Beer #1, My First Beer at Home, Bavarian Hefeweizen

I started home brewing beer in late 2022. It was actually something I've wanted to do for years but never had. However; I'm not generally happy with mass produced American lagers, or with the New England craze around hoppy or citrusy IPA's. I like English and Irish Stouts, and I like Belgian Ales or Lagers.

My initial investment to start making beer was about $300. I purchased a couple 5 gallon fermentation plastic buckets, and a 5 gallon bucket with a spigot for bottling. I also purchased a 8 gallon stainless steep mash pot. There was also various hoses, connectors, Star Sans (for sanitation), and my first extract kit from Northern Brewer.

My first beer was a 5 gallon Belgian Hefeweizen from a malt extract kit, from Northern Brewer. The process was very enjoyable, and was a good beginner beer. Following are my brewers notes:

October 9, 2022

Start Bavarian Hefeweizen, after boil, xsfr to fermentation tank and adding yeast, starting gravity was 1.049. Fermentation starts at room temperature of 65 degrees Fahrenheit.

October 18 2022

Primary fermentation complete, starting gravity at 1.015. Moved to secondary fermenter.

October 20 2022

Bottling day. Taste test of wort after adding primer was good.. a bit sweet (from the primer). I used swing top 1 liter bottles in brown (to keep out sunlight). Final ABV at 4.5

October 31 2022

Bottle conditioning complete, moved beer to refrigerator at 38 degrees Fahrenheit. After a couple days started sampling. It is a good beer, just not one of my favorites. I guess I'm not a huge fan of the fruity flavors of a traditional Belgian ale. Belgian Hefeweizen's, primarily due to the yeast used, have somewhat fruity flavors... like banana and clove. While many who tried the beer loved it, I wasn't that crazy about it. However; I would recommend it to any starting home brewer as a good first beer to try. The process was very straightforward. Just keep everything sanitized and you should be fine.