Raspberry Berliner Weiss Help

[Corinbis]

Hi All, I'm brewing a Mangrove Jacks Raspberry Berliner Weiss which has stuck (my first stuck brew), has anyone else had any experience with this one, it's the MJ M20 Bavarian Weiss yeast.

I re-hydrated and pitched the yeast two weeks ago (at 25º - the brewfridge was set to 20º) fermentation went off like a rocket after 24hrs, the Krausen was huge and it blew the lid of off the fermentation bucket, it came through the airlock like a fountain and was all down the sides of the bucket and the brew fridge - clean up on aisle 5!

However after two weeks I'm stuck at an SG of 1.016 when it should be down to 1.008?

Any thoughts?

Cheers

 

[Ben034]

Hi All, I'm brewing a Mangrove Jacks Raspberry Berliner Weiss which has stuck (my first stuck brew), has anyone else had any experience with this one, it's the MJ M20 Bavarian Weiss yeast.

I re-hydrated and pitched the yeast two weeks ago (at 25º - the brewfridge was set to 20º) fermentation went off like a rocket after 24hrs, the Krausen was huge and it blew the lid of off the fermentation bucket, it came through the airlock like a fountain and was all down the sides of the bucket and the brew fridge - clean up on aisle 5!

However after two weeks I'm stuck at an SG of 1.016 when it should be down to 1.008?

Any thoughts?

Cheers

Sounds like it certainly got started. Hydrometer reading 1.000 in water at calibration temp (21/15c)? Was this an all grain recipe? What temperature did you mash at? What was the OG?

 

[Corinbis]

Hi Ben, thanks for the reply.

It's a Mangrove Jacks premium kit + 600mg Pure Malt Enhancer. I've had success with some of their kits in the past so I know that they are normally pretty good.

Yes hydrometer calibrated and all okay in water at 1.000
OG was 1.040
Currently 1.016
SG should be 1.008
https://help.mangrovejacks.com/hc/en-us/articles/360005436958-What-should-my-SG-Reading-be-
The sample tasted pretty good and it looks fairly clear, but there is a definite lack of alcohol there (it's only meant to be about 3.7% so I really don't want to loose any of that. Currently sitting at about 3.1% ABV)

I'm tempted to give it a gentle stir or to roll the bucket to see if that will get it going again, but after two weeks do you think it would bring it back to life? Or maybe push up in temperature a bit, it's been held at 20º for two weeks so maybe up 22º or 23º, and a stir (the Bavarian yeast will be okay up to 30º apparently)

https://mangrovejacks.com/products/raspberry-berliner-weisse-limited-edition
Thanks for the help

 

[Redwulf]

I've done this kit twice and both times its been a little messy but, not explosive. It fermented from 1.034 to 1.010 the first time using Muntons Brew Enhancer and 1.008 the 2nd using MJ's LME pouch both went in the cupboard which is about 21º c

I think you are spot on, give it a roll round the FV and then give it 2-3 degrees extra to rouse it a bit and see if it will finish off.

 

[Clint]

I'd increase the temp to 25/26c...that should get it going. It won't do any harm to a wheat beer.

 

[Ben034]

Understandable. Over 3% isn't too bad for the style. I don't know much about kits unfortunately, hopefully someone will be along shortly that can help further. I think after 2 weeks it is probably done. Raising temp and rousing slightly can't do any harm. I understand that some kits do often finish slightly higher than expected. My thoughts would be to add some sugar to dry it out and bump the ABV a little. Could be risky if the yeast has given up though. Seems unlikely on such a low ABV beer though.

 

[Corinbis]

Thanks for the replies and thoughts everyone.

So I gave it a gentle stir and pushed the temperature up to 24º, and after 12hrs she's now bubbling away again. I'll keep my fingers crossed that I can get down to the 1.008 and I'll let you know how it turns out.

Cheers

 

[Corinbis]

Also I'd like to make these a fairly carby, would two of the Coopers carb drops be okay in a 500ml bottle?
I think they recommend 1x for a 375ml or 2x for a 750ml bottle.

