Topics

1

Kegging and Bottling / Is it really OK to not rinse OneStep out of bottles?

« on: September 22, 2010, 03:02:10 pm »

Is it really OK to not rinse OneStep? The product states "No Rinse", but I'm not sure I trust all my hard work to it. It makes the water solution very slimy feeling and dries leaving a white residue. It also has a chemical taste in solution but perhaps that goes away when it is dry. I currently am rinsing my bottles after OneStep and then I use the oven to do final sterilization. I would hate for the product to add a chemical taste or have an affect on the yeast that is bottle conditiong my beer. Any one know for sure it's OK to not rinse?

2

Yeast and Fermentation / Fermentation temperature

« on: August 09, 2010, 11:36:58 am »

When a fermentation temperature is specified with a recipe, yeast type, etc, is the temperature the ambient temperature of the air around the vessel, or is it the desired temperature of the beer itself? I realize that when fermentation is slow the two should be about the same, but during vigorous activity, the beer could be several degrees higher than ambient. I am going to buy an electronic control for a freezer conversion and need to know whether the temp sensor should just be dangled into the chamber, or should I tape it to the container, or even sanitize and submerge? Thanks for your input.

3

General Homebrew Discussion / Is it normal for Hefeweizen to become clear?

« on: March 02, 2010, 01:07:28 pm »

I bottled my first hefeweizen about 2 weeks ago and I have been noticing a subtle flavor change after the first week. I tried pouring one last night without rousing the yeast sediment because I wanted to determine how much of the flavor was coming from the yeast. It poured nearly totally clear. Is that normal? I thought there was residual protein in wheat beer that added to the cloudiness and it wasn't simply the yeast causing cloudiness? I brewed it from extract only and it was awesome in the first few days, but it is losing a lot of the "wheat" character (breadiness?). I wonder about the temperature of my refrigerator - I am using a digital thermometer and the temperature did fall down to about 29 degrees a couple of times until I adjusted it up to about 38. Could getting too cold cause damage to the beer? I never saw any ice in the bottles. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance for your time.

4

General Homebrew Discussion / Hefeweizen - SUCCESS!!

« on: February 19, 2010, 09:04:24 am »

I have been asking questions on this forum about making my first homebrew, a Bavarian Hefeweizein. I tried one last night. It's awesome! 13-day fermentation followed by 4 days in the bottle and it was very nicely carbonated. All the right flavors and smells are there - banana, clove, bubblegum, spiciness. I simply cannot believe how well it turned out! To my untrained palate, it is so close to Weihenstephaner or Paulaner it's scary. Thanks for all the advice!

5

Kegging and Bottling / Do you shake kegged hefeweizen prior to dispensing?

« on: February 12, 2010, 11:45:30 am »

I'm planning to start kegging soon and am curious how to handle kegged hefeweizen since swirling the settled yeast is standard practice when serving from a bottle. Do you somehow agitate your kegged hefe prior to dispensing to get the settled yeast back into suspension? Seems like you will draw too much yeast otherwise since the keg pulls from the bottom.

6

Kegging and Bottling / Re-using commercial pry-off bottles

« on: February 11, 2010, 02:00:38 pm »

I saved the bottles from six-packs of Paulaner and also Weihenstephaner hefeweizen and am considering re-using them. Both sets are identical and are obviously from the same manufacturer. Since those are bottle-conditioned beers, am I safe to assume they are strong enough for my own hefe and carbonation to 3.5 units of CO2? I have been weighing bottles, and the empty bottles I bought from Midwest are about 9.5 oz. and these German bottles are about 8.7 oz. Compare that to Sam Adams bottles which were quite a bit less - less than 7 oz. if I remember correctly. The thought of flying glass near my face is a little scary.......

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Yeast and Fermentation / Visual cues to fermentation progress

« on: February 10, 2010, 04:37:29 pm »

Hi there - I have not yet invested in a hydrometer and I have a Bavarian hefeweizen fermenting and want advice to know when to bottle (other than "buy a hydrometer"  ). Today is day 9 of fermentation and the foam on top went away except for a few "islands", yesterday. My airlock is still bubbling about every 10-15 seconds and I can take a flashlight and see a steady stream of tiny bubbles rising up from the bottom. I plan to wait at least until day 14, but should I expect the CO2 production to stop completely? I'm told that fresh is good for this style of beer and, of course, I'm also anxious to get it bottled and carbed up. I just don't want to get impatient and bottle too soon. Thanks for the advice...........

8

General Homebrew Discussion / Newbie - first non-kit homebrew - Hefeweizen

« on: February 09, 2010, 10:44:14 am »

I have my first self-designed brew in the fermenter - been there 7 days tonight. I picked-up a six-pack of Paulaner and Weihenstephaner Hefe's and both are great, so I knew what my first brew had to be. Here's what I used:

Batch size - 2.125 gallons
Boil size - 1 gallon water plus LME
3.3 lbs. Midwest bulk Breiss Wheat LME (65%/35%)
.25 oz. Hallertau pellet 3.8 - 1 hour
Wyeast 3068 (I used 2.1 oz. (weight))

The calculator predicts this to be:
OG 1.053
FG 1.013
IBU 11
ABV 5.2 %
SRM 3

Very basic, but from what I can read on the style, it's supposed to be. It has been fermenting at exactly 67.8 degrees F. I don't have a hydrometer yet, but it's still bubbling the airlock about every 10-15 seconds. I plan to carbonate to 3.5 to be safe since I am bottling it. I also have a tip on a used kegerator and hopefully in the future will be able to move to 5 gallon batches and keg it!

Comments are welcome - I'm here to learn........

9

General Homebrew Discussion / Hefeweizen techniques

« on: January 19, 2010, 04:25:06 pm »

I'm a newbie and want to make a hefeweizen. Is there any difference in technique when transferring from the primary to secondary fermenter as far as stirring-up the yeast sediment? How about from the secondary to bottling? I know the suspended yeast is part of this style of beer, but don't know if you have to stir it up to keep it in suspension or just let it settle and avoid transferring it like a typical beer. Would this style benefit from a single-stage fermentationto keep it in contact with the trub longer? Thanks for your help!