First time poster. My girlfriend got me the deluxe brewery in a box about 9 months ago and I just recently was able to brew my first batch. It is the Irish Red and I really enjoy it a lot.
Im definitely one that jumps in with both feet when I start something and that is what happened here… The kit didnt come with a boiling pot so I scored one off craigslist for $40 never used and it came with an entire beginners brewery which was also never used. It was a great deal imo.
I then started my brew and during fermentation I decided that I really didnt want to bottle anything so I built a kegerator out of a 1945 Coldspot fridge. I got it for next to nothing and also scored 2 sanke kegs, 3 5# co2 tanks, a couple regulators and all the lines and hook-ups/misc.
It turned out awesome and I just had my first sample with my son a couple days ago. Many many many beers have been consumed since then of course. Even my girlfriend has been drinking some and she hates beer. The Irish Red is a phenomenal beer to share with people and has been a huge hit. Couldnt be happier.
I am now in the process of brewing a hefeweizen and its looking really good so far. Can wait to test it out! Soon I will start brewing 2 batches at a time because I have enough equipment and it will be nice to have choices on what to drink.
This site is great and I am very happy that I started brewing.
Welcome to our family. Sounds like you have a really good start to start supplying family and friends to good homebrew.
Are you going for the banana or clove flavor in your Hefe? I use WY 3068 at low fermentation temperature for the spicy clove flavor. The spice fades after a short time, but my homebrew friends like it before the mild banana flavor becomes dominant.
I dont know if the hefe will have a spice flavor before the banana flavor but I believe it is supposed to have a little spice. I went with the danstar munich yeast.
Looking forward to trying it out. I’ll definitely post my results.
Thats a good idea sneezles61… I will probably try that next time. How much to put in and at what time? Primary fermentation?
I just put my hefe into secondary fermentation about a half hour ago. I had a taste and it has a noticeable banana note in the beginning but no clove/spice. The spice sounds nice
I read in a few places about complaints that the Bavarian hefe recipe appeared more like a dunkel rather than a hefe… Mine looks very much like a hefe so Im happy about that. I am thinking of doing a Dunkel and a Hefe at the same time next go around but part of me wants to keep the Irish Red on tap at all times
I don’t believe he’s “cold crashing” per se. He’s just kegged it and force carbing it. Traditionally hefes are served hazy. I’ve got to believe that commercial breweries whose wheats never clear are using additional products such as Tanal A. Homebrewers can get similar results by adding a tablespoon of flour to the kettle. However this can shorten shelf life so drink up!
Funny thing about beer… The beer you want clear remains hazy and the beers you want hazy drop clear!
What do you mean? I used a carbonation chart and it was recommending that level of psi. I like my beer very cold when I drink it and my kegerator stays at 32 degrees with almost no effort so it seemed like a good level. Ive never brewed a hefe so I am very much open to suggestions. My line is only about 4 feet so if 22 psi is going to make a lot of foam please let me know so I can adjust.
Volumes of CO2 is how you figure the level of carbonation. This is often determined by style (wheats usually higher volumes, stouts usually lower). The colder the beer, the more readily CO2 is dissolved into the solution. Therefore, if you have a higher PSI it will equate into a higher volume of CO2 in solution (increased carbonation).
If your lines are only 4’ chances are you are going to struggle serving a beer at 3.5 volumes of CO2 (what I figure at 32° and 18 psi). Unless you have the line restriction it will likely be foamy. I would seriously consider installing 8’-10’ lines.
The thing that I like about home brew and good brew in general is as the beer warms in the glass the flavors change. Drinking beer ice cold is fine but when judging your beer let it warm up a bit so you can taste those flavors and then decide if your recipe or process needs tweaking. Just my opinion though
Thank you for the info guys. I will go ahead and turn down the psi and plan on installing much longer lines before my next batch. I might even just install new lines while Im waiting for the CO2 to dissolve.