 

[Surfingobo]

Also I'd like to make these a fairly carby, would two of the Coopers carb drops be okay in a 500ml bottle?
I think they recommend 1x for a 375ml or 2x for a 750ml bottle.

I find two carb drops in 500ml to be horribly gassy. I’d recommend 3-3.5g table sugar per bottle for a nice fizz. Think the carb drops are 2g each?

 

[Slid]

I think the carb drops weigh 4g? If so (count out ten and weigh them) then use 6g granulated sugar per bottle - some trial and error with a teaspoon will tell you how much 6g is. Even for a wheat beer, too fizzy is just a recipe for a big mess at pouring time.

 

[Slid]

Ha ha! just saw Surfingobo's post.
Best suggestion is to search for "priming sugar in a wheat beer" to tell you how many g per L and go from there!

 

[Corinbis]

Sadly the MJ instructions are universal for Ale, Wheat Beer, Larger etc so not much help there in specifics for priming.

. Fill your bottles leaving 5 cm (2 “) headspace (measure from the very top of the bottle). Before sealing bottles add Mangrove Jack’s Carbonation Drops (this replaces priming sugar, 1 drop is equivalent to 0.5 tsp of sugar).

• Use 1 drop per 350 ml (12 US fl oz) Australian stubby bottle.
• Use 2 drops per 750 ml (22 US fl oz) bottles.


The Coopers packs are 250g and approx 80 drops per bag, so in theory that's around 3g per drop, 2x drops would be 6 grams, too much?

I also have some EastBrew drops that are 2g per drop so maybe two of those at 4 grams would be safer.

 

[Corinbis]

If I'm reading this right, the brewers friend calculators is saying...

For 20l Wheat beer at 3.9 Volumes of CO2: at 20º
= Table Sugar: 243.1 g

So that would be 6 grams per 500ml

https://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator

 

[strange-steve]

Don't prime for 3.9 vols. Go for about 2.5 - 2.8, it'll be plenty.

 

[Corinbis]

Okay thanks Steve, that gives me between 3 & 4 grams so I'll try a mix and see how we get on.

 

[Redwulf]

I batched primed mine with about 160g of table sugar for the 23 litre batch which was about 2.8 volume. It was plenty fizzy enough.

I did 2 carb drops per a bottle for the 2nd batch as I only did 8 bottles and put the rest in a Keg which is sat at about 14 psi and there don't seem to be any complaints

 

[Corinbis]

Just a quick update:
I heard back from Mangrove Jacks, and it appears that I used 600ml 'MJ Pure Malt Enhancer' when I should have used 600ml 'Dextrose/ Brew Enhancer' - I just followed Brew2Bottle recommendations on their site.

Sam MJ Customer Support:
The Berliner Weisse kit is designed to be used with 600gm of Dextrose/Brew Enhancer, not Malt Extract. Dextrose is 100% fermentable, whereas the Malt Extract is not - resulting in residual unfermented sugars, and a higher FG.

Anyway the good news is that it's still bubbling every few seconds and this is day 4 since I gave it a stir, so it will be interesting to see what the SG reading is once it's settled down again.

Redwulf did you use Dextrose/Brew Enhancer or Malt on your ones?

Cheers all!

 

[Redwulf]

The first one I think I used 600g of Muntons Brew Enhancer, its a dry mix of Spray Malt and Dextrose and for the latest batch I used a the pure malt enhancer I used the whole pouch.

 

[Corinbis]

Okay thanks, and any difference to the fermentation or taste?

Thanks for the help, I plan to do this one again so it's good to know what works best.

Was that 1.2kg of the pure malt extract or 600ml?

I was thinking maybe that was why mine was so explosive at the start, but I only used 600ml (half of the pack) of malt extract.

 

[Redwulf]

It was the 1.2kg Pouch.

As I said mine was a bit messy both times I did it, but my FV lids are pretty secure so it was just a case of wiping down the lid and swapping the Airlock for a clean one.

The style is very popular in my house, I'll give the greg hughes one a go when I am brave enough to try an all grain sour.