Some Hefe Questions for the Experts! Aka, I need help :)

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Roughster

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Ok so did my first all grain batch of Hefe last night. The mash went stellar. I was incredibly happy with it. Hit all the temperatures for the time durations. I sparged and collected approximately ~7ish gallons and ended up at 26 efficiency which I thought wasn't bad for a first timer!

I mostly followed the Three Weisse Guys recipe from How To Brew:
6lbs 2-row
3lbs Flaked Wheat
.75 Rice Hulls

110°F - 15 minutes
125°F - 15 minutes
152°F - 60 minutes

Hop / Adjunct
Sterling 60 mins .5oz
Liberty 30 mins .75oz
Coriander 1oz and Sweet Orange Peel 2oz 15 mins
Liberty 1oz

Boil went well and at the end I was left with about 5.5 gallons in the kettle. Cooled it to below 80F. It was getting late and I wasn't thinking so I just siphoned off the top 4.5 gallons but didn't want the trubb layer. Instead of filtering it like I should have, I just topped off the Primary with .5 gallon of boiled water then did the pour back and forth to aerate. This brought my OG to about 1.033 where it should've been 1.049. Ugghh. I had rehydrated the Nottingham (yes that is what the recipe called for) and pitched.

So woke up this morning and went into panic mode due to the following questions:

- Given the OG was low, I calculate I will hit about 3.94% ABV. Shocktop is 5.2 ABV, so I am thinking about adding some Dextrose to bring the OG up. Thoughts? Good bad idea? If good, any idea on how much Dextrose I would want to add to bring it up from 1.033 to 1.049?

- Given the dilution of the wort by 0.5 gallon, will my bear taste "weak"? If it is weak, would adding the add 1.75L Simply Limeade after the 10 days from the lemon-lime Hefe recipe help give it some character? I don't mind if this ends up being a light beer with strong citrus flavor since it is for summer drinking. Thoughts appreciated!

- The Nottingham yeast in retrospect, although part of the recipe, I am questioning. Two reasons: #1 I will miss out on the Hefe yeast taste characteristics, #2 I don't have controlled refrigeration and expect to ferment closer to 70F then 65F. This is right at the high end of the Nottingham range. I am going to wet towel it constantly to keep it as cool as possible. As a side note, 8 hours later I have a bubble per second in the airlock.

So my question is: Is it worth considering pitching a second yeast with a slightly higher tolerance for temperature or is that a bad idea? If it is a good idea, any recommendations on what type of yeast? I would prefer a 75F tolerance at the high end since I know I can keep it under that.

Sorry for the ton of questions! All thoughts and or suggestions appreciated!
 
Don't fiddle with it. Usually does more harm than good. Wrap your fermenter with a wet towel to keep it cool...direct a fan toward it for extra cooling. Notty won't give you the characteristic hefe flavor, but you could still have a nice dry wheat beer. Don't add the dextrose; it'll finish too dry. 1.033 is low but a nice session beer. If you want the limeade thing, add that individually to your glass...I can't imagine anyone wanting a whole batch of it.
 
Don't fiddle with it. Usually does more harm than good. Wrap your fermenter with a wet towel to keep it cool...direct a fan toward it for extra cooling. Notty won't give you the characteristic hefe flavor, but you could still have a nice dry wheat beer. Don't add the dextrose; it'll finish too dry. 1.033 is low but a nice session beer. If you want the limeade thing, add that individually to your glass...I can't imagine anyone wanting a whole batch of it.

Thanks TyTanium! I was talking to friend and work and he said basically the same thing. If I mess with it, what will be my lessons learned since I will have changed so many variables? I guess the best thing is to ride it out and see how it turns out so i can make my next one better!
 
What Ty said.

I always right every detail of my brew day down in a journal. That way, if i think i screwed the pooch on a missed temp, exact hop addition or whatever, and the beer turns out great, i know how to do it again.
 
If you make 4(ish)% its a great session beer especially for summer drinking when they tend to go down smooth and fast. :D
 
Well I can tell you the low OG didn't impact the start of fermentation. I have the wort in a 7g bucket and thought with a low OG and >3" of headspace I wouldn't need a blow off...wrong. Came home from work yesterday and it had blew the cap off of the airlock and popped the lid. Damage was mostly contained due to the wet towel.

I know I shouldn't be worried but with the major vessel breeches I am little concerned about infection, but nothing I can do about that now! The lid and airlock hole were CAKED in dried froth, I cleaned the outside of the lid and airlock hole with vodka, but I saw a small brown piece of gunk fall back into the wort :( Ugggh. Added the blow off tube and it is chugging away quite nicely as of this morning.

Oh the joys of the first brew!
 

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