Mangrove Jacks British Wheat Beer Pouch

[djamesnz]

Hi there,



I'm a beer home brewing newbie, but have been distilling my own spirits for a couple of years now.

My first brew was Black Rock Pilsner Blonde with Copper Tun Czech Pilsner No 62 enhancer. The result has only been in the bottle a week but already it tastes ok, a bit thin but ok. Next time I might add a few extra hops.

Anyhoo, I've just bought my second kit, Mangrove Jacks British Wheat Beer Pouch with 1.5kg Briess CBW Bavarian Wheat LME.
I enjoy a good wheat beer, so it will be interesting to see how it goes.
I might add a bit of orange zest and coriander to the fermenter, although the guy at the brew shop suggested leaving it virgin, so I have a benchmark.

Has anyone used this kit? Do you have any general suggestions?

At the end of the day, if it tastes like arse, I can chuck it in my still and extract the alcohol for vodka, so not all is lost



Cheers

 

[Liam_snorkel]

One of my mates who just got into brewing used that kit for his first ever brew - tasted sensational for a kit, I'd leave it as is if I were you.

Ps I'm pretty sure it comes with a legit wheat yeast (maybe wb-06?) because there was no shortage of clove flavour.

 

[djamesnz]

One of my mates who just got into brewing used that kit for his first ever brew - tasted sensational for a kit, I'd leave it as is if I were you.

Ps I'm pretty sure it comes with a legit wheat yeast (maybe wb-06?) because there was no shortage of clove flavour.

Awesome, thanks mate. Appreciate the advice.



Cheers

 

[djamesnz]

Hi there,

I am having a bit of trouble with my ferment on this kit.
I put it down on Thursday. The instructions said it would take approx 7 days, it's now Wednesday of the following week.
Initially for the first couple of days, the ferment was VERY vigorous, almost coming out of the airlock.
By Monday, the ferment appeared to have stopped with the activity in the airlock only to odd bubble, which was more likely from natural CO2 release rather than active ferment. Sediment is settling out as the beer is starting to clear.
Initially the SG was 1050. It is now only 1020, clearly no where near finished, as the packet says it should be around 1007.
Would adding LME rather than dextrose impact on the final SG to this degree?

Is it possible that cool weather could have stalled the ferment? I took the temp of the wort and it is 17deg C.
Should I buy some more yeast and have another crack?

It smells quite nice, I'd hate to have to ditch it.

Cheers

Darren

 

[Black Devil Dog]

It could just be that your hydrometer isn't reading correctly. Calibrate that to see if it is reading correctly. (Basically if you fill it with water it should read 1000, if not, make allowances in your gravity readings).

If it had a vigorous ferment, which has happened to me before with wheats, then that part seems fairly normal.
Adding LME or DME instead of dex is something that I pretty much always do and my fg is slightly higher because of it.

My understanding is that raising the temp at this stage is probably worth doing and from personal experience doesn't do any harm either. 17 deg is getting on the lower end of the spectrum, so a heat pad or heat belt will help get it up a few degrees.

Whatever you do, DON'T go adding anything now and DON'T tip it out.

 

[carniebrew]

Whatever you do, DON'T go adding anything now and DON'T tip it out.

+1 on that. 1007 sounds like a low FG from a starting point of 1050. What yeast was it? If it's WB-06 then it has a lower attenuation than some, it should turn a 1050 wort into around 1013. How many litres did you fill your FV up to? If it was the usual 23, it does could be your hydrometer readings might be out, because a kit and 1.5 kilo of DME wouldn't normally make a 1050 OG.

Mind you 21/22 litres could make that kind of OG, so it may just be taking its time due to your low ferment temps. WB-06 yeast can be done a bit higher than 17/18, i've used it a few times at 21/22, and i've seen others report results with a ferment as high as 24 (chasing big banana flavours).

 

[djamesnz]

It could just be that your hydrometer isn't reading correctly. Calibrate that to see if it is reading correctly. (Basically if you fill it with water it should read 1000, if not, make allowances in your gravity readings).

If it had a vigorous ferment, which has happened to me before with wheats, then that part seems fairly normal.
Adding LME or DME instead of dex is something that I pretty much always do and my fg is slightly higher because of it.

My understanding is that raising the temp at this stage is probably worth doing and from personal experience doesn't do any harm either. 17 deg is getting on the lower end of the spectrum, so a heat pad or heat belt will help get it up a few degrees.

Whatever you do, DON'T go adding anything now and DON'T tip it out.

Thanks mate. I checked my hydrometer and it is spot on.

I've got an electric blanket lying around. I'll drape that over it tonight on low to try and warm it up a little. I'll grab a heat pad or belt in the next few days.

Cheers

 

[djamesnz]

+1 on that. 1007 sounds like a low FG from a starting point of 1050. What yeast was it? If it's WB-06 then it has a lower attenuation than some, it should turn a 1050 wort into around 1013. How many litres did you fill your FV up to? If it was the usual 23, it does could be your hydrometer readings might be out, because a kit and 1.5 kilo of DME wouldn't normally make a 1050 OG.

Mind you 21/22 litres could make that kind of OG, so it may just be taking its time due to your low ferment temps. WB-06 yeast can be done a bit higher than 17/18, i've used it a few times at 21/22, and i've seen others report results with a ferment as high as 24 (chasing big banana flavours).

Thanks for that mate. I've had a good look and I can't find out what yeast it is. It came with the pack. Liam Snorkel (posted earlier) thought it may be WB-06.

Hydrometer is spot on.

