Honey Wheat Process

My first batch of beer has been done for a while now. It tastes wonderful. I don't know if thats because I brewed it, or because it is actually good. The taste is very strong because of my negligence is not filtering out the hops before the initial fermentation. It was a tasty mistake. Anyways, here is a photo summary of the process and the results.

The basics: Iodine based sanitizer, malt, and honey.

and of course, the wheat.

After seeping the wheat and mixing the malt and honey. Prior to adding the hops.

Smelled amazing.

Boiling for an hour.

Sanitizing the carboy

Primary fermentation.

The wonderful bottle that was sold to me by a crazy Filipino lady

And, the result.

Overall the process was very interesting and a solid learning performance. Biggest lesson learned: make sure during the first few days of initial fermentation to have a hose running down to a bucket or else you will end up with a wall covered in beer that has sprayed out of the top.

Overall, I give this beer roughly an 8.5/10.

Honey Wheat Hefeweizen

Information:
Originally obtained from Hydro Brew in Oceanside, Ca.


Ingredients:

• 6.6lbs of Wheat Malt Extract
• 1lb of raw, unfiltered, honey
• 1lb Hambrinus Honey Malt, milled for steeping
• 1oz Hallertau hop pellets (for bittering)
• 1oz Liberty Hop pellets (for aroma)
• Hefeweizen IV Ale Yeast

Instructions:

1. Heat 2 or 3 gallons of water to 160°F
2. Turn off heat and steep the grains for ten minutes
3. Remove the grains and bring back to a boil
4. Turn off heat and add the malt extracts and honey until they are completely dissolved
5. Return to a boil and then add the Hallertau hops
6. Boil for 55 minutes
7. Add Liberty hops and then boil for 5 more minutes
8. Let beer cool to 80°F or less and top off with water until total amount of liquid is 5 gallons
9. Add the yeast
10. Ferment at 72°F-78°F

October 13, 2010.
Prior to fermentation:
Balling – 12.5
Specific Gravity – 50
Potential Alcohol by Vol – 6 to 7%

My boredom does really get the best of me.

It is another lackluster Saturday night in Carlsbad, CA, so I have decided to make this blog to document my trials and errors at brewing beer.

I have a couple purposes for this blog:

•  Experiment, record, and reflect on recipes
• Toy around with various techniques and procedures
• And give my own personal insight to the process of home brewing

This is definitely a personal blog with no intentions of anyone else really reading it, however, I believe it provides a creative outlet into the art of distilling liquor.

I currently have a 5 gallon batch of a honey wheat hefeweizen fermenting in my garage so I will be sure to make a post on that in the following days (or hours).