Mudbarn Weblog

First off, Happy Holidays to those who celebrate them.
I got a bit of a surprise today. The foam didn’t blow over and the bubbling slowed down to about once every 7 seconds. This means that the biggest surge of activity is past, and it should be smooth sailing until bottling. As you may be able to see from the pictures, the foam actually receded.
I was told that the liquid level seemed a little low. This will make for fewer bottles of richer beer. I can deal.

I can already smell the beer when I get into the same room as the carboy. It’s quite mouth-watering. There’s a good layer of foam that doesn’t seem like it’s getting out of control yet, but the wort is still young.
I’ve set up a camera on a tripod near the carboy so I can get consistent photos. I’m still experimenting with positioning and alignment, but expect some consistency in the photos to develop over the next couple of days.

I woke up to bubbles in the airlock today! The yeast is hard at work turning the sugary wort into alcohol. It’s currently generating enough carbon dioxide to bubble every 6 seconds.

I got together all the ingredients, and I’m about to start up my first brewing project. For starters, I’m making a German Hefeweisen. The kit came with:
6lb Bavarian Wheat
0.5oz Northern Brewer Hops
4oz Corn Sugar

I also bought some White Labs WLP300 yeast to complete the mix.
The combination should produce a cloudy blonde Hefeweisen with hints of banana and clove.

The pictures below show the supplies and the brew at various stages throughout the process. I will update as things change in the fermentation barrel.