Kegging and bottling my first brew!

[KellsSimon]

I'm well chuffed!
While listening to a bit of 'appitite for destruction' i put my first brew 'Geordie best Bitter' into 4, 2 liter cider bottles and a three gallon pressure barrel i've been lent.
the whole brewing process was a bit 'Heath Robinson' as i didn't have enough cash to buy all purpose built gear I ended up doing the brewing in an old 50kilo mango chutney barrel as i had it... and the syphoning was done with a 'plattyplus' drinking tube.
it seems to have been ok, as it is food grade plastic, but being dark blue, you just cant see through it to mark on liters/gallons as you fill it, or add an air-lock etc But if i need to brew an 80 pint brew at any time it's still big enough!!
I think i'm going to try to buy some bigger gauge tubing, and if i get more cash maybe a propper bucket with a tap to make draining it easier.
Next time i'm going to give a lager a go,
any recomendations fo a good kit?

[lockwood1956]

The coopers lager kit is quite quaffable

[KellsSimon]

Any ideas about a weisse beer kit...
or something simple using dried wheat malt extract?
a dunkle weisse would be too much to ask for..
it was the beer i drank on my honeymoon in Austria somewhere in the tyrol, and i fell in love again, (wife wasn't too happy, but take it where you can get it!)Love's like that.
Simon

[lockwood1956]

Edme do a wheat beer kit

[kerosine]

Wheats of the World Nov, 1997
by Tom Fuller

From traditional Bavarian weisse to American wheat, six tasty ways to make refreshing wheat beer. Includes a starter recipe for your own experiments.

While barley may reign supreme in the realm of brewing grains, wheat adds its own dimensions to beer. A handful of wheat in a pale ale style will aid head retention. Wheat used as more than half the grist creates the light and crisp qualities of a classic summer cooler. Wheat beers are trendy today, but wheat has actually been a brewing staple since the beginning of fermented grain beverages.
As one of man's first cultivated grasses, wheat may have been the catalyst of beermaking in ancient times. The Babylonians were making beer with wheat 400 years before their demise. Despite the great start, wheat has not had an easy history. The innocent grain was at one time declared illegal for the purpose of beer making. The amount of wheat needed for beer was far too great, leaving little for the making of bread.
Wheat's role as a vital ingredient of basic food has led to the ebb and flow of the grain's beer-making popularity throughout history. By the early 1800s wheat beers, as we tend to collectively call them, were nearly unheard of. The US beer renaissance has led to their revitalization. Wheat beers are back with a vengeance.

German Weisse

The traditional German wheat beer is called weisse. There are many variations within the style. The most common is the weissbier, also known as weizen. It was described in 1410 to be strong in grain, not bitter, and yellow in color. Weizen should be decidedly fruity and phenolic in aroma and flavor. The phenolic characteristics are often described as clove or nutmeg and can be smoky or even vanilla-like. These beers are made with at least 50 percent malted wheat, and hop rates are quite low (18 IBUs and less). Carbonation levels are quite high, 1.5 times higher in carbon dioxide than the average American or German lagers. Banana-like esters are often present. A hefe-weizen bottled with yeast should have a yeast flavor.

Though wheat generally plays a large role in the makeup of weisse beers, a recipe was found from the late 1400s with wheat at only 10 percent of the grist. The most important part of the weisse beer is the yeast. Without a distinct strain one cannot make a weisse. The yeast is responsible for the creation of the clove and banana esters. Attention should be paid to fermentation temperatures to keep the esters under control. The best bet here is to pitch and ferment at 64¡ F. Higher temperatures will create more esters and fusel alcohols. Original gravities can range from the high 40s (1.040s) to the high 50s.

The Berliner weisse is a hard-to-find style that has a sparkling character rounded by a low alcohol content and a sharp acidity. Soldiers in Napoleon's army called it the "Champagne of the north." It is the lightest (along with Kšlsch) of the German styles and also a trick to make. This beer uses the combination of a yeast and a lactic-acid bacteria. The beer is very acidic and light bodied, with little hop character if any at all. Nice fruity esters round out the lactic sourness. An 1800s recipe called for wheat comprising 75 percent of the grist. Gravities run around the 30s.

The dunkel-weizen is sort of the brown ale of Germany. Its flavor profile is much like the weisse, yet it has a distinct maltiness with a roast and chocolate character. The color ranges from copper brown to dark brown. Gravities run in the 40s to 50s.

