*ancient alchemy secret/man transform 200l of water into 200l of bavarian wheat beer/OMG/Anglin+GF nude pics included/OMG* UPDATE 1 bottling FINAL UPDATE FIRST POUR

[Plato_Hates_You]

Seriously RVW, I'm headed to the butchers today for my usual cuts and this makes me want to pick up some wine making materials at the brewing store in the same neighbourhood (haven't had a beer in forever, digestive reasons - so next best thing). Very nostalgic for me.

[somedaysoon]

An excellent,and informative post on a very White Man's subject. Thank you!

An old hippie friend of mine used to make mead every year ( several big batches,actually) back when he still had beehives. I need to go over to his place and get him to tell me how it's done,so I can post it here.

[RVW]

the only 'fancy' equipment used was a meat termometer...and all was simply washed with oxyclean and/or dish wash soap.

maintaining a fairly strict range of temperatures during fermenting is vital

yes and no, in the case of a ale its alot less important, i mean of course there are extremes to respect. in the case of a hot ale fermentatiopn you will get a bit of fusel alcohol and funk, but thats wanted with a wheat beer

Absolutely do not ferment in sealed containers unless you want a bottle bomb.

i was only speaking of the bottle priming wich is a mini fermentation...but yeah fermenting all inside of bootles? KABOOM. it happened to me one time long ago when i made spiced sweet wine. the fermentation stopped so i thougth it eas finish...but by putting it in bottles in put oxygen in and it restarted

5 days later i barely touched a bottle(ting !) and the cork passed 5 centimeters beside my eyes and hit the ceiling like it had been propelled by a 12Gauge cartridge(followed by a raging geyser of wine also hitting the ceiling!)

because of panic i touched the other bottles and they all did thye same...mysef and the room(i really mean the whole rome, ceiling ,floor, walls) was so sticky it took me a week to get rid of it hahaha

Racking to remove all the yeast seems to be the trickiest part.

yeah, and the smaller the batch the harde it is to get sediment to settled, if you want to go the easy way try betonite or those product, its made with proteien and what have you amd transform your sediment in a cake that will settle at the bottom...it may have other name and brand etc etc eben if i brewed for almost 2 decades (started as a kid) i never used that so im not expert but i know it exist. perfectly clean cider awaits you good sir

[RVW]

good! ...for many many years i only drink what i brew myself, ive been the last 3 months without any alcohol because i ran out of stock and couldnt brew because it was too cold. i just cant bring myself anymore to pay those kind of price for beer and all

so people should not think that this is a 'garage batch' this is really good beer you dont have to force yourself to drink it. there is a huge stigma about homebrew particularly among anglos saxons. 75% of the people that speak to me IRL about my brewing always ask me with fear and hesitation with a glass of foamy stuff in their hand...just before to drink, THE QUESTION! : is it possible that i will go blind if i drink that!?!?!

me: absolutely certain! ( chug down a pint) lolll

i totally agree with you that brewing (whatever you choose to brew) is somewhat addictive and immensly satisfaying. tell us how your wine batch goes! dont forget to take a picture for us

[RVW]

do so ! mead is the easiest thing of them all to brew so dont worry that is a 100% rate of being successfull!

[gutenberg]

Thx for this! I'd love to get into brewing again, this is good motivation.

Do you use a lid and air valve for your fermenting vessel?

[RVW]

nah, i do it like our ancestors, open fermentor, just fold a blanket in 4 and put it over it.

brewries to this day still use open fermentor contrarly to what people believe

[gutenberg]

Sounds good to me

[RVW]

the only use really for an airlock is if you would put your fermentor in a really dusty cave or place like that...or that you make something that ferment extremly slowly like for months then yes.

but for all your regulaer ales and wine and what have you it is not a problem...the beer i made fermented furiously, the thing was really angry, i told my wife :wow this one is furious im almost afraid it come out of the barrell at nigth to kill us in our sleep haha... todays it already slowed down to a gentle fizz

the only thing is make sure that your fermentor is unreachebale is you have cat or dog as they will invariably stick their nose in there and ruin you batch, other than that you will be fine...ive been brewing for 20 years and in all that i only ever got one infected batch. it was long ago and not because of the fermenting thecnique my batch was ruined to begin with as i missheandled the oatmeal....it was only 20L tho

i never sterilised anything with special product or bleach, just clean everything with dish soap or oxyclean if you feel that special lol ...if its clean enough that you would eat in it its good enough to brew in without any risk if basic procedure are followed, most importantly not forgeting your batch for 3 days before putting the yeast in. if you pitch your yeast moderatly at the good time it will colonise it entirely and protect your batch from anything elese as it monopolise all the oxygen and nutrient choking anything else

the next danger zone will be once the brew is finished, if you let it rest in the fermentor for a week before bottling then you may get a vineggar mushroom starting to go on and start to change your alcohol in vinegar.

