Cost Effective Quasi-hoegaarden Copy

[mfdu]

aaah that's what i been wondering. i'm guessing then its the belgian style i'm hankering for.

well, i can but try. i'll hope to get the brew down after NYE.

chris.

 

[Bizier]

aaah that's what i been wondering. i'm guessing then its the belgian style i'm hankering for.

well, i can but try. i'll hope to get the brew down after NYE.

chris.

Keep the spices very restrained because they are only supposed to provide background notes. For a balanced approach, I suggest halving whatever you think, then add more next time if you feel it lacks those flavours. Compare a Wicked Elf or a Feral to a Hoegaarden and see which end of the spice spectrum you prefer.

The pilsener kit will probably have twice the hops you want for a wit, but I couldn't find any specs regarding that can.

Ditch the oats and flour unless you are mashing with them, even then just use raw/torrefied wheat.

Use a liquid yeast, or re-culture from commercial beer - it is the only way for this one.

 

[Mr.Moonshine]

Just a quick question, I think I might be having a problem with my hoegaarden culture (never recultured yeast from the bottle ><) I've been feeding it progressively for the past couple of days, but when I smell it it has an odd tang to it and it tastes a bit sour. Have I maybe got it infected? Also, when reculturing yeast, should I be able to actually SEE the yeast growing and accumulating in the bottle? I've been swirling it 'round a fair bit, but I'm not sure there's a very large amount of yeast in it

Sorry again for all the noob questions, I just don't want to go to all the effort of a partial mash and then pitch an infection or a poor culture straight into the brew ><

Cheers

Mr.Moonshine

 

[Bizier]

Before you risk a big batch, try it in a larger starter.. if no good turf it.

I've never re-cultured yeast. I am too chickensh*t. Will try when I have a stir plate.

 

[Mr.Moonshine]

Before you risk a big batch, try it in a larger starter.. if no good turf it.

What exactly do you mean by larger starter? The whole culture is already in an almost full 2l bottle (I think I may have overdone the water and made it a bit watery ><). Should I maybe re-pitch it into a new starter and culture again? It's not really a bad flavour, it's just aromatic and a bit odd. Not what I expected with the yeast of a wheat beer. Maybe it's that I have a lager yeast bottling strain and there are odd aromas coming through because of the temperature over here? (It's pretty warm in melb at the moment, owing to it being summer)

 

[gap]

Did you gradually build up your culture or just add the 2L direct to the dregs in the bottle?

Regards


Graeme

 

[Bizier]

What exactly do you mean by larger starter? The whole culture is already in an almost full 2l bottle (I think I may have overdone the water and made it a bit watery ><). Should I maybe re-pitch it into a new starter and culture again? It's not really a bad flavour, it's just aromatic and a bit odd. Not what I expected with the yeast of a wheat beer. Maybe it's that I have a lager yeast bottling strain and there are odd aromas coming through because of the temperature over here? (It's pretty warm in melb at the moment, owing to it being summer)

Lager yeast bottling strain? We are talking a Hoegaarden re-culture here right?

What was your process?

 

[Mr.Moonshine]

Lager yeast bottling strain? We are talking a Hoegaarden re-culture here right?

What was your process?

I boiled up some water, added it to 25-50g LDME, cooled it down to <30 degrees, and added that to a 2l coke bottle which I'd washed and sterilised with hot water. then, I added the muck from the bottom of a few bottles of hoegaarden, and attatched the coke lid which had an airlock stuck in it. I've waited, and smelled and tasted the stuff in it now, and I know there's yeast in there which are working but I'm fairly sure now that it's either a weird yeast, or the whole thing is infected, and I'm getting this weird smell and tang which is quite funky and strange. I'm just a bit appreshensive about the whole thing seeing as it would just utterly bone the brew if it turned out infected. I'm sure there is yeast there, although I've not seen any serious airlock activity (Which the reading I've done here shows is not a big indicator).

I'm well confused now, I had planned to mash and set this to ferment tonight >< What do I do?

* I built the whole thing up, it was only about 400ml when I started, just been adding water and LDME to it since ona daily basis

 

[Bizier]

The generally accepted ratio of DME : Water is 100g : 1,000ml

You want to be ultra sanitary because you are dealing with a tiny amount of yeast, so the ratio of yeast to anything else is much worse than an infection when using bought yeast.

Boil any DME additions for 15 mins.
Sanitise any vessels with a no-rinse for ages.
Try to eliminate breezes, draughts, and airbourne bacterial sources.
Flame the mouth of your commercial bottle, and do not touch it.
Start tiny and build up - maybe 100ml - 200ml - 400ml

A successful yeast farmer may be more useful here.

If it were me, I'd scrap this starter and call it an excuse to buy more Hoegaarden.

 

[Mr.Moonshine]

The generally accepted ratio of DME : Water is 100g : 1,000ml

You want to be ultra sanitary because you are dealing with a tiny amount of yeast, so the ratio of yeast to anything else is much worse than an infection when using bought yeast.

Boil any DME additions for 15 mins.
Sanitise any vessels with a no-rinse for ages.
Try to eliminate breezes, draughts, and airbourne bacterial sources.
Flame the mouth of your commercial bottle, and do not touch it.
Start tiny and build up - maybe 100ml - 200ml - 400ml

A successful yeast farmer may be more useful here.

If it were me, I'd scrap this starter and call it an excuse to buy more Hoegaarden.

Cheers for the advice mate, I'm thinking that's the go. I popped down to the bottlo just before to pick up some hoegaarden, and I'm making up the wort for the starter now. I'm starting the yeast in one of the hoegaarden bottles, with a balloon over the end of the bottle to act as an airlock. I'm thinking 2 days will be enough for it to have started?

Fingers crossed it'll work this time ><

Mr. Moonshine

 

[buttersd70]

I know there's yeast in there which are working but I'm fairly sure now that it's either a weird yeast, or the whole thing is infected, and I'm getting this weird smell and tang which is quite funky and strange.

If in doubt, throw it out. Better to ditch a starter than a whole batch.

Use the same method as for coopers yeast in the wiki here
discussion article on that wiki is here

I would be stepping up to 1.5L after 2-3 days, as others have commented on in the discussion thread.

 

[mfdu]

i knew there was a reason i'm keeping away from yeast starters for the moment - learning one step at a time. Mr. Moonshine, i hope your starter works out!

re. wicked elf vs. ho-garden, i can say for sure i'm looking at the wicked elf end of the story. so that means being a little heavier on the spices etc huh?

therefore, the morgans 'golden saaz' + wheat malt could be taking me down the right path.


c.

 

[Bizier]

My recent batch was very similar to both Elf and Feral, which was reassuring, but I find all to be over-spiced IMO. I am using the definition from somewhere in Brew Like a Monk, something along the lines of being able to single out spices, rather than the spices providing a background depth of flavour.

Add them in by all means, it is definitely to style if you are using a wit yeast. I merely suggest starting very light and working from there, rather than the other way around.

 

[Mr.Moonshine]

Just thought I'd follow up on how the beer turned out thanks to everyones advice
Bottles were bulk primed with sugar and left for about 1.5 weeks to carbonate.
Taste is quite tart, but with a fair amount of smoothness (Which I would say was probably the honey), and some nice spicy balanced citrus/coriander notes. Very refreshing, easily my favorite homebrew so far

Cheers again for the advice,

Mr.Moonshine