Winterfest Brew

[uavwmn]

Just received my "no boil" Winterfest beer kit. Any type of yeast that would enhance this brew? Or use the yeast that came with the kit?

 

[Dean]

to me, any liquid yeast will be better than the coopers yeast that comes with the kit, but that's because I don't like the taste of coopers yeast. This kit will benefit from any standard ale yeast, so WLP001 from White Labs, 1056 American Ale from Wyeast, or a 1728 Scottish Ale from Wyeast will do very well with this.

 

[smurfe]

Excellent choices by Dean. I will add that if you choose to use the liquid get 2 vials of the White Labs or if you use the Wyeast to get the Activator pack if you aren't equipped to make a starter. Also, if you wish to use dry yeast get a couple packs of Fermentis Safale US-05 It is the same strain as the WLP001 and works great. I use Fermentis yeasts a lot and have not been disappointed yet

 

[uavwmn]

Dean, I added the liquid yeast to my Winterfest yesterday morning. NO foam yet!!! I find that odd. The expiration on the tube is 15 Dec 2009.
Temp of wort at start was about 78 degrees.


Should I put the cooper yeast in there? As I don't have another liquid yeast!!!!

 

[uavwmn]

Dean, never mind. It is foaming quite nicely now. lol


This one just took a little longer than my stouts I have made.


I am excited about this one!!!!

 

[smurfe]

Did you add just one tube of White Labs? If you don't make a starter with them you can have quite a lag time. If I don't make a starter I normally pitch 2 tubes. Normally have active fermentation in the morning when I get up. Good luck with the brew.

 

[uavwmn]

Smurfe, I did add just one tube of the liquid yeast. It started slow which worried me, but the next day it was blowing foam over the top. lol
Just transferred into the carboy. It has this nice spice aroma to it!! I hope I can open a bottle around Christmas.

 

[Jackie]

I have the Octoberfest lagering. I didn't think the Winterfest would be my style but I'll be interested to know how it turns out.

When making an ale, I've always just pitched one vial of White Labs (I've tried the Wyeast activator packs but I prefer White Labs). For lagers, I make a starter but even then I've used one vial to make two starters so I could get two lagers going at once. Never had a problem and I've been doing this for 8 years now. I don't make the high specific gravity beers though.

 

[Pablo]

I just started my batch of Winterfest. It was quite bubbly this morning. I used the Coopers Yeast that came with the kit.

That's a 5 gallon batch of Apfelwein (Apple Wine) in the there too.

 

[Pablo]

I bottled this batch after 21 days in primary. Smells great. It should taste great too.

 

[Jackie]

I'd be interested to hear opinions on this beer. I considered it but stayed away because I wa afraid it would taste like cinnamon/nutmeg or something and that's not the flavor I go for in beer. I do like heavier beers in winter like Stout or Porter though. I did try a Blue Moon seasonal winter beer though and even though the descr mentioned spices,it didn't taste like that to me. It was pretty good. I don't like Sam Adams beers in general and that's the only other "winter" brew avail here.

 

[uavwmn]

Jackie, I did make the Winterfest and it does not have any heavy spice taste to it at all.


Semi-heavy beer, a hint of coriander. I put a sliceof orange in the glass. In my opinion, a nice different beer for special occasions.

 

[Pablo]

I drank one of mine a week ago. It was OK. I think it needs more time to age.

 

[uavwmn]

Pablo, how long has it been in the bottle?

 

[Pablo]

I went 3 weeks in primary and then 3 weeks in the bottle. Maybe a day or two more in the refrigerator.

 

[uavwmn]

Pablo, I usually wait about 6 weeks in the bottle before I start drinking.

I have about a 6 pack left and it got better everytime I drank a bottle.


How did you like it?