Brewferm Tarwebier Review

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Monte Cristo

Monte Cristo

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Brewferm Tarwebier, I bought this kit as I do like Belgian beers and after a recent jaunt over to Brugge which saw me stocking up on Leffe blonde and Brugge Zot I fancied a go myself.
I brewed as the instructions, the kit makes 15L and i used 750g of candi sugar ( which is a swine to dissolve even in boiling water) There is a note in the tips section of the instructions which tells you to add an extra 5% when using candi sugar - I didn't see that!

It spent 10 days in FV1 then syphoned into FV2 and left for 2 weeks, I batch primed with 150g granulated sugar then bottled it and put it in the warming cupboard for a week, then down into the seller in which time it cleared pretty well to say it is suppose to be a slightly cloudy beer. The instructions say wait 6-8 weeks which make these kits a little long winded but in my opinion it has been worth the wait.

The resulting quaff is very nice, quite light, lovely flavour, good aroma and a foamy head - very drinkable and compares well to the real McCoy i've had recently.

I've included a pic for your deliberation Gents, this was my carbonation tester bottle and the glass is frosted.



This kit will definitely be on my list to do again.
 
morethanworts said:
This may be my next brew. Thanks for the review and pic.

What temp did you do in primary, and then secondary?

Cheers
MtW
Click to expand...

I had it in my water bath at a steady 20c for the primary, for the secondary i syphoned into a clean fv and just let it stand on a shelf in my cellar at about 13-14c for 2 weeks :hat:
 
Would there be any benefit in using Wheat Malt Extract with this kit or is candied sugar (or golden syrup) always preferable for Brewferm beers?
 
Good question, because in many of the Breferm styles (such as the Tripel and Abdij) we are trying to avoid giving the beer any extra body, to keep within the style. It's one area of brewing where it is not only acceptable to add extra fermentables to the malt base - but necessary.

I'm not sure how much extra body would arise from a few hundred grammes of WME, but I'd guess it would be more acceptable in a Wit than some of the other Belgian styles. That said, I think I'll stick with the Golden Syrup.

Thanks for giving details of your fermentation above BTW.
 
I just finished doing this kit, I made it to 15l with:

1kg of wheat dme
13g dried curacao orange peel
13g coriander seeds
good squeeze golden syrup (3tbsp?)

I swear it went off within 90 minutes, luckily I had put it in a 25l bucket as by the morning the monkey brains was pushing at the lid.

I gave it two weeks in the fv, then bottled 6 litres and kegged the remainder to condition, using 75g white sugar. Initial taste while bottling was very Hoegaardenish.
 
morethanworts said:
Good question, because in many of the Breferm styles (such as the Tripel and Abdij) we are trying to avoid giving the beer any extra body, to keep within the style. It's one area of brewing where it is not only acceptable to add extra fermentables to the malt base - but necessary.

I'm not sure how much extra body would arise from a few hundred grammes of WME, but I'd guess it would be more acceptable in a Wit than some of the other Belgian styles. That said, I think I'll stick with the Golden Syrup.

Thanks for giving details of your fermentation above BTW.
Click to expand...

I went ahead and ordered the kit. Going to just go with the syrup though. Will be interesting to hear how daf gets on with the taste test to find out how the wheat dme affected the kit.

I gave it two weeks in the fv, then bottled 6 litres and kegged the remainder to condition, using 75g white sugar. Initial taste while bottling was very Hoegaardenish.
Click to expand...

Make sure you come back and let us know how it tastes after being in the bottle.

Anyone know if this kits follows the rules of other wheat beers and needs to be drank young, or is it same as all Brewferm, better with longer conditioning?
 
Started this last night, used 500g wheat spraymalt and around 200g brewing sugar, made up to 15 litres and used tap water, was fermenting like mad the following morning. Will post my results etc once completed.

