Is 1 Month Enough

[Tanga]

I'm having a party in just over a month and I'm going to serve up my lager to those that are game. I'd really like to have something else as well (besides my probably going to get dumped alcoholic lemonade). Is 1 month long enough to brew something decent?

 

[tdack]

Yep, you should be able to get a decent wheat beer out of a bottle in that time with no problems.

Use a wheat specific yeast (eg: Safale WB-06), keep the temp around the 18-20C when fermenting and it should be done in about a week, bottle and you'll be drinking it two weeks later tops.

 

[buttersd70]

As far as kits are concerned, agree with troy that wheat would be the safe bet to be 100% ready.

 

[Tanga]

Beautiful! Thanks guys. A good wheat would go down well at a summer barbecue - and was what I wanted to try next anyway. Since I'm probably going to be picking up from Brewcraft I'll probably go one of these:
http://www.brewcraftsa.com.au/listProduct/...cks/Wheat+Beers

What's good? Do you get what you pay for? Or is that just because some are imported?

 

[Brewer_010]

Beautiful! Thanks guys. A good wheat would go down well at a summer barbecue - and was what I wanted to try next anyway. Since I'm probably going to be picking up from Brewcraft I'll probably go one of these:
http://www.brewcraftsa.com.au/listProduct/...cks/Wheat+Beers

What's good? Do you get what you pay for? Or is that just because some are imported?

I'd recommend using a FWK or two hefeweizens for a party - they are fast to brew and [practically] everyone likes them. At $45 for 19L it's pretty reasonable costwise. Use a good quality weizen yeast (WB-06 for clovey/banana or Danstar Munich yeast for crisp/refreshing) and impress!

 

[dpadden]

yeah fwk for sure....try the brewers selection Hef, it's a cracker, and can be drunk after only a week in the bottle

 

[Tanga]

The brewcraft shop doesn't seem to have either of those =(. I'll see what I can do though.

 

[cozmocracker]

excuse my ignorance but what are FWK and hefeweizens, im guessing wheat beers but please alaberate,hope i spelt that right.

 

[OzBeer_MD]

excuse my ignorance but what are FWK and hefeweizens, im guessing wheat beers but please alaberate,hope i spelt that right.

FWK = Fresh Wort Kit - 15Litres of wort straight from a brewery into a cube, sealed hot and ready for you to add some yeast too (after you transfer it to your sanitised fermenter) Its all I brew nowadays due to lack of time and a fantastic run of FWKs from St Peters Brewery. (add some extra dry hop bag(s) yummmm)

MD

 

[cozmocracker]

thanks Doc,might have to give the FWK a go. what about hefeweizens? type of wheat beer?

 

[watchUburn]

According to wikipedia...

Hefeweizen ("hefe" is German for yeast) is the name for unfiltered wheat beers

 

[Jase71]

What's good? Do you get what you pay for? Or is that just because some are imported?

For kits, I reckon the Coopers Brewmaster Wheat + a can of wheat malt makes a great beer that will be loved by many. You may wish to up the hop flavour just a touch.

 

[flattop]

Did a FWK in time for Christmas, tastes great, used a WL yeast. Recommend it although i have had similar results from a decent Kit....

 

[Tanga]

Did a FWK in time for Christmas, tastes great, used a WL yeast. Recommend it although i have had similar results from a decent Kit....

Excellent. I'll see what my local brew shop has go from there. Thanks for the suggestions guys.

Will I be able to do a cider in time too?

 

[Mantis]

Excellent. I'll see what my local brew shop has go from there. Thanks for the suggestions guys.

Will I be able to do a cider in time too?

The ESB Bavarian Wheat 3kg tin is a no brainer and very nice. Comes with a wheat yeast

 

[Tanga]

The ESB Bavarian Wheat 3kg tin is a no brainer and very nice. Comes with a wheat yeast

A decent one? Or would I be better off geting the Wyeast-06 or something?

 

[flattop]

+1 for the ESB Bavarian Wheat, a good drop, use the yeast provided as it works well with that kit.
The Kit is pre-hopped as you see the lumps of hops when you open the tin.
Currently sells for around $31, no need to add anything but water.

 

[Tanga]

Beautiful! Sounds like my thing.

Any answers on whether a cider would be ready in time?

 

[flattop]

Haven't done one, Ginger beer would be as it's basically ready straight out of the can, fermentation time really only determines ABV content. You could throw on a GB for 4-7 days and probably get around 3-4% ABV depending on SG and FG.

BTW the ESB kits aren't available everywhere, you may have to ring around a bit but they are worth the money, if you calculate the cost of a standard 1.7k kit plus dex or DME and hops and a decent yeast there is not much price difference and IMHO they probably produce a more standard output as with less variables there is less margin for error. Same with the liquid worts for that matter, just add water and pitch the yeast, cant go wrong if everything else is clean.

 

[flattop]

Just threw on a Hoegaarden ESB 3k kit as i bought 2 recently. The yeast is Fermentis Safbrew T-58, the kit has hops inside and what looks like little balls about the size of peppercorns that i assume is coriander, there are heaps of them. SG is 1045 and expected FG is around 1012. Takes stuff all time to mix as you don't need dex or anything else.