[gutenberg]

I like it my dude, no sense putting more effort than necessary.

[RVW]

it is all a gimmick to sell overpriced gadget and supplies really...wait for the bottling update ,you gonna laugh haha

[Brotaku]

Thank you for such a thorough and eminently useful post. I applaud your good taste. Bavarian-style wheat beer is delicious (Franziskaner FTW!)

[bijuz]

the only use really for an airlock is if you would put your fermentor in a really dusty

Well, there is the concern that household odors or other nonsense will find it's way in there. I liked watching the bubbling in the airlock as confirmation that something was happening. I think the batch should generate a little heat, but how else do you know if fermentation is actually occurring or when it has stopped?

I've heard Oxi-Clean for cleaning as well as tri-sodium phoshate (also good as an additive for laundry and dishwashing) which is a cheap powder available in hardware stores and safe if you fail to rinse perfectly.

[RVW]

but how else do you know if fermentation is actually occurring or when it has stopped?

well with a big volume its easier to tell , but even in a small fermentor it can be done easy too.

i just look under the blanket and look for activity. of course very little fermentation going on in a 50 gallon bucket will create alot more stir than in a 5 gal but still.

once the krausen fall down i look for any remaining very little bubbling(use a flash ligth and position it at 45deg angle help alot), once that stop i wait one day and bottle up. also being in an open fermentation signs are easier to see because of the unlimited oxygen the yeast have a tendency to take all it want when it want it and die suddenly once they are done.

with an airlock you would get a longer die out that may be very subtle. even with a bubbler you can get pretty furious fermentation in the early stage but trust me with an open fermentor it is 3 time more active there is so much gas going out that it literally mix the beer like you would had an electric motor in there, it even create a 'fold' in the middle where krausen if forced back in because of the amount of mechanical energy. for example yesterday i could HEAR the bubbling from 2-3 meters away lol

but as with an airlock, some beer go quiet and some dont, again signs are just easier to spot because its more sudden and decisive

oh and of course i dont tell to people not to use airlock, please do as you wish it will certainly work all rigth, the point of the article was to show that it can work just dandy with the old ways

[RVW]

i have a fetish for wheat beer, its stronger than me i just love it haha...this one is a 'variation' for my reguar stapple normally is a schwartzweizen with just a tid bit of roasted oats and a bit of dry hopping.

just perfect! in my life i my must had drank more than a thousand litres of it over the years lol...still not bored.

but next batch i go full oats stout, pitch black thick stuff with a hint of carbonation, sligthly on the bitter side...that will be my gate to roasty, oily paradise =)

[Pikajew]

These breweries are centuries-old, though. They make great beer.

[RVW]

bottling update is in

[Brewmaster88]

Great thread. Does your wheat beer have a hearty wheat flavor to it? I love wheat beers like that vs. wheat beers that are just light & fizzy.

I'd love to do a Mead. In America we have a "Mead day" during the first weekend in August (I think). Hope my homebrew club participates. I'd do one this year & soak a bunch of cranberries in it.

I like the tavern thread idea too.

[RVW]

well i only tasted it uncarbed up to now , but i already made variation of it. from my tasting i would say that yes. it is very low bitterness 12-15 ibu and i used 50% of umalted wheat .

the taste is ligth as you could expect, first it come as a crackery/dry white bread crumb then it goes to a a bit more intense(still very ligth) toasty caramel note, probably from that caramel malt. you have a barely noticeable tart and as tha caramely thing start to fade into sweetness it is stopped just in time by the hops before it become unpleasant,,,then no aftertaste at all as you probably guessed from such style.

i expect it to get somewhat of a metallic note once fully carbonated and hint of 'wheat funk'

but not a meaty beer by any mean, the kind that urge you to comeback to get another taste at it, in that way pretty typical wheat beer. ive never used so much caramel malt in it and i can say i am pretty happy with it, i didint expected it to pull out so must taste out of it, came out darker than i expected too, but the haze make it appear more dark than it really is.

PS i mashed hot and rinced very hot to make sure i would capture as much wheat flavour as possible, as i wanted it to be a 'grain beer'

[ihaveherpes]

why not just buy beer