Only concern is that the can had been in a hot loft for a year and was a few months out of date, so I wasn't sure if that had affected it in anyway. Also the temps inside are really hot at the moment. I thought maybe the yeast wouldn't start, but seems to be going fine

Og was around 2 points short of the target, so I added around 50 grams extra brewing sugar, so that I have 150g left for the final addition/for carbonation
 
Hi all, I am now on primary fermentation day 9 of first go at tarwebier and bubbling has stopped but sg reads 0.015. this seems a big high. temp has been constant at 22-26 deg. any thoughts?i i didnt check og but used 500g candi and 280g demerera sugar. help!!!!!
 
willardx said:
Hi all, I am now on primary fermentation day 9 of first go at tarwebier and bubbling has stopped but sg reads 0.015. this seems a big high. temp has been constant at 22-26 deg. any thoughts?i i didnt check og but used 500g candi and 280g demerera sugar. help!!!!!
Click to expand...

1.015 will be getting very close, I would think. 3 days constant is the benchmark. At 22 to 26 for 9 days, I suspect it is done.

Did you adjust your reading for the temperature? You probably have a 15 or 20C hydrometer. It should say on it. Look under Calculators on here, at the top.
 
i brew this kit too!! can you tell me how was the final result??? i brew it adding 50% glucose 50% malt extract, this makes the fermentation longer or just gives more body to the beer???
 
It was ok. I found it a little too sweet. Similar to a belgian beer but didnt have the crispness of a grimbergen or hoegarden. probably would do it again too soon!
 
i have now after eight days a density 1.013.....did you had in a fv2 for two weeks, or you bottled after the fv1?? i dont know if with this density is to early.....the bubles in the airlock are a rarity, but they showing up..... should i wait to the ten days are over??? should i bottle after that?? HELLLPPP
 
Hi my first post here.
Just brought this kit was uming and arring about what sugar to use whether to use 500g light spray malt and 300g of brewing sugar or just use 800g of brewing sugar. what do you think carn't deceide what to do.
Ive never tryed a wheat beer before so dont know what to expect.
Is it more aleish or largerish.
 
winnywood said:
Hi my first post here.
Just brought this kit was uming and arring about what sugar to use whether to use 500g light spray malt and 300g of brewing sugar or just use 800g of brewing sugar. what do you think carn't deceide what to do.
Ive never tryed a wheat beer before so dont know what to expect.
Is it more aleish or largerish.
Click to expand...
Hi Winnywood. I've never made a Wheat beer but having drunk a lot of it I'd compare the complexity of flavor more to ale, but that said it is still rather different to ale. What does the kit recommend?
 
What you add kind of depends on what you want it to turn out to taste like. If you add extra malt it will give it a maltier profile and some residual sweetness. If you go with just sugar you get a drier finnish and less malt flavour. One of the posts above mentions it being sweet and to get it nearer to something like Hoegarten it might be worth brewing with sugar.

My experience of Brewferm kits is that some of the darker maltier beers benefit from adding dme. Other lighter styles I would prefer to brew with candi sugar (or golden syrup). When adding something like golden syrup you need to add more of it by weight to counteract the water present in it. I add 650-700 grams of golden syrup in place of 500grams of sugar.

Good luck with it.
 
winnywood said:
Hi my first post here.
Just brought this kit was uming and arring about what sugar to use whether to use 500g light spray malt and 300g of brewing sugar or just use 800g of brewing sugar. what do you think carn't deceide what to do.
Ive never tryed a wheat beer before so dont know what to expect.
Is it more aleish or largerish.
Click to expand...

The kit instructions recommend using candy sugar, which i have used both times that i have made this kit and it turned out very well :hat:
 
All brewed up now i just used 800g brewing sugar because i thought it might be a bit lighter.
I didn't know what candy sugar was is it just golden syrup as in the stuff in a green tin like treacle.
 
Just checked the sg on this and it's down to 1008 from 1054 og, gives 6.1% abv, somewhat higher than the advertised 5%, has been in primary for 16 days, could that be why?
Oh and I couldn't resist a small taste from the trial jar, very orangey (due to the curascao chips) and tastes like it should, obviously fairly flat at this stage though.
Quick question-why does it say to decant and leave for another couple of weeks, it calls this secondary fermentation but there's no sugar added?
 

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