Do you guys add a little sugar to your bottles when bottling? It causes a small second fermentation in the bottle to give the finished beer a little carbonation.

I add about 2 grams per litre.

OK, I have a question about the process. I was reading intro brewing instructions on the web -- can't find the particular website anymore -- but anyway... after boiling and then cooling the wart, it said to pour the cool wart into a sanitized container that has cool tap water in it. ( shake it up for aireation, etc.. ) then, top off the container with distilled water. So, why use regular tap water in the first place? Other sites say just use tap water, and don't mention distilled water. Does the water need to be distilled or not?

Thanks!

I've never heard of that one, I've always used tap water.
<ed>Had a look around and it seems to be to reduce the water hardness. There's something in here:
http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter15-1.html
</ed>

 

OK, I have a question about the process. I was reading intro brewing instructions on the web -- can't find the particular website anymore -- but anyway... after boiling and then cooling the wart, it said to pour the cool wart into a sanitized container that has cool tap water in it. ( shake it up for aireation, etc.. ) then, top off the container with distilled water. So, why use regular tap water in the first place? Other sites say just use tap water, and don't mention distilled water. Does the water need to be distilled or not?

Thanks!

My kit had me fill the fermenter half full with tap water before pouring the wort in. This is because thermal shock of pouring boiling liquid into the fermenter would ruin the fermenter. Then it had me top it off with tap water up to the full line. Not sure why your link said to use distilled water.

 

With the chemicals in tap water today, chlorine, fluoride and maybe stuff we don't know about, it maybe good idea to use at least filtered water. Any chemical that would retard yeast growth should be removed by a filter.

I know that by switching to distilled water in my board etching, the ferric chloride doesn't stain stuff near as bad, and etches better. But my tap water is fairly hard.

 

Yes, the water is an important element (of course, water is a compound but in this context, it is an element) to the making of a good brew.
I use well water from the back yard (spring water). It has made all the difference in the world for the final outcome.
If not spring water, then bottled water from a spring is a good second choice. Tap water and its chemicals are known to be harmful to the fermentation cycle and have an adverse effect on the yeasts.
Yeast does its best work near the 70 degree range. Placing the yeast in heated wort will have a tendancy to kill the yeasts ability to change sugars to alcohol.

 

Cheers!
It's still a bit young but I'm impatient so I've had a pint, I'll try to leave the rest for a week or so.
It's supposed to have a haze because it's got wheat in it. Tastes pretty good, if I bought it in a pub I'd probably go back for another.

 

very nice!

 

Cheers!

Thank you, that was good!

 

I've picked up a big pan (12 litres) and some supplies from my local homebrew shop (wheat malt, barley malt, fuggles hops, wheat beer yeast) so I will probably make a 5 UK gallon batch tomorrow.
I'll take a few photos as I go along.
It's a little more expensive than I remember but that's probably just a sign of age. It will work out at about 45p per UK pint ($0.70 per 20 oz). I can get it down to about 30p if I order in bulk.
I recommend trying it, it's an interesting process, and some of the best beers I've had have been homebrewed from grain. The kits are easier, and range in price from slightly cheaper to about double the price, but aren't as tasty.

 

I don't like any wheat beer that I've tried so far. It's so filling; I liken it to drinking a loaf of bread. Maybe it's just in my head (the wheat thing) being filling, but imagined or real, it has an effect on my drinking experience so I don't drink it. Also, I don't like the taste. I'm moving so I won't be doing any brewing until the dust settles, but I'll be keeping tabs on your progress.

 

I started making the beer at about 1830h, finished (apart from the clear up) at 2330h.
The aim is a wheat beer of around 5% ABV.
I made up a yeast starter from the powdered yeast, 150ml water and a teaspoon of malt extract (boiled and then cooled to 30 C before adding the yeast).
I've decided to go with:

2kg|Pale malt
1.5kg|Wheat malt
50g|Fuggles hops
1 pkt|Safbrew WB-06 Dry Yeast
20 litres|total volume
7 litres|mash water for 1 hour
12 litres|boil water for 1 hour

A basic overview of the process:
http://homebrewmart.com/mashing.html

Strike water temperature calculator:
http://jimsbeerkit.co.uk/calc.html

Recipe calculator:
http://beercalculus.hopville.com/recipe

For calculating mixing water at different temperatures:
http://www.onlineconversion.com/mixing_water.htm

This attempt is without most of the special equipment that a lot of homebrewers use. I may end up getting some of it because it makes things easier and more controllable. The normal way to mash is in an insulated container with a screen at the bottom and a tap to let the wort out. I just used the pan and put it in the oven on low to keep the temperature about right.

I've learned a few things, I need a bigger bag, probably a container with holes in the bottom to hold it, and a hydrometer.
I think the small bag meant that I got lower conversion of the starches to sugars. The wort didn't taste quite as sweet as it should (I would have known for sure if I had a hydrometer) so I topped up to 15 litres instead of 20.

I think it's still going to turn out pretty good, but only time will tell.


The yeast starter going strong:

The grain in a straining bag in the pan:

Sparging with 7 litres of water at 75 C, took about 10 minutes, washing more fermentable sugars out of the grain.

The boil for an hour, 40 grams of hops added at the start and 10 grams 20 minutes from the end. About 2 litres of water boiled off (all the windows open to help the steam out).

Catching the hops over the fermenter before transferring back into the pan to cool down.

 

Cooling in a sink full of cold water, took about an hour changing the water as it warmed up. I only cooled it to 45 C because my tap water is 11 C (which I topped it up with in the fermenter) and I was aiming for 25 C to pitch the yeast.

24 hours later it's doing well.

The finished beer, hazy like most wheat beers, pretty tasty.

 

It tastes dry now so I've bottled and primed with 2 grams of sugar per litre. It's taken a while to ferment so maybe it is stronger than I guessed. It's too early to tell what it's going to taste like when the yeast has all settled, but there are no bad smells or flavours. I'll take a picture of a pint in about a week or so when it's settled.

 

That stuff's is just not for me...!! peeeeeeeew!

 

I didn't think you were allowed any anyway.

 

I didn't think you were allowed any anyway.

Yup..still how does it state?

 

At the moment, it tastes mostly of yeast, but that will settle to the bottom and it will be mildly bitter, dry (not sweet) ,refreshing and slightly fizzy.
Wheat beer is popular in parts of Europe but rare in the UK.

 

I've made beer in the past.... but I got lazy when it got time to bottle it and left it 3 months too long fermenting... my tester (brother) who would drink anything said it had a funny taste

 

It's quiet in here today, no posts for over 24 hours.
I've been busy beermaking today. Just bottled 15 litres of a strong dark ale that I'm going to mature for at least a few weeks. Now I'm just at the end of mashing 20 litres of an oatmeal stout. It'll be good to have a choice of beers.
I've got the hydrometer and a bigger mashing bag now so it's a bit more reliable.

 

Good looking beer,the picture makes all the difference,good color and a

good looding beer head. Cheers,to Mark the proven beer maker.

 

I might be ready to brew some more, in a couple of months, after things settle down.