Brewferm no boil kits

[wvbrewer]

I going to venture into beer making soon. I have a breferm wheat beer kit to try. Has anyone used these kits, what has been your experiance with them.

Thanks
Dave

 

[Wade E]

Its probably very similiar to the RJS Brewhouse which makes an alright beer like this. They fall short inareas like Guiness or Porter.

 

[wvbrewer]

I don't drink those much. I like wheat type beers that are not to heavy.

 

[Wade E]

These kits will do fine in that area but a partial mash will usualy do a better job but you needa little more equipment like a 3-5 gallon pot.

 

[wvbrewer]

I think I am going to follow the directions for the first time I make it. I may try a partial mash after I get a few brews under my belt. The guy at the brew store told that I should secondary it even through the directions do not call for it.

 

[Wade E]

I dont rack beer to carboy. I just leave it in the bucket for about 3 weeks with the lid on.

 

[wvbrewer]

My wife and I just got it started last night. It is sitting in the room bubbling away. I can't wait to try it when it is ready to drink. Do you think it clear just the same in the primary with no unuasual tast from setting on the lees. This if our first beer and I will worry myself to death over it.

Dave

 

[Wade E]

I neer rack my beer over. About 3 weeks in primary and then straight to keg for me.

 

[pkeeler]

Do you think it clear just the same in the primary with no unuasual tast from setting on the lees. This if our first beer and I will worry myself to death over it.

There is no reason to secondary it unless you want to add something (like dry hopping). Beer can sit on its trub (lees) with no problems for quite awhile it seems. However, what yeast are you using? I use top quality liquid yeast and would not worry too much about beer sitting on its trub. However, if I was using a pouch of yeast taped to a kit box, might be a different story. But how long do they want you to bulk age the beer? It is no boil and all that, hard to believe they would suggest more than two weeks. Your beer would be fine where it is in that time frame. But moving to the secondary won't hurt anything either, just a bit of extra work.

I'm sure the store owner wanted to sell you a carboy.

I digress but I can't resist. For decades, home brewers worried about leaving the beer on the primary yeast cake. Looking back, it was the experience of wine makers and their racking from under the grapes that put this idea in their head (there were hardly any brewers in the U.S. at that time). It is only in the last 7-10 years that homebrewers have relaxed and many keep their beer in the primary for 3-6 weeks. It is ironic that I'm now posting in a wine making forum telling a wine maker to relax about racking his beer!

 

[pkeeler]

I neer rack my beer over. About 3 weeks in primary and then straight to keg for me.

Although, this would be the same as moving to a secondary at 3 weeks for someone that was bottling. I too keg all my beers, and only use secondaries when dry hopping. But we can't pretend that we are not racking the beer into another bulk aging vessel. But having said that, the beer will clear with time, doesn't really matter where that time is spent.

 

[wvbrewer]

The instructions say to bottle the beer when the SG is 1.010 with 150 grams of priming sugar. If I let it sit in longer than what they say to will this affect the taste or quality of it. They say to ferment 7-10 days then siphon the beer off into beer bottles with a little sugar rest in a warm place for 5 days and ripen for 6 to 8 weeks before drinking.

 

[pkeeler]

The instructions say to bottle the beer when the SG is 1.010 with 150 grams of priming sugar. If I let it sit in longer than what they say to will this affect the taste or quality of it. They say to ferment 7-10 days then siphon the beer off into beer bottles with a little sugar rest in a warm place for 5 days and ripen for 6 to 8 weeks before drinking.

Hard to say how much quality you can wring out of this thing. I believe you would get a better taste and clearer and more stable beer if you left it in the fermenter for at least two weeks. Don't add sugar directly to bottles. Instead, boil 1 oz (29g) of sugar (corn or cane) per gal. in 1/2 cup of water. Put the syrup mixture into a sanitized bucket or carboy big enough to handle your beer. Rack your beer on top. Then bottle from the bucket. 2-3 weeks at room temp. then you can put one in the fridge and try it 24 hours later. No reason to wait 8 weeks.

 

[Wade E]

I like to let it stay in primary 3 weeks and then bottle.

 

[wvbrewer]

I think I will let sit for at least 2 to 3 weeks in the bucket. I don't know if will really benifet from siphoning it into a carboy fro a few days and then siphoning again into the bottling bucket. It is susposed to be a little cloudy right? I have never made a beer before so am tring to becareful with it. The paper says to bottle at 1.010 SG will it make a difference if it goes lower by leaving it in the primary longer?

 

[wvbrewer]

We bottled our Witbier today in EZ cap bottles, but now we have to wait for to age. We are excited to see how it turns out, six weeks will seem like a year.

 

[wvbrewer]

Update: I sampled that beer at about three weeks in the bottle. It is slightly cloudy, well carbed and little darker than what I expected. There is a strong malt taste ot it, but not to harsh. My wife says it taste like a whiskey. I think a few more weeks of aging will even it out and be awsome.

Dave

 

[Malkore]

There is no reason to secondary it unless you want to add something (like dry hopping).

Or if you just want to ensure really clear beer.

Seriously though...who here hasn't bumped their racking cane and sucked up a wad of yeast cake.

I don't always secondary, but if the yeast cake is thick and I want to bottle vs. keg, I'll give it a short secondary. 3 week primary (to allow the yeast ot cleanup diacetyle, acetylaldehyde, etc), and then 5-10 days in secondary to make sure my beer is clear enough to look commercial.

Of course dark beers...hell no I don't waste my time doing secondary unless there's a dry hop involved.

If someone wants to secondary for clarity, let em! Its not wrong.

 

[wvbrewer]

I may secondary the pilner kit I have, but that belgian wheat has a nice golden and slightly cloudy look to it. I have found out that when they say let it age for 6 to 8 weeks it really does make a difference. My wifes father used to make homebrew years ago and said it tasted better than anything he ever made. I will do this kit again sometime. I am waiting to start a another belgian I have its a Rasberry framboise.

 

[Wade E]

Yep beer does require just a littke time. Bigger beers like Porters and Stouts need more time though. Witbiers are my fav!