Hi there! Sorry folks, this was posted to the wrong group.
I do like to drink good beer though, and would not mind participating here
as well.
Ziggy (who likes to top post by default!)

"Ziggy" > wrote in message
...
> Hi all!
>
> I figured it's time to expose my spying on this group and come clean and
> honest. The inevitable questions will follow. :-)
> I have finally begun home brewing and it has been quite a learning process
> so far. I say finally 'cause I've been sitting on the equipment for almost
2
> yrs now. My butt got sore so I decided to try to actually use the stuff
for
> what it was originally intended. I read the book I was sold which is
> supposed to be some sort of brewing bible. I attended a local seminar
> offered by a new dealer in town which also helped get me started. I had
> printed instructions from the dealer given me when I first bought the
setup
> (2 yrs ago). So I thought I had some notion of what I was doing! hahahaha.
>
> I made a weiss from an extract kit I bought with the equip (now 2 yrs
old).
> I bought new yeast (German weiss liquid) so at least I knew that was
fresh.
> I was well prepared for sanitizing (thanks seminar). The making of the
wort
> went very well. I did fail to strain the wort when I poured into the
> fermenter. Found out later this was probably not a real good thing, but
> probably wouldn't hurt it. My OG was low for what the package said it
should
> be by a good .01 (after temp compensation). It started fermenting by the
> next morning. I did not move to a secondary, but left it on trub for 2
weeks
> (supposedly not too long, but still unfiltered). This may account for the
> cloudiness in the final product which I'll not call beer yet! Anyway, when
I
> siphoned into the bottling bucket I saw no mention of predissolving the
corn
> sugar. So I just dumped the package into the bottom of the bottling bucket
> and racked the "product". I finished bottling the "product" and found a
big
> pile of residue on the bottom of the bucket. I think I correctly guessed
it
> to be undisolved sugar. Hmmmmmm. Well, I let it sit in the bottle for a
week
> and then put 4 in the fridge for a week for testing purposes. I drank one.
> Can we say flat? So I drank another anyway. It is a dark weiss and the
> flavor wasn't bad, malty but with a hops aftertaste. So, how to fix? The
> "bible" suggested to try putting a couple grains of yeast in each bottle
and
> recap and wait a week. If that didn't work to try to add a quarter tsp of
> corn sugar to each and recap and wait a week. If all failed then to mix
with
> real beer. I figured the yeast wasn't the problem as I knew I screwed up
the
> bottling sugar, so I went right for the sugar solution. Wow, dump some
sugar
> into the bottles was like starting Mt. St. Helens all over again for each
> bottle. Had to wait for the eruptions to end, then cleaned the lips with
> paper towel soaked in idophor solution and recapped. Just as I finished
the
> last bottle I opened one of the two remaining bottles in the fridge from
the
> "testing" batch. That sucker was so carbonated it was hard to pour in the
> glass! Oh Oh.
> I figured I better test last one in the fridge and it too was flat. This
was
> a week ago. Nothing has blown up yet. I take that as a good thing. I tried
a
> bottle yesterday and it is still pretty flat, but now has taken on a
fairly
> strong licorice flavor. Where did that come from? a combo of the sugar
and?
>
> I was not discouraged by this attempt. I brewed an Octoberfest last week
> without the mistakes of the previous attempt (so far). I have not racked
to
> a secondary as I used the glass carboy and didn't want to move back to
> plastic. This time I had to steep a grain bag first. One direction said to
> add to water and leave 'till water begins to boil, then remove. Other said
> to bring water to boil. remove from heat and steep for 20 minutes. Being
> easily confused I decided to do both! I finished out the wort as
instructed.
> I did strain the wort as I added to primary this time. I again had rather
> low starting gravity readings. I think I am reading the hydrometer
correctly
> and don't know why the low readings for two different batches. I believe I
> will be ready to bottle this weekend judging from the airlock movement or
> lack thereof. I hate to open the fermenter and risk contamination. I may
> have to wait a bit more though. Funny, the kit said "ready to bottle in 4
> days." I'm sure I would have bottle rockets if I had done that.
>
> So, this is my tale and beginnings. I have read much useful information
here
> and will continue my quest for the perfect brew with all your help.....
> whether you know it or not! :-)
> I think you will know it though.
>
> Ziggy
>
>