Hi all,
I've been doing lots of reading on here to help get up to speed and have been able to get up to an extract for Brew 9 - a Belgian Ale in the fermenter atm.
Besides being a grand hobby, i have turned to Brewing my own as i have expensive tastes in speciality beers and having been to Europe could not put up with commercial Oz beer for another second.
Anyhow stop waffling......it's Brew 8 i need help with!!
My Hefeweizen turned out ok but i think it has some flaws, it started out a Morgans GS Wheat Kit + 750g Dry Wheat Malt (55% wheat and 45% barley malt) + 300g Dextrose + Hersbrucker finishing Hops. Tbs of dissolved flour and Wb-06 yeast with 20c primary ferment temp. No racking and then Carbed after 2 and a bit weeks on 20/01/10 with carb drops as i wanted plenty of bubbles.
Taste samples were initially good, and colour came out perfect cloudy of course, and aroma seemed not bad.
BUT i knew something was not quite right on first taste this week, hadnt had a wheat for ages, so got a Schofferhoffer and did a side by side tasting. Wow, what a beer it is!! :icon_drool2:
It was a lot creamier than mine, spicier aroma with less dominant banana, fuller body, creamy....did i mention creamy.... ever so slight clove/nutmeg taste and hop taste i can't discern with my simple palate.
My beer has a very definite banana aroma, a good head is present if not great for a wheat, and initial taste is ok but then a very crisp finish i don't like, damn that....is that the Dextrose? It is very def drinkable though.
I know that you can't brew something like the commercial version without maybe doing AG....BUT....what can i do to improve my next attempt?
A) Drop the Dex and sub in all Wheat Malt or use 200g Maltodextrin?
B Ferment at 18c (if possible in summer with no brew fridge)
C) Use a liquid yeast? ( I do like the simplicity of dry yeast so far, have used US-05, S-04, WB-06, T-58 etc )
D) Grain steep?
E) Ditch the kit and do extract which i am comfortable with...... Hallertau/Northern Brewer for bittering....etc
F) Just ask Santa for a case of Schofferhoffer for XMAS instead.......no scratch F it's too far away is xmas!
Thanks in advance, and thanks already to all for recipe bits that i used to make a damn nice pale ale and 2 stouts so far, in only 8 brews. (My first two were horrid but i hadn't seen this site or even been in a LHBS at that stage)
Mick.
I've been doing lots of reading on here to help get up to speed and have been able to get up to an extract for Brew 9 - a Belgian Ale in the fermenter atm.
Besides being a grand hobby, i have turned to Brewing my own as i have expensive tastes in speciality beers and having been to Europe could not put up with commercial Oz beer for another second.
Anyhow stop waffling......it's Brew 8 i need help with!!
My Hefeweizen turned out ok but i think it has some flaws, it started out a Morgans GS Wheat Kit + 750g Dry Wheat Malt (55% wheat and 45% barley malt) + 300g Dextrose + Hersbrucker finishing Hops. Tbs of dissolved flour and Wb-06 yeast with 20c primary ferment temp. No racking and then Carbed after 2 and a bit weeks on 20/01/10 with carb drops as i wanted plenty of bubbles.
Taste samples were initially good, and colour came out perfect cloudy of course, and aroma seemed not bad.
BUT i knew something was not quite right on first taste this week, hadnt had a wheat for ages, so got a Schofferhoffer and did a side by side tasting. Wow, what a beer it is!! :icon_drool2:
It was a lot creamier than mine, spicier aroma with less dominant banana, fuller body, creamy....did i mention creamy.... ever so slight clove/nutmeg taste and hop taste i can't discern with my simple palate.
My beer has a very definite banana aroma, a good head is present if not great for a wheat, and initial taste is ok but then a very crisp finish i don't like, damn that....is that the Dextrose? It is very def drinkable though.
I know that you can't brew something like the commercial version without maybe doing AG....BUT....what can i do to improve my next attempt?
A) Drop the Dex and sub in all Wheat Malt or use 200g Maltodextrin?
B Ferment at 18c (if possible in summer with no brew fridge)
C) Use a liquid yeast? ( I do like the simplicity of dry yeast so far, have used US-05, S-04, WB-06, T-58 etc )
D) Grain steep?
E) Ditch the kit and do extract which i am comfortable with...... Hallertau/Northern Brewer for bittering....etc
F) Just ask Santa for a case of Schofferhoffer for XMAS instead.......no scratch F it's too far away is xmas!
Thanks in advance, and thanks already to all for recipe bits that i used to make a damn nice pale ale and 2 stouts so far, in only 8 brews. (My first two were horrid but i hadn't seen this site or even been in a LHBS at that stage)
Mick.