3rd brew so far, wheat beer. Is this Normal?

[IanC]

G'day Guys,

Just joined up here as a newbie to home brewing. I have a Coopers kit that I got last Christmas as a present that I only started using a few weeks ago.

Anyways, I have already brewed and bottled a Coopers Lager and a Coopers Draught that both SEEM to be aging well. On Sunday afternoon I decided to try my hand at something different and tried a wheat beer with Ingredients as follows:

- Country Brewer 'Wals Wheat'
- 1.5Kg Liquid wheat malt
- 500g of Dextrose
- Litre of 'plunged' wheat grain
- WB06 yeast

Made 21L and has been sitting at about 24C

Now, I know from what I have read online that this type of yeast is a 'top fermenter'? Which I haven't seen in person before. So now my main reason for posting, I sprinkled the yeast ontop of the foam that was created from filling the fermenter up with cold water to the 21L mark. Now yesterday evening when I got home from work and thought I would have a check on it it looked like the following attached picture.



Is this normal for this type of beer? Is this an infection of something else? I thought it strange that only half was brown and bubbing while the other half is still a little foaming with small bubbles?

Thanks for any advice anyone can offer.

Cheers,
Ian

 

[sp0rk]

Looks fairly normal, but put the lid back on and don't open it again until you're bottling

 

[fcmcg]

Put the lid back on...first major cause for infections is people continually opening the lid to check on the ferment....
It looks fine....
Leave it for a week to 10 days and then have a taste....
And obviously , get three continual days of the same hydrometer reading before bottling....
Cheers
F

 

[IanC]

Ok thanks for the quick replies guys. I guess I was just a bit worried as I haven't seen a top fermenting brew before and don't really know what to expect. Just thought it weird it was split on top like that. I'll look through the lid when I get home this arvo and see if there is any change.

Cheers,
Ian

 

[Lachlan]

Try and bring the temp down, 24C is high for a wheat beer.
You may end up with a banana smoothie, speaking from experience and i hate bananas.

Lachlan

 

[Alex.Tas]

i reckon the draught and ale you made earlier were made with a top fermenting ale yeast (standard coopers kit yeast from under the lid). So essentially you have seen a top fermenting yeast before. The WB06 is just more aggressive in the foam it puts out.

 

[manson81]

I made a wals wheat can ages ago with a wheat yeast (can't remember exactly which) and kept it between 18 and 20 degrees and still got a bit of banana flavour. If I did it again, I'd go 17 degrees max!

 

[MartinOC]

Phenolics & banana esters (isoamyl-acetate if I was to get all tech-head on you) is pretty normal for wheat beers & the yeasts that produce them are known to be a bit schitzo. If you find them a bit much for you in the glass, try it again at a lower temperature.

Your fermentation looks fine, just leave it alone until it stops (as mentioned above).

 

[James85]

I also made my first wheat beer late last week. Used a Thomas Coopers selection wheat tin and a 1.5 kg tin Morgans wheat extract, kit yeast, and made it to 20 l. It has been brewing away happily and it will be ready for bottling tomorrow or Thursday.

 

[IanC]

Thanks for the feedback guys much appreciated, I'll try and get the temp down a bit then. I wasn't sure what temp this was supposed to be at and I have had the fermenter off the cold concrete garage floor using some scrap carpet and have had it covered with an old blanket. Guess I'll take both of these away to try and allow it to cool down as much as possible?

Cheers
Ian

 

[sp0rk]

Thanks for the feedback guys much appreciated, I'll try and get the temp down a bit then. I wasn't sure what temp this was supposed to be at and I have had the fermenter off the cold concrete garage floor using some scrap carpet and have had it covered with an old blanket. Guess I'll take both of these away to try and allow it to cool down as much as possible?

Cheers
Ian

If that's still not cutting it, chuck it in a tub with 4 inches of water in the bottom and wrap the fermenter in a wet towel
Add a couple of bottles of frozen water if that's still not quite cutting it
Google Swamp Cooler for more info on this

Also keep an eye out for fridges out for hard rubbish pickups (if your council does them), a lot the time they just need a new thermostat or a defrost element

 

[fcmcg]

Having said that..first 72 hours is when your flavour profile is made...so if its hot for that time , no matter what you do..your flavour is set
Cheers
Ferg

 

[pk.sax]

What he ^ said.

 

[Bluebrew]

That is so bizarre! Dead set I have been pondering posting the exact same pic. My third brew too. I was sure it was infected. Split in half exactly like your pic. Mine is a bohemian wheat with WB06 similar temps. I'll try the water bath and ice bottles next time. Still tastes ok. I will be putting it into a keg on the weekend so should be drinking it in a week or so. I did notice it changed after I took the krausen ring off after about 5 days so hope it's ok.
Good luck!