re: Homebrewing: In-Process Thread

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In my hopefully temporary situation of having to maximize output while being bottlenecked by brewing off-site, I have come up with a plan for this table beer.

Dilution is the solution.

Going to brew a 1.085ish beer and then split it 35/65 and top off both back to 5 gallons. That should give me one OG around 1.030ish for the table beer and 1.050ish for another beer.

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I've been seeing more and more written about making two beers with one brew day using various methods. I just don't have room for it.

I think this table beer will end up being bottled, and I haven't bottled a beer in quite a while, and when I did, it never came out right.

Not sure when I will end up making this beer though. I intend to get a starter going for my dregs tonight. Will probably brew when the starter seems ready to go.

Just started mashing in on my German Hefeweizen (Blueberry). I must have tinkered with the formula after ordering my grains, because at one time, i calculated my mash. And now it's brewday and its different, in terms of mash water volume. It's a little too soupy. Mash is usually around 1.25 qts/lb, right now its at 1.5 qts/lb. All of my water calcs and acidulated malt additions were calculated for the larger mash water volume to get my mash around 5.24. I'm sure the beer will turn out fine, just curious what i did in between ordering the grains and messing with the recipe.
I did hit my mash temp on the money. Anyway, i know, RDWHAHB.

What temp are you fermenting at?

God bless Fermcaps

Fermenting at 67/68

I have been hesitant to make a hefe because I read that you need to keep it down around 60 or 62 to avoid too much ester production. I'm interested to see how yours turns out at that temp

My experience is that if you want to avoid overpowering banana/bubblegum flavors then you keep the fermentation low for the first 36-48 hours from pitching. Then just let the temperature rise to whatever the yeast can do (usually about 70-72 in my basement at that point. this gives a mix of clove spiciness with some hints of banana that to me make a hefe.

Right now my keg has a wheat that got late addition and dry hop (and keg hop) Amarillo and an American ale yeast and it's delicious. If you're avoiding traditional German hefe flavors like banana notes then this might be something to try. It's like a sweet orange/tangerine taste and then finishes crisp with no bitterness at all.

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n the end I figured out I just didn't like Hefe's enough to keep screwing with that temperamental yeast to get the right mix.

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this is the other reason I never tried making a hefe. I like them, but not enough to want 5 gallons

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this is the other reason I never tried making a hefe. I like them, but not enough to want 5 gallons

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Well, 3 gallons of it will be racked on top of some homegrown blueberries for the wife. The other 2 gallons is just to see how i do, per style. I'm not a huge hefe fan either, but i enjoy doing new styles.

Up next is an oktoberfest.

Good to hear, I got 4 about a year ago and all still have tops and bottoms attached. They definitely needed to be cleaned but a little PBW or Oxi-Clean should make quick work of that.