My first Hefeweizen and brew process critique me please....

[ohill1981]

I made my first Hefe today completing my 7th batch of beer in 5 months. I have yet to really share my brewing techniques with anyone so i thought i would write them out and see if anyone can see something i am doing wrong or something i could do to improve my process. I will use the Bert Grant's Hefeweisen kit i made today as an example.


I used a PM kit from my LHBS called "Bert Grant's Hefeweisen"

This is how i did it .....

Wheat Spray Extract 5lb
Weyermann Cara Hell 8oz
Weyermann Cara Foam 8oz
Target-Bittering hops 4aau ? not sure what type of bittering hops were used anyone have a guess what might have been used?
Hallertau -Flavor hop 1oz
2.5 Gal Boil Volume

I steeped grains for 10 minutes while the water heated to 155f After reaching 155f i removed from heat and steeped for an additional 20minutes.

Brought my wort back to as furious a boil as my stove top would allow and then added the Mystery Bittering hops to the wort where they boiled for 30 min.

I once again removed the wort from the heat and added the 5lb of Wheat Spray DME mixed the powder in well and brought the wort back to a boil.

I added my 1oz of Hallertau Flavor hops and let them sit and boil for 15minutes.

I managed to get my wort down to 74F in roughly 25 -30 minutes with my sink and and a bag of ice.

Then i mixed my 2.5 gals of wort with most of the remaining 3 gallons of water and attatched my lid and air lock and shook the piss out of it for a few minutes allowed it to rest ..then gave it another furious shake.

After i felt i aerated it as best i could i added A Vile of WLP300 Liquid Yeast.

It is now sitting in my bedroom at around 62F a little colder than i would like, but not sure there is anything i can do until it warms up out side.

We'll any comments about my post would be great from my brewing process to the beer it self. If anyone has ever tried it and has any opinions on it please let me know. I saw that Beer Advocate gave it a C rating... Thanks for taking the time to read this!!!

 

[Bob]

Sounds like your process is pretty good! I certainly can't find any glaring flaws in it, save one.

Your bittering hops were Target, a high-alpha variety. It's a very good variety! So don't worry about that.

That brings us to the only real flaw I can see: Yeast management.

First, it's 'vial', not 'vile'. Something vile is loathsome, disgusting, unpleasant or otherwise objectionable. A vial is a small container, usually with a closure, used especially for liquids.

Second, one vial of yeast is nowhere near enough to ensure a good ferment, especially way beyond the colder end of the yeast's optimum temperature range. You're going to have a sluggish, frustrating ferment.

See the HBT Wiki article on yeast pitching. That'll get you started thinking about yeast pitching, which is just as important as any other ingredient or technique used in brewing excellent beer.

Cheers!

Bob

 

[Bob]

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