Re: HEFE lots of malt? Ferment time?

[Chuckie]

Any suggestions on how to make sure I'm not ? (other than making sure the FG sits steady?)
I've always bottled to glass and never had a problem (yet).
But I hear you ! ;-D
I could simply leave it for a full 4 weeks or so to make really sure - unless having it sit on the yeast cake that long is any issue ?

 

[TheWiggman]

Any reason you couldn't just add water to achieve your desired ABV?

 

[Weizguy]

Was going to suggest diluting the beer to drinkable ABV, too. You could try it with a smaller quantity of beer (and scale up later) and see if it dilutes the hot alcohol flavour.
Maybe calculate the new/reduced IBUs in the diluted beer and do a small boil with some hops and add it to get the beer back to the right range (8-15 IBU's).

I think the required yeast may have been WLP380 rather than 830. I'm using it in my next weizen and pitching it tonight. Better than anything I've tasted (or at least been aware of) that was fermented with WB-06.

 

[manticle]

Any suggestions on how to make sure I'm not ? (other than making sure the FG sits steady?)
I've always bottled to glass and never had a problem (yet).
But I hear you ! ;-D
I could simply leave it for a full 4 weeks or so to make really sure - unless having it sit on the yeast cake that long is any issue ?

Look up fast ferment test to see what the yeast is capable of.
Can also try a fast ferment test with new, active fresh yeast to see if that budges it.

Should give you the potential FG and you'll see if it has room to go. Wheats are better fresh generally although at that abv (weizenbock?), a bit of age might do it good.

What kind of recipe gets its numbers that badly wrong?

 

[yum beer]

Sounds like a few typo's in that magazine....probably should have been 3.5kg of malt.
May be they drink too much homebrew aound the ofice.


EDIT: punching 3.5kg of Coopers Wheat Liquid Malt gives an OG of 1054.
Get yourself Ian's kit and extract spreadsheet, apparently pinned at the top of the 'kit and extract' sub forum.
Punch all your recipes in there to check them to avoid such problems in the future.

Gotta say though 37 brews in you probably should have picked up it was a bit much.

 

[Chuckie]

Well, yeah, derrrrrrrrr should'a picked it up......but I hadn't done a Wheat and who would think a popular magazine could get it wrong in BOTH versions of the recipe !
Anyway, it might make a nice high strength beer. But may be a one at a time, not a session beer LOL.
From what the other replies have said I think it's still on it's way to a 1018-1020 finishing FG, which would still put it in the drinkable (after aging) category.
:beerbang:

 

[manticle]

Not your der. Theirs.

 

[Chuckie]

Hi guys, quick update :
The FG seems to be sitting nicely at 1016 but there is still a bubble coming out of the airlock about once an hour or bit less (the SG was 1089). Could this be, as suggested, CO2 just coming out of suspension or is, as also suggested, it just the yeast taking a LONG time to eat it's way through the fermentables ?
I do want to (glass) bottle this as I didn't want to tie up one of my kegs on it in case its rubbish early on.
BUT I am very concerned about making 50 bottle bombs !
I've never heard about it being done, but could I simply keg it, force carbonate it, and then bottle it without carb drops ? Would this stop the bottle bombs without having extra sugars for the yeast to munch on ?
I've got no bloody idea what to do ! :-(
PS - It doesn't taste "too" bad out of the fermenter. Pretty strong on the wheat malt, and, as expected a big kick of alcohol, but I think if it was carbonated it could be drinkable in small amounts (ie 1 stubbie).
Any ideas appreciated.

 

[TheWiggman]

Wouldn't bother transferring it and force carbonating, the yeast and sugars would still be in suspension if it was still fermenting so the end result would be much the same.
Have you taken gravity readings over a few days? That's the only way to tell for sure if it's done.

 

[Chuckie]

Yeah, the last couple of days seem to have the same readings of 1016. It's been in the fermenter for 38 days (5 weeks).
Can it still release CO2 if it's finished fermenting ?

 

[manticle]

Did you try the fast ferment test?

 

[Chuckie]

No, hadn't tried a fast ferment yet. I was hoping that leaving it the extra week or 2 would finish it.
So, to clarify doing the fast ferment test ; I bleed off a sample (0.5 litre ?) into a bottle, pitch a some more yeast in (does it have to be the same yeast ? I have a number of kit yeasts from previous brews still in packets in the fridge. They will still be ok.). and see if it ferments some more ?

 

[carniebrew]

Also, good call on using the WB-06, at least it's supposed to be a wheat beer yeast. WLP830 is a German lager yeast and would not have made anything like a hefe.

I'm guessing it's a typo and the Beer & Brewer boys meant WLP380, the Hefe IV from White Labs, rather than 830. Actually this recipe from them has a heap of issues with it. The 5.25kg of LME is also a typo, should be more like 3.5kg. And they mention Wyeast 3650 which I don't think even exists, I think they mean 3068 (my choice for hefe's), but not sure how you type 3650 from 3068? Maybe they mean 3638, but even then. And their AG recipe sux too, with 7kg of base malt you'll end up with 1080ish OG. What a mess. I wonder if they tried to convert this from a 30l recipe or something?
http://www.beerandbrewerawards.com.au/_blog/Magazine/post/recipe-dead-simple-hefe/

WB-06 can be a good hefe yeast, but if you want an authentic hefe like Schoffer or Paulaner, you HAVE to underpitch by at least 10%, then ferment at 17C. It's hard to calculate an underpitch with dry yeast, much easier when making a yeast starter with a liquid yeast. And it always feels weird pitching only part of a dry yeast pack.

Finally, I recall back when I used airlocks that my wheats would often still bubble the airlock once fermentation was complete. It seems a lot of co2 stays in suspension after fermentation with weizens. I don't use airlocks any more (glad wrap), but I do notice when taking gravity readings of my hefe's that there's a truckload of head on the hydrometer sample, takes 5-10 minutes before it settles down and I can take the reading.