Kšlsch beer is very hard to come by. It is almost pilsner-like in color with a dry palate and a medium-bitter finish. It has a nice tart, acidic quality and no fruity esters. Kšlsch is a relatively modern style. It probably emergd in the 20th century. The name comes from the German pronunciation of the city name Cologne.

Recipes

To experiment with German wheat beers, use the weissbier base recipe and then add or subtract ingredients to create the other styles. For the weisse beers you will need a fitting liquid yeast strain such as those by Wyeast, Yeast Lab, or Brew-Tek.


Weissbier Base

5 gallons, extract

Ingredients:

á4 lbs. light malt extract
á4 lbs. wheat malt extract
á1.3 oz. Hallertauer hops (4% alpha acid), 1 oz. for 45 min., 0.3 oz. at end boil
áWeisse beer yeast culture
á3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. corn sugar for priming

Step by Step:

Add extracts to 1.5 gal. of water and bring to boil. Add 1 oz. hops and boil 45 min. Add 0.3 oz. hops at end of boil. Strain out hops, chill, and rack to fermenter. Top up to 5 gal. with chilled, pre-boiled water. Pitch yeast and ferment in the mid- to high 60¡ F range until done, roughly 10 days. Prime and bottle as usual.
OG = 1.055

All-Grain Weissbier

For all-grain weissbier use a single or double decoction mash for authenticity. Decoction mashes tend to better solublize starches, improve extraction, and increase color. They also break down the higher molecular proteins to make a less doughy glutinous mash, aiding in runoff and in clarification of the finished product. If authenticity is less important to you than ease of brewing, you can use a straight single-infusion mash with very good results. Even better, a slightly more time-consuming step mash achieves a proper protein rest while still being simpler than a double decoction.
If you choose to use a single infusion or step mash, pay attention to how you mix the grist in the mash tun at dough-in time. You need to thoroughly combine the wheat and barley. Remember that wheat has no outer husk and does not create a very good filter bed.
Ingredient substitutions: To make the all-grain version, replace light malt and wheat extracts with 5 lbs. pale malt and 5 lbs. wheat malt.

Infusion procedure: Dough in at 170¡ F with 2.5 gal. of hot liquor. Mash should stabilize at 150¡ to 153¡ F. Mash for one hour and sparge. Bring to a boil and continue with same instructions as extract recipe.

Step-mash procedure: Dough in at 142¡ F with 2 gal. of hot liquor. Mash should stabilize at 122¡ to 125¡ F. Stir every 5 min. or so for 30 min. Add 0.75 gal. of water at boiling temperature. Hold temperature for 30 min. Sparge with 4.5 gal. water and proceed as with extract recipe.

Dunkel

For extract dunkel use the same base recipe but steep the following grains in the water before adding extract. For an all-grain version mash these grains with the all-grain weissbier grains, which will boost the overall gravity a point or two.

á1 oz. black malt
á1/4 lb. chocolate malt

Kšlsch

This is a light, refreshing beer. You'll love the flocculation of the yeast strain. It starts out donut-like and then turns into chunky nuggets (don't let it scare you).

Ingredients:

á3.5 lbs. light dry malt extract
á1.5 lbs. wheat extract
á1.25 oz. Perle hops, 1.12 oz. for 45 min., 0.13 oz. at end of boil
áWyeast 2565 (Kšlsch)
á3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. corn sugar for priming

Step by Step:

Add extract to 1.5 gal. of water. Add 1.12 oz. Perle at beginning of boil and boil 45 min. Add 0.13 oz. hops at end of boil. Pitch yeast and ferment at 58¡ F for until done, roughly 8 days. Prime and bottle as usual.
OG = 1.039

Belgian Wit

The Belgians have their own versions of wheat beer. The Belgian wit is a wheat beer somewhat similar to the Berliner-weisse style yet also unique. Pierre Celis (a Belgium native who founded Celis Brewery in Austin, Texas) and Coors with its Blue Moon have helped to resurrect this style. Brewed with malted or unmalted wheat, wits are spiced with coriander and orange peel. These beers are typically cloudy. They are hopped with noble hop varieties to achieve a low to medium bitterness and flavor. The beer is usually quite dry with a low to medium body.

