Festival German Weiss

The Homebrew Forum

Help Support The Homebrew Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Noodle

noodle
Joined
Apr 19, 2017
Messages
21
Reaction score
5
Location
Bristol
Have purchased a festival German Weiss beer kit and plan to get going soon.

Quick question before brew day (this wednesday) is: should I alter this kit in any way? I mean it was £23 so I'd be reluctant to spend more but if it really ought to have extras I'd be delighted with any advice.
 
It’s all about the yeast, just adjust temp for different tastes


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Ok so I'll brew warm to get nice banana and bubblegum flavours. What sort of temp would you say? The packets instructions don't say much about temp!
 
Ok so I'll brew warm to get nice banana and bubblegum flavours. What sort of temp would you say? The packets instructions don't say much about temp!
I would ferment it at about 20-21C, It will depend on the yeast you are using but that should be enough to bring out the banana flavour
 
Brewed it last night as I got excited! Very easy kit to do. It came with:

-2 pouches of pre hopped wheat liquid malt extract
-350g dextrose
-Wheat yeast (dry)
-Priming sugar

Sanitised everything thoroughly.
Brewed as per instructions to 23 litres.
Was a simple case of pour in the extract to FV, boil 3 litres of water in saucepan and add to FV (not at boil temp, leave to cool a bit), add dextrose, top up to 23 litres with cold water, oxygenate, make sure temp is between 20-25 and pitch yeast, gentle stir, and wait :)

SG at about 1052.

Within 12 hours it had half blown the lid off my FV despite me fitting a blow off tube. Not sure why my tube isn't doing its job. :S Is it a bad idea to tie down the lid of my FV or is a little popping off ok?

Very very vigorous fermentation which is nice.

So far so good will keep you updated.
 
Brewed it last night as I got excited! Very easy kit to do. It came with:

-2 pouches of pre hopped wheat liquid malt extract
-350g dextrose
-Wheat yeast (dry)
-Priming sugar

Sanitised everything thoroughly.
Brewed as per instructions to 23 litres.
Was a simple case of pour in the extract to FV, boil 3 litres of water in saucepan and add to FV (not at boil temp, leave to cool a bit), add dextrose, top up to 23 litres with cold water, oxygenate, make sure temp is between 20-25 and pitch yeast, gentle stir, and wait :)

SG at about 1052.

Within 12 hours it had half blown the lid off my FV despite me fitting a blow off tube. Not sure why my tube isn't doing its job. :S Is it a bad idea to tie down the lid of my FV or is a little popping off ok?

Very very vigorous fermentation which is nice.

So far so good will keep you updated.
The alternative to a blow off tube is to just crack the lid and allow the yeasty krausen to ooze out of the gap, but cover the gap with a clean towel and put the whole thing into a bowl or something similar to catch the mess.. When the fermentatation subsides reseal the lid and carry on as normal.
Ritchies supply the Festival kits. Why not have a word with them about the fermentatation temperature if you have a query.
http://www.ritchieproducts.co.uk/festival-premium-ale-kits/
 
Been bubbling away for about a week now. Fermentation has slowed a lot but still bubbles on occasion. All seems to be going rather well. Have struggled to get the temperature below 23C but this shouldn't be an issue, more banana/bubblegum I think. I was instructed that anything 20C-25C is good.

The SG is currently at ~1.017. The FG according to instructions should be 1.011. Although with a OG of 1.052 and an advertised abv of 4.8% I think it'll end at more like 1.016-1.017 so looks good to be honest.

Wow! Just tasted and it tastes awesome so far! Reminds me very much of Franziskaner although a little darker in colour. Loads of banana, hint of clove. Even now, this is simply delicious. :-D

Do you think another week and it'll be done and ready to bottle? :whistle:
 
Been bubbling away for about a week now. Fermentation has slowed a lot but still bubbles on occasion. All seems to be going rather well. Have struggled to get the temperature below 23C but this shouldn't be an issue, more banana/bubblegum I think. I was instructed that anything 20C-25C is good.

The SG is currently at ~1.017. The FG according to instructions should be 1.011. Although with a OG of 1.052 and an advertised abv of 4.8% I think it'll end at more like 1.016-1.017 so looks good to be honest.

Wow! Just tasted and it tastes awesome so far! Reminds me very much of Franziskaner although a little darker in colour. Loads of banana, hint of clove. Even now, this is simply delicious. :-D

Do you think another week and it'll be done and ready to bottle? :whistle:
No need to rush, Weiss beer yeasts have a tendency to produce sulphur flavours so try not to rush to bottle it and give the yeast time to clean up after it’s self up
 
No need to rush, Weiss beer yeasts have a tendency to produce sulphur flavours so try not to rush to bottle it and give the yeast time to clean up after it’s self up

Ok thanks:) how long would you recommend waiting then? It'll be 2 weeks next Tuesday.
 
Took gravity reading again. Same as before:)

Difference this time is that it's cleared up a lot and it also doesn't taste as good at all. Still good but no way near like before.. tastes like a different beer. :-?

Any advice?
 
Make sure you get the yeast in it, makes a huge difference to the drink


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Make sure you get the yeast in it, makes a huge difference to the drink


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That makes sense! Hmm so how to make sure I get the yeast in when I go to bottle? I was planning on syphoning into a bottling bucket then going from there. Do I want to suck up a load of the trub from the bottom then?
 
That makes sense! Hmm so how to make sure I get the yeast in when I go to bottle? I was planning on syphoning into a bottling bucket then going from there. Do I want to suck up a load of the trub from the bottom then?



I mean when you drink it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
That makes sense! Hmm so how to make sure I get the yeast in when I go to bottle? I was planning on syphoning into a bottling bucket then going from there. Do I want to suck up a load of the trub from the bottom then?
When you prime your bottles just you will get sediment in the bottom of the bottle, just pour some of that in he glass with the beer
Clear Weiss beer can be just as tasty as well
 
When you prime your bottles just you will get sediment in the bottom of the bottle, just pour some of that in he glass with the beer
Clear Weiss beer can be just as tasty as well

Ah great thanks so much for the help! Bottling today how exciting!
 
All bottled last night. Got 40 bottles. 39 glass and one plastic so I can see how it's carbing up and it's already quite hard.
How long until I can drink?:)
 
All bottled last night. Got 40 bottles. 39 glass and one plastic so I can see how it's carbing up and it's already quite hard.
How long until I can drink?:)

I usually try my first bottle at about a month
Most people like to drink it quite young to catch the bubble gum/ cloves flavours, If when you try your first bottle and it’s a bit sulphurous tasting leave it a couple more weeks before you have another and see how it goes
Of course if your first bottle is ok drink away:thumb:
 
Got impatient so tried one tonight.

Super impressed! :-D Tastes amazing, so smooth and has plenty of banana and bubblegum with just a hint of clove I'm guessing because I brewed this warmer. No sulphur that I can detect. Lovely thick white head that lasts to the end of the glass. Pours dark straw coloured and cloudy, a little darker than a standard hefe.

I would absolutely recommend giving this kit a try. I would compare the taste to a Franziskaner, one of my favourites. I'm going to enjoy drinking this very much!

Easily the best brew I've done so far. 10/10 for Festival!
 
Thanks for the update, keen to make one of these for summertime supping (i.e. next year!), will definitely be going for it based on your positive review.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top