Ellie's bday beer

I asked Ellie what she wanted for her birthday and she said she wanted me to make her some beer. I said I think we can oblige you love. I asked what kind of beer and she said a Wheat beer. Done.

This post will cover the yeast starter. I was fishing around on the More Beer site on the interwebs and found that they had a yeast starter kit. Well, I had everything that was in the kit except the Fermaid K. So I got some. This is a yeast nutrient which contains DAP, free amino acids, yeast hulls, unsaturared fatty acids, sterols, and micronutrients such as magnesium sulfate, thiamin, folic acid, biotin, calcium pantothenate, and other vitamins and minerals. I don't know what half that crap is but I guess it's like steroids for yeast. I think it's meant more for wine and mead but I can't wait to try it.

Now it all showed up in the mail today. I looked on the internet and found the PDF instructions for the yeast starter kit from More Beer. They called for 1 cup DME, 900 mL of water, and a pinch of Fermaid K. A pinch! WTF! Well, I opened to bag and tipped it over and sprinkled in a "pinch". We'll see. Mixed this all together, boiled it up for 10 minutes, pour it into a flask, cool it down, pitch the yeast, and add the air lock.

Now this PDF has some notes on it that I completely ignored and may add into the process next time. When working with yeast it says to use diluted alcohol because Star San can trap airborne bacteria. OK. Then they just start to get paranoid. It says to work away from drafts since dust contains bacteria blah blah blah transfer your yeast close to flame because warm air will cause the dust (and bacteria) to rise. Also, cover the flask will aluminum foil instead of an airlock to allow better oxygen uptake and keep bacterial growth from between the stopper and the flask. Interesting.

Notes on the yeast. White Labs Hefeweizen Ale Yeast. WLP300. Lot Number 1300PBH7103751. It smells a little sour and fruity. It smells exactly like what I picture Lengthwise wheat would use for it's yeast. This is not good. Ellie had a glass of Lengthwise wheat last weekend. She said make me a wheat beer, but not one that tastes like the Lengthwise wheat I had last weekend. Uh-oh.