AWB (Average White Beer)
5 gallons, all-grain


Ingredients:

á1.25 lbs. six-row malt
á 3.75 lbs. two-row malt
á 3 lbs. red wheat berries
á 0.25 lb. rolled oats
á 1 lb. candi sugar
á 1 oz. Hallertauer hops, 0.5 oz. for 60 min., 0.5 oz. for 30 min.
á 0.5 oz. Cascade hops, for 5 min.
á 1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. coriander
á 0.75 oz. orange peel
á 0.25 oz. lemon peel
á Wyeast Belgian White yeast
á 3/4 cup corn sugar for priming

Step by Step:

Now first things first. Wheat berries are unmalted wheat and should be available at your local health food store. They will have to be milled the same as the other malts, but this stuff is usually highly polished and hard as a rock. Add wheat berries to the other grist in your mash tun and start with a temperature-controlled step mash. Normally you would have to pre-gelatinize the unmalted wheat, but since we are using a temperature-controlled step mash, this can be eliminated. Mash in with 2 gal. of 136¡ F water and rest mash at 122¡ F for 35 min. Raise to 155¡ F for 20 min., then mash out at 160¡ F for 10 min. Sparge with 4 gal. of water at 170¡ F.
Boil for 15 min. and add 0.5 oz. Hallertauer. Boil 30 min. more. Add another 0.5 oz. Hallertauer and boil 15 min. more. Add 1 Tbsp. coriander and boil 10 min. more. Add 0.5 oz. Cascade and boil 5 min. more. Total boil is 75 min. At end of boil add 1 tsp. coriander, the orange peel, and the lemon peel. Cool, pitch yeast, and let ferment until done at 60¡ to 65¡ F.

American Wheats

Now here is a style that really has no style of its own. American wheat beers run the gamut from pale ale with wheat in it to 60 percent wheat, 10 percent wheat, fruit, you name it. Adding wheat is just something we do.
Wheat is a good base for fruit beers, which will explain the abundance of raspberry wheat, cherry wheat, and so forth available in 22-ounce bottles all over America.

American Wheat
5 gallons, all-grain or extract with specialty grains

This is a recipe for a very good American-style wheat beer. It has a nice hop character and bitterness, with a citrusy and spicy quality.

Ingredients:

á 5.5 lbs. pale malt
á 5 lbs. wheat malt
á 0.5 lbs. Munich malt
á 2.5 oz. caramel malt, 40¡ Lovibond
á 0.35 oz. Nugget hops, for 45 min.
á 0.85 oz. Cascade hops, 0.5 oz. for 45 min., 0.35 oz. at end of boil
á 0.75 oz. Hallertauer hops, for 30 min.
á 0.7 oz. Saaz hops, at end of boil
á Very fruity ale yeast (Wyeast 1968)
á 3/4 cup corn sugar for priming

Step by Step:

Use a single-infusion mash at 150¡ F for 1 hour. Sparge with 5 gal. water and boil 45 min. Add Nugget and 0.5 oz. Cascade. Boil 15 more min. and add Hallertauer. Boil an additional 30 min. Total boil is 90 min. At end of boil add 0.35 oz. Cascade and the Saaz. Cool, pitch, and ferment at 62¡ F until done, roughly 8 days. Bottle or keg as usual.
For extract version use the same caramel malt steeped in the brewing water for 30 min. and add 5 lbs. light extract and 5 lbs. wheat extract.

Mulbeery
5 gallons, all-grain or extract

The good thing about mulberries is that they have a lot of tannins and contribute not only a nice fruit flavor but a wonderful woody flavor and aroma.

Ingredients:

á 5 lbs. pale malt
á 3.5 lbs. wheat malt
á 1.5 oz. Munich malt
á 1 oz. Goldings hops, for 60 min.
á 2.5 lbs. mulberries
á Wyeast 1056 (American ale)
á 3/4 cup corn sugar for priming

Step by Step:

Mash at 155¡ F for 1 hour. Sparge with 5 gal. water and boil. Add the hops at the beginning of the boil. Boil 60 min., then add the crushed mulberries. Allow to steep 20 min. Rack out of kettle to leave berries behind. Cool, pitch, and ferment until done at 60¡ to 65¡ F. For extract use 4 lbs. light extract and 3.5 lbs. wheat extract.

[KellsSimon]

Well i asked for it!

i think my next lager kit might just have to be modified.
Thanks again.