The FV is filled to 22L. I thought I had done 23 but realised the FV was sitting on the corner of a tile when I was filling it so it wasn't level-duh

I'll try a bit of heat and see what happens.


Thanks for your reply.


Cheers

 

[jaypes]

It could just be that your hydrometer isn't reading correctly. Calibrate that to see if it is reading correctly. (Basically if you fill it with water it should read 1000, if not, make allowances in your gravity readings).

Your hydrometer if calibrated will read 1000 in water that is 20 Degrees C

 

[carniebrew]

Thanks for that mate. I've had a good look and I can't find out what yeast it is. It came with the pack. Liam Snorkel (posted earlier) thought it may be WB-06.

Hydrometer is spot on.

The FV is filled to 22L. I thought I had done 23 but realised the FV was sitting on the corner of a tile when I was filling it so it wasn't level-duh

I'll try a bit of heat and see what happens.


Thanks for your reply.


Cheers

The Mangrove Jack website for that pouch certainly makes it sound like WB-06, or at least some kind of specialty wheat yeast. If you're a fan of Hoegaarden and Schoffer type wit's/hefe's you're in for a real treat. As for the 22 litres, it's gonna be a high abv, could be as much as 5.5% once bottled. Which means you'll need to drink less beer to get the desired end result..yay...

Bit exxy that kit though...if you want a cheaper way to brew a brilliant easy weizen, grab a can of Thomas Coopers Wheat for around $13, then add 500 grams of light DME ($5) & 300gm of Dex ($1.50), fill it to 18 litres and put a WB-06 yeast ($5) on it and for under $25 you get just over 2 slabs of weizen goodness. Ferment at 21'ish, should be done inside 8 days with an abv of spot on 5% (OG/FG around 1045/1011). Being a wheat it's ready to drink after a week of bottle conditioning (gets a little better after 2 weeks). Get 'em all into the fridge after a couple of weeks of bottle conditioning to keep 'em fresh. Try drinking it two different ways...firstly pour a bottle straight into a glass, leaving the last 10ml with the sediment in the bottle. Next bottle, try inverting and rotating the bottle slowly to get more sediment into suspension, then pour every last bit into the bottle. It's like a double hit of clove/banana/hefe flavour. Too much for some, but others love it that way, which is why it's good to try both.

 

[HBHB]

Hi there,



I'm a beer home brewing newbie, but have been distilling my own spirits for a couple of years now.

My first brew was Black Rock Pilsner Blonde with Copper Tun Czech Pilsner No 62 enhancer. The result has only been in the bottle a week but already it tastes ok, a bit thin but ok. Next time I might add a few extra hops.

Anyhoo, I've just bought my second kit, Mangrove Jacks British Wheat Beer Pouch with 1.5kg Briess CBW Bavarian Wheat LME.
I enjoy a good wheat beer, so it will be interesting to see how it goes.
I might add a bit of orange zest and coriander to the fermenter, although the guy at the brew shop suggested leaving it virgin, so I have a benchmark.

Has anyone used this kit? Do you have any general suggestions?

At the end of the day, if it tastes like arse, I can chuck it in my still and extract the alcohol for vodka, so not all is lost



Cheers

The instructions are based solely on using a 1kg of dextrose going into the brew.

The yeast in the pack is WB06

The FG will end up down around 1.012 (from memory) with the full 1.5 of briess bavarian wheat malt in the pack.

Makes a damned good wheatbeer.

Hope this helps.

Martin

 

[djamesnz]

Your hydrometer if calibrated will read 1000 in water that is 20 Degrees C

Thanks Jaypes, much appreciated

 

[djamesnz]

The Mangrove Jack website for that pouch certainly makes it sound like WB-06, or at least some kind of specialty wheat yeast. If you're a fan of Hoegaarden and Schoffer type wit's/hefe's you're in for a real treat. As for the 22 litres, it's gonna be a high abv, could be as much as 5.5% once bottled. Which means you'll need to drink less beer to get the desired end result..yay...

Bit exxy that kit though...if you want a cheaper way to brew a brilliant easy weizen, grab a can of Thomas Coopers Wheat for around $13, then add 500 grams of light DME ($5) & 300gm of Dex ($1.50), fill it to 18 litres and put a WB-06 yeast ($5) on it and for under $25 you get just over 2 slabs of weizen goodness. Ferment at 21'ish, should be done inside 8 days with an abv of spot on 5% (OG/FG around 1045/1011). Being a wheat it's ready to drink after a week of bottle conditioning (gets a little better after 2 weeks). Get 'em all into the fridge after a couple of weeks of bottle conditioning to keep 'em fresh. Try drinking it two different ways...firstly pour a bottle straight into a glass, leaving the last 10ml with the sediment in the bottle. Next bottle, try inverting and rotating the bottle slowly to get more sediment into suspension, then pour every last bit into the bottle. It's like a double hit of clove/banana/hefe flavour. Too much for some, but others love it that way, which is why it's good to try both.

Thanks Carniebrew, that's awesome information.
I can't wait to try it! It'll be just in time for summer bbqs..nom nom


I just bought a second FV so I might get your suggestion bubbling away, mind you my girlfriend has put in an order for more voddie before xmas


Thanks again mate.



Cheers

 

[djamesnz]

The instructions are based solely on using a 1kg of dextrose going into the brew.

The yeast in the pack is WB06

The FG will end up down around 1.012 (from memory) with the full 1.5 of briess bavarian wheat malt in the pack.

Makes a damned good wheatbeer.

Hope this helps.

Martin

Legend, thanks Martin. All this info is brilliant!
Can't wait for it to finish so I can get it into the bottle!

Cheers



Darren