Wheat Beer Fermentation Times

[jgriffin]

I put down an ESB Bavarian Wheat beer last week, 8 days ago in fact. After pitching the yeast it took off straight away, within an hour or so, and has been going hard ever since. It still bubbles through the airlock at least once ever 10 seconds. Still.

The SG is now down to 1012, (forgot to take a reading for OG) but she shows no sign of abating. Is this normal for wheat beers? I was going to rack to secondary today, but i think i'll have to leave it for another week at this rate.

 

[Crispy]

Hi JG,

I have brewed lots of wheat beers, no hard and fast rule on fermentation time.
What yeast are you using?, what temp are you fermenting at?

Check the grav. again in a day or 2, if it has dropped, let it go, if its finished fermenting - rack it or bottle it.

I have found that racking my wheat beers makes very little difference, they seem to be better to drink when young, 2-3 weeks in the bottle straight from the primary is what I do, But then I like a bit of yeast in the bottle for the authentic Hefe-wiezen cloudiness.

Cheers,

Crispy

 

[jgriffin]

Thanks Crispy. I'm using the included Safale/Saflager K-97 yeast. Came in a large (150g?) pack.
I'm fermenting between 18-22deg atm. I checked yesterday and today, and the SG doesn't seem to have dropped at all, but she's still bubbling away madly.
But then again, i have no patience

 

[Boots]

JGRiffin, I'm going through EXACTLY the same thing as you are. Mines more like 10 -12 days at the moment.

There was a thick Krausen on top until just recent. But it's still going I'm fermenting at around 18 DegC. Giving the fermenter a gentle side to side to shake it up a bit gets it going too ..... I haven't bothered taking an SG tho.

I figure it's just a slow yeast .. (?)

 

[bibtracker]

:chug:

It's a worry, this wheat beer.
I put down a MSB Summer Wheat Beer on June 7. It bubbled and gurgled away happily for about 10 days, then the airlock levelled off and I tested it.
Luckily, the sample tube seemed very fizzy, so I was a bit suspicious.
The FG was well down, but it seemed a bit cold, so I put a heat belt on it and after about four hours, it started bubbling away again and is still doing so! About one good burp every couple of minutes.
Lesson #1: Do not even think about bottling without testing FG on consecutive days.
I've got a 3kg ESB wheat beer to do at the weekend, so forewarned is forearmed and all that.
(Sends himself an email reminder to smack the Belgian witbier yeast pack tomorow).

 

[Bobby]

Which yeast do JS reportedly use in the colonial wheat???

 

[DaveR]

JGRiffin,

I'm using the included Safale/Saflager K-97 yeast. Came in a large (150g?) pack.

Is that yeast 150g or 15g

 

[jgriffin]

Dave, not sure, it was at least twice the size of a normal yeast pack, whatever that is. 15G obviously

Anyway, 11 days in primary, sg 1.010, and still bubbling like mad. I hooked up the heat belt last night to keep it at ~24deg.

 

[Boots]

Mine's still popping out a bubble every few hours, temp has dropped down to 16 -17, still can't be bothered taking an SG.