This weekend, I invited Christopher, the Master in Fermentation Sciences, over to walk me through brewing up a batch of Bavarian Hefe Weizen from Northern Brewer. While I’m sure the extract kit didn’t take full advantage of his expertise, we had an excellent time and I picked up a few tips1 and got a better understanding of the chemistry behind the instruction sheet.
Here’s some shots of the initial fermentation:
1. Question: How much of the kitchen I can expect the wort to cover if it boils over?
Answer: All of it.
Update July 18 2008.
I haven’t written about this batch. It wasn’t anywhere near what I expected in a Hefe Weizen. It was full with just a hint of the banana-y flavor I expected. I would have preferred the other way around. Unless you knew it was supposed to be a Hefe Weizen, you’d would have been able to identify it. Not good. Glad there’s only a few bottles left.
I just started to brew my first batch of homebrew on Monday evening. Besides the coverage potential of boiling-over wort, what other tips did you pick up?
Erik, great to hear from you. Some other tips,
1. The fermentation lock contains gin…not sanitize solution. My brewmaster prefers vodka in his. I’m not sure if it’s more effective, but it definitely has a little more attitude.
2. If your batch temp is a little low (brew temp is ~69) wrap the carboy in towels (also handy in a spillover).
yummy…
Coincidentally, I’m making beer as well… but I took the lazy route and did it at Vine Park Brewery where they do all the fermentation for me.
Glad to see that gear going to good use. 🙂
Garrick-
…just kinda catching up on your site, stumbled across this-
I just brewed a Honey Hefe Weizen from Northern Brewer last weekend. MMMM, gotta love the smell of hot wort in the morning!