# Wheat beer fermentation



## Chull (24/4/13)

Dudes,
I'm probably jumping the gun but I brewed a coopers wheat beer approx 24 hours ago and so far there seems to be no sign of fermentation.
I keep reading about aggressive fermentation with wheat beers, am I just being paranoid?


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## carniebrew (24/4/13)

The answer's probably yes, you're being paranoid, but you should at least post some more info such as what yeast you used, how you pitched it (e.g. did you use dry and re-hydrate first), etc etc....

24 hour lag time is not unusual. And dare I ask what you mean by "no sign of fermentation"? If you mean your airlock hasn't bubbled, then completely ignore that, I've done plenty of brews where the airlock hasn't bubbled once, and the beer has reached final gravity inside of 6 days.


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## Chull (24/4/13)

Carnie, 
I pitched the dry kit yeast at 24 degrees and brought temp down to 18 degrees.
I'm using the glad wrap method so I can see in the fv and doesn't look like much is happening.


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## Womball (24/4/13)

My wheat beers (or any other beer for that matter) can take 24-48 hours to start, depending on the beer, yeast, fermentation temp....There is a lot of variables and I wouldn't panic. If your rehydrated the yeast prior to pitching it should start a little sooner. The yeast are just in the growth phase and you should see action shortly.

Cheers,

Colin.


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## carniebrew (25/4/13)

Take a gravity reading tonight or tomorrow morning and see if it's dropped. The kit yeast with the Coopers Wheat climbed out of my airlock on my first ever kit brew, I think that was around 48 hour mark.

As an aside, the coopers kit yeast is a really bland ale yeast, so your wheat beer won't taste much like a hefeweizen, if that's what you're hoping for. Next time try a pack of wb-06 or danstar munich, and ferment at 22 degrees...it makes a huge difference.


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## manticle (25/4/13)

Chull said:


> Dudes,
> I'm probably jumping the gun but I brewed a coopers wheat beer approx 24 hours ago and so far there seems to be no sign of fermentation.
> I keep reading about aggressive fermentation with wheat beers, am I just being paranoid?


Aggressive when you use something like wyeast 3068 - don't expect the same with the coopers yeast.

Measure the gravity as suggested. If it's dropped, she's fermenting. If not, give it another day, then get some more yeast in there.


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## Chull (26/4/13)

Still nothing now 48 hours, should I worry?


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## JDW81 (26/4/13)

Have you checked your gravity? If it has dropped then it is fermenting, if not taste your sample and pitch some fresh yeast if it tastes ok.

JD


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## hoppy2B (26/4/13)

Chull said:


> Still nothing now 48 hours, should I worry?


Yes h34r:


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## carniebrew (26/4/13)

If a gravity check shows no drop from your OG, it's a good opportunity to nick out and grab a packet of wb06 or munich and get a real bavarian-style weizen going...

You DID take an OG reading, didn't you?? ;-)


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## Chull (26/4/13)

Started this morning and now going good!


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## chromakey (26/4/13)

Great to hear Kit Master. Keep us informed on the progress. I have never tried brewing a wheat beer.


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## kendoll (26/4/13)

Keen to see how it turns out for you mate. The mangrove jack Bavarian wheat I did with the copper tun kit had the airlock bubbling almost straight away.

Ken


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## Chull (3/5/13)

Hey guys, this has been brewing now for 10 days, until 2 days ago it had a thick layer of green gunk on top of it which I can only assume has something to do with the hops.the last couple of days the green gunk seems to be dropping but now there is what looks like normal krausen coming through, is this normal?


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## carniebrew (3/5/13)

Taste it...if it tastes like beer then all is good. How's your hydrometer reading? Should be done by now.


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## Chull (7/5/13)

Just an update on this brew. 
It's now up to day 13 but FG is sitting on 1.019, I have given it a swirl to try and drop another few points. If gravity is stable for the next few days should I bottle or how long should I leave it 
Thanks for advise in advance


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## tiprya (7/5/13)

What was the starting gravity?


