homebrewandbeer.com

Hi all,

I'm currently brewing this Hoegaaden recipe which I was given by my LHBS:

Peel from 1 large orange and 15g coriander seeds (bashed up in mortar & pestle) simmered for 15mins then strained
Morgans Golden Sheaf Wheat kit 1.7kg
Morgans Wheat malt 1kg
Morgans Hallertau Hop Bag 12g (steeped in very hot water for 10mins then whole lot dumped into fermenter)
Safwheat yeast

The OG was 1040.

Fermentation took about 40 hours to visibly commence. After that the krausen went crazy and came out through the airlock a couple of times. Each time I flushed out airlock and refilled with no rinse sanitiser solution.

I put the brew together 13 days ago. Bubbling has pretty much stopped (maybe one every 25-30mins or so).

I took an SG reading today and it is at 1011 which, according to the calculator I was referred to (http://www.liquorcraft.com.au/wa.asp?id ... etails=107) suggests that fermentation is finished and I can probably bottle tomorrow so long as it still reads 1011.

When I took the SG reading I poured off about 1 cup of beer before testing.

When I tasted the sample it had a very strong 'yeasty' flavour - kinda tastes like rising bread smells like.

Is this normal? Will this mellow out as the beer condiitons in the bottle?? I have never brewed a wheat beer before so I'm not really sure what to expect - I just know that every other brew I've done hasn't tasted like that!

Thanks again in advance for your feedback.

Jimmy

The sample you took was no doubt from the bottom of the fermentor wherethe yeast settles too. The first 100mls or so gets the yeast that has settled on the tap outlet, its usually VERY yeasty.

If I was you i'd leave it for 2 weeks in primary to allow as mush yeast as possible to settle then bottle. That should reduce the yeasty taste somewhat.

Having said that, its true to style for the Wheat beers (Hoegaaden et all) to have yeasty overtones..

Yep. Nothing to be concerned about.

And without starting the 'to rack, or not to rack' debate again, I think that wheat beers definately benefit from racking.

Great!

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I bottled the beer yesterday (had been in primary for 14 days and read 1011 two consecutive days).

Looking forward to tasting it when its ready.

Cheers

Jimmy

let us know how it works out, id love to try a hoegaarden brew!

tried a brew almost identical to that one...FG:1010...4/12
Tasting: 3/01 crap!-0/10
20/01 -- 6/10
30/01 --- 8/10 tasted more like a ESB...found it tasted better when bottle was inverted and yeast stirred up!
very smooth , but ordinary 8.5/10

i reckon with those HBS hoegaarden clones, they turn out more like an american wheat, with little to no banana and clove/bublegum aromas and smells, and a little bit of tartness at the end..

I found espeically with the safwheat yeast (i'm assuming you used K97)? i got a very strong yeasty taste in this particular beer.

It is good to make a hoegaarden clone, but you wont be able to get close to the real thing without using the proper yeast, belgian orange peel, torrefied wheat, and grains... but you'll have fun experimenting.

I think one of the first beers i'll try to produce when i start AG will be a hoegaarden clone. I have managed to get close by using all the proper ingredients, but i havent been able to get the colour light enough because i haven't been able to use grain...