this will be too strong? If I really don't like the beer without the kool-aid, I could simply add some when I open the bottle to drink. I wonder if adding it to the bottle and letting it condition changes the taste compared to adding it at drink time...

 

[owmatooth]

i would add 1 packet per 5 gallons, or half packet for 1/2 the beer at bottling time, it needs time to mellow. try adding a little lemon to a current beer you've poured and see if you like it. without some mellowing over time, it tastes to obvious to me that kool-aid was added. but sure enough tastes like a leinenkugel's summer shandy when you get it right.

 

[MerlinWerks]

Since this is a big experiment anyway, maybe bottle half with the kool-aid and half "as-is". When you're ready to have one of the "as-is" bottles just mix it with a grapefruit soda like Squirt, you end up with a type of "Radler" kind of a German shandy.

I do this with a blonde ale in the summer, very tasty...

 

[ericbw]

I would experiment a little before bottling. Otherwise you might end up with something you dump anyway.

But more importantly, I think you should figure out what you don't like about the beers you've made. You said a blueberry honey ale and a what beer both tasted bad. But you liked the IPA. Was their anything different about the process?

Have these been extract batches? I found that adding most of the extract late in the boil helps a great deal with extract brewing. Probably the biggest single improvement on the brew day. (Temperature control is the other big one for fermentation.)

If the bad tastes are related to extract, partial mash will also help to get rid of them. You might consider converting a recipe to all grain, then scaling down to 1 gallon. See if it's better.

 

[njohnsoncs]

I would experiment a little before bottling. Otherwise you might end up with something you dump anyway.

But more importantly, I think you should figure out what you don't like about the beers you've made. You said a blueberry honey ale and a what beer both tasted bad. But you liked the IPA. Was their anything different about the process?

Have these been extract batches? I found that adding most of the extract late in the boil helps a great deal with extract brewing. Probably the biggest single improvement on the brew day. (Temperature control is the other big one for fermentation.)

If the bad tastes are related to extract, partial mash will also help to get rid of them. You might consider converting a recipe to all grain, then scaling down to 1 gallon. See if it's better.

How would you suggest experimenting before bottling?

I agree, I need to figure out what I don't like. All my beers so far have been extract kits from Brewer's Best. It seems that the lighter beers I've made lack complex flavor and are too sweet with a somewhat bad aftertaste. They also have a fairly strong smell like old, spilled beer. It's hard to describe. The one IPA I made did not have the same flavors or smell and I liked it much more.

My previous blueberry honey ale I think I may have fermented too warm but otherwise I think boiling day went well. I used temperature sensors and a colder swamp cooler for my current batch which is the Weizenbier. I kept it between 61 - 67 F (as measured by a probe taped to the outside of the bucket fermenter) during the first week of fermentation and then racked it to a secondary (to make room in the primary) and let it ferment at room temperature of 70 F for the remaining two weeks.

Doing a few 1 gallon all grain batches is a good idea. Though I'll have to see how my next batch, and first partial mash, turns out.

 

[ericbw]

By experimenting before bottling, I mean adding a measured amount to a small sample. Say adding 1 gram in 4 ounces. Just as an example - I have NO idea how much a gram of kool aid powder is.

Are you using liquid malt extract or dry extract?

 

[njohnsoncs]

By experimenting before bottling, I mean adding a measured amount to a small sample. Say adding 1 gram in 4 ounces. Just as an example - I have NO idea how much a gram of kool aid powder is.

Are you using liquid malt extract or dry extract?

OK I bought 3 packets (6.5 g each) of lemonade kool-aid. I plan to take a gravity sample, then add a measured amount of the kool-aid to that and adjust to where it tastes good. Then use that amount for 1/2 of the batch. The flavor will probably change due to bottle conditioning but the hope is that it will be closer to what I like rather than doing it without experimenting first.

This should be a fun experiment. I'm only going to do it for half the batch since I've never made a Weizenbier and want to see how it turns out. I'll report back with updates.

Oh, btw, it was 6.6 lbs of wheat LME (recipe here: http://www.brewersbestkits.com/pdf/1030 2016 Weizenbier Recipe.pdf)

 

[GrimBrewer]

interesting idea. but as the guys are saying, this is something you can easily experiment on.

First you must be able to drink some of the beer as is with a specific % of cool a. if not, i dont think it will get better.

You should be able to work out;
Bottle all bottles and add wort/cool aid per bottle, some more, some less ,some not at all and then you can judge how it comes out.

Or you can bottle 1/3. add some cool aid to bottling bucket, bottle another 1/3 and add some more cool aid, bottle rest.

 

[Jwin]

We sale a shandy mix at the craft beer store I now work at. I'll try to snap a photo tomorrow.
I'm not sure if it has sugar in it and how it would do in bottled beer as it's intended use is to be added to beer in the pint.

 

[owmatooth]

interesting idea. but as the guys are saying, this is something you can easily experiment on.

Or you can bottle 1/3. add some cool aid to bottling bucket, bottle another 1/3 and add some more cool aid, bottle rest.

i like the 1/3 idea. that gives you a low lemon beer and and a double lemon beer. also could do 1/3 with kool aid and 1/3 with the little plastic lemon squeeze bottle for a different lemon flavor.

 

[Jwin]

It has sugar, but would be easy to be used as designed. I suppose you could add it at the end of fermentation, but I'm not sure how that amount of citric acid would affect bottle conditioning, if at all. You would also loose the added sweetness, so that would have to be compensated elsewhere in the process.

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[ericbw]

OK I bought 3 packets (6.5 g each) of lemonade kool-aid. I plan to take a gravity sample, then add a measured amount of the kool-aid to that and adjust to where it tastes good. Then use that amount for 1/2 of the batch. The flavor will probably change due to bottle conditioning but the hope is that it will be closer to what I like rather than doing it without experimenting first.

This should be a fun experiment. I'm only going to do it for half the batch since I've never made a Weizenbier and want to see how it turns out. I'll report back with updates.

Oh, btw, it was 6.6 lbs of wheat LME (recipe here: http://www.brewersbestkits.com/pdf/1030 2016 Weizenbier Recipe.pdf)

I think LME is easier to scorch. Do you add the LME at the end of the boil? I do 1/3 at the beginning and the rest at 10-15 minutes. If I steep grains then sometimes I add it all at the end.