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## Chull (7/5/13)

OG 1.056


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## tiprya (7/5/13)

It should get a bit lower than 1.019. Give it some more time.


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## carniebrew (7/5/13)

I've never had a wheat beer take longer than 5 or 6 days to finish fermenting, and the few times I used Coopers kit yeast on any beer it was also done in under a week. And even though 1056 is a pretty high OG, it should still finish down towards 1013. I'm guessing your very long lag time and a 1019 reading after 13 days is suggesting you have a yeast problem....probably not enough healthy yeast given you used the kit yeast from under the lid....which is both small and not handled all that well. Do you have any other yeast on-hand that you can use to finish this brew off?

If you can be bothered, you should try a forced ferment test....draw say 250ml out of your fermenter, put it in a sanitised jar and keep it somewhere warm, as close to 30C as possible. Shake it often over 48 hours, then measure the gravity. If it's still 1019 your yeast is completely dead, and you'll need to add fresh yeast to your fermenter. If the samples' gravity drops to the expected FG, it's just a matter of patience with the main batch (and occasional gentle swirling).


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## Milk-lizard84 (7/5/13)

Just wanted to add a question to this post as I'm also brewing a wheat beer.
My gravity reading at the moment is 1.010 but the beer is kind of bubbling a fair bit I'm my hydrometer test tube. Just wondering if this is normal. It's been brewing for about 8 days I assume from the reading I have that it's finished but just wanted to know why it's fizzing.


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## carniebrew (7/5/13)

I've had 'em do that too, there's usually residual c02 left in your beer post-fermentation...I had a beer get to FG and it had stopped bubbling...I carried the fermenter into my laundry to start bottling, and 5 minutes later the airlock started bubbling again. It happens.

If 1010 is your expected FG, and it's been static for a couple of days, it's ready to bottle.


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## Milk-lizard84 (7/5/13)

Oh sweet thanks for that Carnie. It's been at that reading for a couple of days. I did add finnings to it which after some reading this may have been a mistake. Plus the krausan hasn't settled the bottom yet. Do you think that would be a problem when bottling?


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## Adr_0 (7/5/13)

Hopefully you swirled it a bit when you added the finings. Put it somewhere warmish for 2-3 days and you will be laughing. The 2-3 days is to let the finings work, and - if you stirred it - to make sure that the yeasties eat all the sugary goodness.


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## carniebrew (7/5/13)

Adding finings is not necessarily a mistake, but I wouldn't have bothered with a wheat beer...assuming you mean a weizen style beer, such as a hefe or a dunkel. They're meant to be served cloudy, with the yeast in suspension, so finings kind of defeat the purpose.

Don't worry about the krausen not having settled, it's the hydro readings that tell you all you need to know.


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## Chull (28/5/13)

Just wanted report that I don't think I will be brewing another wheat for a while, too tart n clovey for me, not my kind of beer at all!


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## slcmorro (28/5/13)

Tart and clovey? That's not my impression of a good wheat beer. Try Schoferhofer Hefeweizen. You can get it at Dans for about $5 for 500ml. It's my favourite wietbier. See what you think in comparison.


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## Donske (28/5/13)

slcmorro said:


> Tart and clovey? That's not my impression of a good wheat beer. Try Schoferhofer Hefeweizen. You can get it at Dans for about $5 for 500ml. It's my favourite wietbier. See what you think in comparison.



Was thinking the same thing, I'm currently sipping on a hefe fermented with WB06 and it's lovely, slightly fruity maybe bannana type aroma and really dry finishing, not clovey or tart at all, an absolute quaffer.

That said, it's not a style I'll brew often, just something I enjoy a keg of every now and then,


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## hoppy2B (28/5/13)

The yeast you use makes all the difference. Tartness is determined by yeast. WB06 is fairly mild as far as esters are concerned. I kind of fancy Coopers bottle yeast as a wheat beer yeast with nice ester profile.


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