Hoegaarden Brewcraft Kit Questions

[Matt1975]

Hi Guys,

I dug out my old fermenter after about 10 years and have made up a Hoegaarden Brewcraft Kit and it has now stopped bubling after about 8 days.

I have a few questions -

1. I have taken an SG reading and it is about 1008. Does any one know what the final reading should be as the instructions don't have one? Other than the readings should remain the same over a few days and then bottle.

2. During the fermentation the brew stopped bubbling a few times and after a bit of a shake it stated up again. I did this a few times. Was this a bad thing to do.

3. Do you have any tips for the bottling i.e. carbonation drops vs caster sugar, storage temps.

Cheers

Matt

 

[JestersDarts]

Hi Guys,

I dug out my old fermenter after about 10 years and have made up a Hoegaarden Brewcraft Kit and it has now stopped bubling after about 8 days.

I have a few questions -

1. I have taken an SG reading and it is about 1008. Does any one know what the final reading should be as the instructions don't have one? Other than the readings should remain the same over a few days and then bottle.

2. During the fermentation the brew stopped bubbling a few times and after a bit of a shake it stated up again. I did this a few times. Was this a bad thing to do.

3. Do you have any tips for the bottling i.e. carbonation drops vs caster sugar, storage temps.

Cheers

Matt

G'Day Matt -

i dont know what the kit comprised of - let us know and someone should be able to whck it in a calculator to find your expected SG & OG

Giving it a swirl is OK - sounds like it made the yeast stand to attention once more after slackening off!

For bottling - definately have a look to bulk priming and racking -

i.e - racking the brew onto your priming sugar then bottling.
It should give you a more even carbonation thatn priming each bottle individually -

again, there is a priming calculator floating around these parts too..

good luck!

 

[thanme]

Welcome back to brewing

1. It depends on all sorts of thing. Just make sure it's the same for 3 days in a row to ensure it's finish. I'd say it probably is at that reading though. Personally I'd say 1.008 is a bit low for a kit, but I guess it depends on the kit.

2. Nope. Anything you "stirred up" will settle again

3. I've been using carb drops and been having good results. 2xdrops per 750ml etc. But I'm going to start using dextrose because I'm about to start using different sized bottles. Store at room temp

 

[jakub76]

I reckon at 1.008 it's definately finished fermenting. The shaking would have probably just taken some of the CO2 out of solution, that's why your airlock started bubbling again. Next time you could try increasing the temperature around two degrees to get the last activity out of your yeast. This tends to clean up your beer also, the yeast will eat DMS and other by-products when they run out of sugar.
I brewed an extract hoegarden clone last year - I really enjoyed the beer as a refreshing quaffer but wished I'd used twice as much spice, it was quite subtle.

 

[Matt1975]

FYI

The Kits comprises Black Rock Wheat Beer + 1kg dried wheat malt + K97 Safwheat yeast + corriander seeds.

 

[ChefDave]

FYI

The Kits comprises Black Rock Wheat Beer + 1kg dried wheat malt + K97 Safwheat yeast + corriander seeds.

Any orange zest at all?

 

[Matt1975]

Sorry,

I had to use 2 tbl spoons of orange zest. Crush the corriander seeds and then boil with the orange zest for 20 mins, strain and then add to wort.

Just finished bottling today.

Can't wait to sample!!!!

 

[SirPsycho]

I've just dropped this kit in too... and it looks waaaaaaaaay too dark for Hoegaarden.

Did it up as per the specs... all mixed up and it looks like an amber ale. Is she burnt??

 

[blakie21]

Having done this kit ill say it turned out really good, however drink it quick! because it will fade and become boring rather quickly. At least it did for me! Pretty sure at 1.008 itll be well and truly done, if i remember correctly mine was higher but no big deal.

Def too dark though but its hard with a kit. If you want to get a lighter colour you can try a coopers wheat beer kit and coopers wheat liquid malt extract (used it in a hefe and got the golden colour i was after). Wont manage to get a white beer with kits though from what I hear.

The WB-06 made a decent wit but I found it flocced a bit too much and had to roll all my bottles after a month or less which caused chunks of yeast, freaking some people out haha. If you enjoy this definitley try a liquid yeast next, I used 3068 in a hefe and it turned out great.

 

[SirPsycho]

yeah no probs... not too worried about the colour- it's all about the taste! Used the wb-06 also- I was going to have a go at racking it once the primary has finished... but have been reading mixed ideas about racking wheat beers. Would you recommend it?

 

[blakie21]

Personally I would not rack it at all. Get it bottled or kegged and enjoy it young while its still spicy and has lots of yeast character

 

[SirPsycho]

awesome- thanks