decisions decisions, lovely decisions

[marzen scorsese]

got 6 all grain mash kits today and i think the hardest thing is going to be deciding which to brew first. my choices are bavarian hefe, irish red ale, particular peters stout, extra special bitter, english pale ale and the only one i cant do until i have my fermentation chamber is complete the premium pilsner.

havent been brewing for nearly a year now and looking to get back into it big time for christmas. just got an 8kw burner, keggle and fridge for decking out a nice little fermentation chamber under a shelf in the shed which plan to take some photos of before during and after. hopefully it will come in handy for people like myself who need pictures to figure things out  if anyone has info of the mash kits and some tips im all ears

am leaning towards the hefe or ESB at the moment but this could change with the wind

[LordEoin]

I'd go with the ESB. It'll take a bit more aging than the others so it'd be good to get it on first.
Then go with the hefe, cos you'll be able to drink it young and it'll give you something to sup on

[marzen scorsese]

cheers LordEoin sounds like a plan, think ill do that so

how long would you usually give your ESB's to age? its my first and the hefe will be my first time brewing that style too. been supping on the 2 euro paulaner and franziskaner from lidl and really enjoying em. fullers ESB is a great beer but 3.50 at my local offie is a bit steep, bit of luck and mine will be as nice

[LordEoin]

It really depends on the recipe, but give it at least a month in the bottle to settle down.
What yeast comes with the wheat? wb06?

[marzen scorsese]

cant see into the bag its so airtight but its from the homebrew company and i think thats what someone else got with theirs so im hoping thats it. ive read that it gives good banana flavours if fermented high so im def gonna put that to the test.

have you any experience with it yourself LordEoin

[marzen scorsese]

"i use wb-06 a lot. going to use it tomorrow. results: over 68 = more banana, the higher the more banana. under 68 = clove. the lower, the more clove. 68 is a good balance"

found that on another forum not a bad starting point

[LordEoin]

yup, pretty much. under 18 clove, over 22 banana. or somewhere around that, didn't check if my temps match.
it's a good strong yeast and you'll have to abuse it a lot to get a bad beer

[marzen scorsese]

thats good to hear  have the bitter boiling away now missed mash temp by 3 degrees but sure how bad 

[LordEoin]

3 degrees over or under?

[marzen scorsese]

3 degrees over so i gave it a good stir with the top off and it was right in 20 then i wrapped it up and  it stayed on target for the remainder

[marzen scorsese]

.2 off my og at 1.044 so not too bad really, thats much better than undershooting i reckon. smells lovely too and you cant get more scientific than that 

[LordEoin]

it'll be fine. maybe a bit more malty and full bodied.
might even be an improvement, just keep telling yourself that 

[marzen scorsese]

haha de nile not just a river in egypt  im calling this my ESB alternative technique experiment

[marzen scorsese]

did the hefe yesterday and she is bubbling away like mad and i just realised i did the hops in the esb backwards  when i looked at the hops for the hefe there should be only one in for the 60 mins and it had 60 mins, all fairly easy to understand you say. well when i was doing the esb and there was three additions and i started at 0 and worked up, i only copped it when i did the hefe because there would never be hops for flavour or aroma in a true style hefe. guess thats another little experiment. be grand sure 

[Qs]

Do you have any idea what hops you used and the quantities?