Question for homebrewers

jp_bl_68

jp_bl_68

jp_bl_68

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3 Jan 2009
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My first brew is almost ready for drinking (2 weeks today) so I'm starting to think about my next brew. I want to make something similar to Hoegaarden but so far the only kit I've found that might be similar (Hambelton Bard Lager Supreme 40pt dry kit) has some mixed reviews. It seems that it might be a bit unreliable.

Can anyone here recommend any beer kits (I'm not ready for all grain yet) that give a similar taste to Hoegaard? If no such kit exists can anyone recommend any decent Belgian white beer kits?
 
I've made the Wherry kit. After you've fermented it in the pimary, it really works best with six weeks in the secondary keg with some priming sugar.
I tasted it every four days over that time and after a couple of weeks it's not as you'd expect. After six it's creamy, beautifully clear and great taste.

As for wheat beer.. hmmm.. you could make the beer using extract and then boil with your own hops:

Hoegaarden White Recipe

1 can Wheat beer 1.7kg
1.3kg Dry Light Malt
1/2 oz Kent Golding Hops(15 min)
1/2 oz Saaz Hops(5min)
210gm priming sugar/ Carbonation Drops
1/2 teaspoon Coriander seed (powder)
1/2oz Bitter Orange Peel (Curacua)
Safwheat yeast / Munton Gold Yeast

Brew to 23 litres.

Method:

Use a big stock pot to dissolve 1.3 kg of Light Malt in 3 litres of water then bring it to boil.
Then add coriander seed, orange peel and K. Golding hops. Boil for 15 minutes.
5 min before end of boil, add last bag of Saaz hop into pot.
Afterthat, turn off fire and remove all bags from pot. . Add Wheat beer into pot and stir. Transfer to fermenter and top up 23 litres mark with very cold water. Continue brewing in the normal way.
 
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NickK said:
I tasted it every four days over that time and after a couple of weeks it's not as you'd expect. After six it's creamy, beautifully clear and great taste.
Click to expand...
I tasted mine after 3 weeks and "not as you'd expect" is exactly how I'd describe it. It tastes like beer but it's not really drinkable yet. You couldn't quaff it.

Thanks for the recipe, I'll give it a go. Is this something you've tried yourself? Is this something you should bottle or would it be OK in a keg?
 
JP,
There should be a homebrew shop near you, pretty much every city has one - you just need to find it!
If they don't have what you need, they'll order it in for you.

I trust everyone has made Edworts Apfelwein (Cider)?... I always have a 5 gallon batch fermenting and is pretty much my staple homebrew drink...

Now getting into total experimental batches, currently attempting to make a 'Smirnoff Ice' kind of drink. Fermented it out at 5.7%, threw some lactose in as it was incredibly bitter and planning to bottle on Sunday. I'm not expecting very much, but it cost £9.20 for 5 gallons so you can't really complain!
 
Hey Ahleckz, welcome to OcUK.

I've not come across any homebrew shops near me. There's a Wilkinsons but it's tiny and they don't have anything brew related.

I want to hear how that 'Smirnoff Ice' type drink turns out. It sounds.........interesting, to say the least.
 
Not quite on topic, but doesn't deserve it's own thread.... but has anyone used the spirit brewing kits which are avaliable (make 21% alcohol then add an essence to create the spirit)??

Are they any good?
 
These? There are some user reviews on that page, they seem to be OK. I thought you needed a still to make spirits but there's no mention of additional equipment on that page.

I say go for it. You get 6 bottles (no mention of volume) for £20 after p&p.
 
Yeah thats the type of kit.... those do 21% ABV, don't think you need anything else, like you said.

This is the kit I was looking and then you choose the essence to add.... there seems to be loads to choose from too.

Some require 40% ABV then water it down, but I don't see why you can't just use the 21% straight without watering down.....
 
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Distilling requires a licence.

JP, I've not tried that recipe. I'm not really a hoegaarden fan. Also if you're in a region with a high amount of chlorine then you may find it has a TCP taste. I add a campden tablet to the water and it sorts out the issue.
 
This puts me in the mind for doing more home brew.

I was clearing out my uncles garage on sunday and found home brew wine that had not before october 85. Opened the bottle to pour it away was like rocket fuel. had six bottles to pour away. by the end I was flying. Would that still be drinkable
 
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