To be honest I feel a little intimidated after reading some of these threads. I decided after reading 2 books on home brewing that I would give it a try. I'm not a scientist and don't plan on mastering the art of making beer but I believe I have the time and energy and even the enthusiasm to do this but I already have a life (kind of). My question is this. Will I really be able to brew some good tasting beer? I love Hefeweizen. Is that a complicated beer to brew? If I could learn to brew a decent Hefe I would be stoked for sure.
What am I getting myself into?
- Thread starter bajarob
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FromZwolle
I don't want to be cremated, I want to be malted.
you can make brewing as complicated or as simple as you want. either way, you still get beer!
here's a pretty simple hefe recipe to try out
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f70/simple-hefeweizen-186432/
Desrever
Well-Known Member
I was nervous at first too, but YES you can brew some good tasting beer.
JimTheHick
Well-Known Member
Hefe is a GREAT extract beer. ESP the kit from northern brewer a friend of mine made.
HomebrewMTB
Well-Known Member
Making beer is like anything else, you can make it as easy or complicated as you want to. Hefe is actually quite simple though. I'd recommend an extract kit for your first try. I'm not sure if you have a good LHBS but if not, try one of the bigger internet shops like Northern Brewer or More Beer. I'd stay away from dusty old canned extract kits. Hefe tends to foam up pretty good during fermentation so a blow off tube is recommended. I had the lid blow off my bucket on my first hefe batch. Anyway, keep reading here and have fun!
corwin6654
Well-Known Member
Another plus for Hefe being pretty easy to make is that if you ferment on the high side, you will still get a decent beer.
subliminalurge
Well-Known Member
Yep. In fact the Hefe I just brewed fermented at around 68 and I'm wishing I'd left it upstairs where it would have been a little warmer.
Just1pepsi
Well-Known Member
you sure can, wheat beer is a good one, as its generally better green, so you need not worry about aging for months. I also have a very busy life outside of home brewing, its actually a great hobby as it does not take a lot of constant attention and your results will be generally better when you nearly forget you have beer fermenting in your closet for a month.
JohnTheBrewist
Well-Known Member
Hey Rob! There are plenty of people who like to make the process seem complicated, and new brewer's tend to worry way too much about little things. So it can seem a bit intimidating before you've tried it. But, the bottom line is that brewing can be as cheap and easy as you want it or as expensive and complicated as you want it.
You really should check out the next brewday at MoreBeer in Riverside if you haven't been to one yet. Their German Hefeweizen extract kit is $29.95 + $5.75 for liquid yeast, and would be a good start. That'll give you 40 pints or 52 12oz bottles.
With a burner, a pot, and a chiller you can make very good extract beer. The other main things you'll need are a fermenting bucket and something to bottle or keg your beer in.
If you want to get your feet wet and try it, I'd be glad to help you out. I live in Moreno Valley, so we're close enough. My inlaws are visiting from Germany for the entire month of Oktober, but I'd be happy to bring some of my equipment to your house and help you brew a batch as of November. In the meantime, you could be gathering some of the needed items. I'd even be willing to loan you a fermenting bucket and bottling bucket to save you from buying a kit until your sure you want to brew.
If you want to do this, you'll need to decide what you'll do with your beer once its made. If your going to bottle, you'll need bottle caps, a capper and bottles (start drinking beer that comes in brown bottles that don't have twist off caps - maybe buy some German Hef's in 500ml bottles). You can pick up the other stuff when you buy your extract kit.
You'll need to find a cool place to store your bucket of beer while it's fermenting, preferably somewhere that can hold a consistent temp of 68-70 degrees for a couple weeks. There are methods for keeping it cool enough, so don't sweat this too much.
If you'd rather do it on your own, I'd be happy to give you my phone # and you can call me if you get stuck.
You really should check out the next brewday at MoreBeer in Riverside if you haven't been to one yet. Their German Hefeweizen extract kit is $29.95 + $5.75 for liquid yeast, and would be a good start. That'll give you 40 pints or 52 12oz bottles.
With a burner, a pot, and a chiller you can make very good extract beer. The other main things you'll need are a fermenting bucket and something to bottle or keg your beer in.
If you want to get your feet wet and try it, I'd be glad to help you out. I live in Moreno Valley, so we're close enough. My inlaws are visiting from Germany for the entire month of Oktober, but I'd be happy to bring some of my equipment to your house and help you brew a batch as of November. In the meantime, you could be gathering some of the needed items. I'd even be willing to loan you a fermenting bucket and bottling bucket to save you from buying a kit until your sure you want to brew.
If you want to do this, you'll need to decide what you'll do with your beer once its made. If your going to bottle, you'll need bottle caps, a capper and bottles (start drinking beer that comes in brown bottles that don't have twist off caps - maybe buy some German Hef's in 500ml bottles). You can pick up the other stuff when you buy your extract kit.
You'll need to find a cool place to store your bucket of beer while it's fermenting, preferably somewhere that can hold a consistent temp of 68-70 degrees for a couple weeks. There are methods for keeping it cool enough, so don't sweat this too much.
If you'd rather do it on your own, I'd be happy to give you my phone # and you can call me if you get stuck.
New brewer here!
Just did my 4th batch recently.
I think its good to be slightly intimidated at first as it keeps you on your toes, after a couple batches you start to relax and really enjoy it.
The best though is when you taste your first beer and realize...this **** is better than most of the crap on your grocery store shelves!
Just did my 4th batch recently.
I think its good to be slightly intimidated at first as it keeps you on your toes, after a couple batches you start to relax and really enjoy it.
The best though is when you taste your first beer and realize...this **** is better than most of the crap on your grocery store shelves!
bovineblitz
Well-Known Member
Dive in man, it's not hard at all. Hefeweizen is the perfect way to start. Extract hefeweizen turns out excellent, the yeast is okay if it gets a little hotter than it should, and the flavor is strong so any minor flaws won't be noticeable at all.
If you read two books you know what to do, it's a simple process. Don't overthink it, no matter what you do you'll make beer.
If you read two books you know what to do, it's a simple process. Don't overthink it, no matter what you do you'll make beer.
Brewing - so easy a caveman can do it!
Start with extracts, learn the procedures, build up a pipeline (supply), learn more, have fun.
.... and some very good beer.
Start with extracts, learn the procedures, build up a pipeline (supply), learn more, have fun.
.... and some very good beer.
Here is what happened. We had a party for my daughter and we didn't finnish off the keg. (Budweiser). A week after the party my friend told me to hang on to the keg he wanted to conduct an experiment. He and I boiled a gallon of the warm left over beer and through a copper tube we sent the steemed exaust through a Mickey Mouse coiling sytem through ice water and out came pure alcohol. We took some outside and lit it on fire. We even tasted a few drops. It was horrible of course and my wife was an idiot for allowinbg us to try such a stunt in our kitchen. Anyway so he left his book with me "The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible". I read it in 2 days. It was a real page turner for some reason. After I read it I read it again. Then I went back and highlighted the damn thing. Next thing I did was buy John Palmer's "How to Brew". Now that book is all bent out of shape and highlighted too and my compuer has 20 new bookmarks. So now I found you guys and this not so secret society. I think I know were this is heading.
Thanks,
Rob
Thanks,
Rob
chrissomebody
Member
you can do eet. just jump right in man. hefes are awesome beers to start with. the beautiful thing about hefes, as others have mentioned, is that a warm ferment isn't a big deal. in fact, you can produce some interesting flavors in a hefe by fermenting warm.
