Its a Cracker!

[JayBee]

And this is how I did it.
Ingredients:
Can of Coopers Wheat Beer
500 grms wheat DME
500 grms LDME
300 grms light Belgian candi crystals
100 grms brewing sugar ( because it was left over )
25 grms curacao peel, boiled 15 mins
15 grms coriander seed, crushed and boiled with the peel for last 5 mins
12grms saaz pellets, boiled 15 mins
Pack and a half Safbrew WB 06
It sounds a lot of stuff for a kit but took 20 minutes or so longer than a basic kit make up. I made it up to 20.5 litres and took a gamble by brewing at the lowest temperature I dare, 16- 18 degrees. I was worried as the krausen never got above 2 inches high but it worked away steadily for 2 weeks rather than the 10 days I normally expect to leave it for. It started at 1052 and was bottled 16 days later at 1011 giving approx 5.5 abv plus the priming so maybe 5.7 abv.
After just 10 days conditioning I cracked one last night and it is bloody marvellous, which is why I`m posting this. It doesnt taste as strong as it is if that makes sense. Its got that sweetness that I associate with wheats but is nicely offset by a touch of bitterness from the orange peel, not sure if I can taste anything from the coriander though and the extra alcohol gives it a "touch of Belgian" flavour which I`m not sure how to describe but those of you who like Belgian beers might know what I mean.
This is my first kit that I`m sure I could pass off as a non home brew, it even smells right and I shall definitely brew it again in the summer but at a slightly lower strength. I`m not sure what the key element was, possibly the yeast, I`m not sure but I shall definitely try fermenting at a lower temperature again.
Cheers.

[brysie]

hiya jb

what do you buy in the pub normally? {just for referrance}

[brysie]

reference.

[JayBee]

Don`t really have a favourite. I tend to go for traditional ales such as Pedigree. As far as bottled beers go I like to have a variety.

[davekermito]

Interested in how this one goes, but only time will tell!

Are you testing it whilst it's fairly 'green' to get the full wheat beer experience?

[JayBee]

One of the reasons I made a wheat is because it seems to be generally agreed that they are pretty good young. I always keep one or two for a few months to see how much they change.
My best brew so far is the Brewferm Gallia of which I`m down to the last four bottles and that was bottled last June, it took four months to reach excellent rather than pretty good.