Continue reading]]> Made an American style hefeweisen last week. Still has active fermentation going on. It was my first mini-mash attempt. I used a couple pounds of grains, put them in a grain bag and held them at 130 degrees for 30 minutes. Then I slowly brought the temp up to 155. After 10-15 minutes there I brought it up to 158 and held it there for 15 minutes.

After that I sparged the grains (albeit somewhat poorly) and started my wort to boil, adding an additional 7 lbs of wheat extract.

This was also my first attempt at culturing yeast, as I am getting tired of buying stuff for beer. Have some yeast that I grew in a big bottle and then capped it and put it in the fridge after adding a touch of corn sugar.

Can’t wait to bottle and drink this beer. Really looking forward to it.

Update:  It’s now day 7 and still fermenting.  I wish I had a hydrometer and had taken it’s initial gravity.  This is my first batch to ferment this long!