This is my second attempt at brewing Hank’s Hefeweizen from MidWest Supplies. Here are some modifications I incorporated to make a better beer.

1. I think that the problems getting to my final gravity are related to my use of filtered rain water. So I opted to add a half teaspoon of calcium chloride to the boil. It seems to have worked since the final gravity is almost spot on.
2. I froze two large blocks of filtered water to shorten the time to cool the boil down to eighty degrees. In my case I sanitized two plastic quart containers we had on the shelf and then filled them with water. It took two days for the containers to be frozen solid.
3. Since this is a lighter color beer, I steeped the grains in 3 gallons of water and made sure the temperature did not go over 156°. My plan is to steep the lighter color beers in 3 to 3 1/2 gallons of water.
4. I used new caps to bottle the beer. I lost several beers from my Pale Ale batch when the reused caps did not get a good seal. At 3¢ a cap it is not worth the risk.
5. I used the liquid Hefeweizen yeast from White Labs this time and got a robust fermentation. It actually came out of the air lock.

When I transferred the beer to the carboy I tested the beer and I knew I had something special. Although the fermentation was not complete it had already developed some nice flavors. It is now more than five weeks after the boil. This is the first beer I have been anxious to try. After drinking a couple of bottles I can say that it has the traditional Hefeweizen wheat flavor with a hint of banana. It is an easy beer to drink and is definitely one of my favorites.

This is a Irish Stout brew from MidWest Supplies. I thought I screwed this brew up and it came out really nice! Everything was going okay until the outside temperature dropped. So I started moving my carboy around looking for a warmer place that was out of the way. Most of the places I tried were probably too cold and I was worried. When I started bottling my specific gravity came in to high but I went ahead anyway. When I tried to siphon the beer out of the carboy I realized that I broke my siphon the last time I cleaned. I ended up siphoning the old fashion way. So seven weeks after brewing I open a bottle. As you can see I got a wonderful head and a really nice, mellow stout. I purchased a Guiness Stout a couple of months ago for some stew I was making and I was not impressed. This was much better to drink and would be a flavorful addition to browning stew meat.

Since I am ready to bottle my pumpkin beer I was especially interested in this article and video at Serious Eats. Here’s the video describing the process Captain’s Lawrence Brewing Company went through in brewing their pumpkin beer.

I have brewed three more batches of beer since my brewing Hank’s Hefeweisen and hopefully got a little smarter. In keeping with the summer temperatures the first brew was California Steam, the second was Autumn Amber Ale, and the final one was a request for Pumpkin Ale.

Lessons Learned

1. Don’t worry too much about the mistakes! The first lesson I learned is that it is hard to screw up beer. I didn’t take any specific gravities on my first batch and it turned out fine. Even when I screwed up my second batch by not putting enough water in to reach the 5 gallon mark, it came out fine, too.
2. Make sure you get to the 5 gallon mark or you will not hit your starting specific gravity. On my second batch I started measuring specific gravity and I thought I was measuring it wrong until I bottled the 45 bottles rather than 50. I realized that my problem could be solved by turning on the lights and paying close attention to the liquid level. It is a little extra work but I put my batch on a table so I can get a eye level view of the liquid. For my last three batches I hit the starting gravity every time.
3. Do not skip the secondary fermentation with the California Steam. I went out of town the weekend I should of been transferring the beer from the primary to the secondary fermenter so I went directly to bottles after two weeks in the primary fermenter. The California Steam turned out very nice but it has a little sediment on the bottom of bottle.
4. I buy my two beers at a time to save shipping costs. The shipping costs for one and two beers is about the same.

This is my homebrew version of Hank’s Hefeweisen. Like the Red Irish Ale it is an easy beer to drink. Unlike previous Hefeweisens I have drunk it has a darker color. It also had a more robust head than the Red Irish Ale. Since we are without power tonight I am left to comment on the finer points of beer.