First Wit

[Synthetase]

Hi all, I'm going to make my first AG (proper) wit soon, and have formulated the following recipe:

22L batch OG 1.048

Pilsner 47.5%
Raw wheat 47.5%
Rolled oats 5%
Rice hulls

Mash (multi-step infusion):
42 degrees 20 min
53 degrees 20 min
65 degrees 60 min
75 degrees 10 min

Single bittering addition of tettnang to 16 IBU

15 grams cracked corriander at 5 min
zest of two oranges at 5 min

Ferment with T-58 at 20 degrees.

I think the recipe should be a goer. My main issue is with the mash, having very little experience with raw wheat and never as a major component of the grain bill. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Cheers.

 

[drtomc]

I've made several batches of wit that I've been quite happy with. I've always used burghul from the middle eastern grocer. It's precooked, so you can mash it without preboiling or anything. It's cheap, and you can use it to make tabouleh too.

I've always done a single step [BIAB] mash at about 64-65, but that's just because I tend to try and keep things reasonably simple.

T.

 

[vykuza]

Grain bill looks fine and I can't comment on the mash profile - but be wary of the coriander. I made a wit with 20g and it was WAAAAAAAAAAAAY too much, and recently made a saison with 6g and I can still taste it (subtle but present).

If it were my batch of wit, I would use 8-10g of coriander max (and buy the freshest stuff I could) ignore anything from the supermarket, you want to buy it from an asian or indian spice shop; or it will just taste like dust.

 

[Dave70]

Don't fret the mash. I've used near 60% wheat malt with no problem. Neither did I use rice hulls.
I think unmalted wheat will give you more haze due the starch conversion thingie, so if you are chasing something like a Hoegaarden, or a clear looking brew, you might be better off using malted wheat.

If you're not, feel free to ignore me.

 

[amiddler]

Don't expect alot of yield from the raw wheat. I set the potential yield of my raw wheat to 1.025, same as roasted wheat, and dropped the mash efficiency a few points. My SG was spot on what I had planned for.

Andrew

 

[sim]

I'd moove the 5min coriander to 0min, you dont want to drive the aromatics away. Also, if you have access to liquid yeast i'd definatley use that.


sim

 

[Nick JD]

As above.

I'm not sure if your Pilsner malt has enough enzymez to convert all that unmalted grain. Does it? I would guess that even 25% of the grain bill unmalted might be pushing it. There's always malted wheat.

You really want some Wyeast 3944. It's Hoegaarden's.

EDIT: I've had trouble with corriander. So much that I now leave it out of my Wits.

 

[Synthetase]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm not chasing Hoegaarden, and I really should actually use this sachet of T-58 I bought ages ago so I thought I'd give it a whirl.

I think I'll lower the corriander and orange a bit. Maybe 10 grams and 1 orange.

As for the mash, I did some searching last night and Tony did a similar recipe with about half unmalted wheat and got reasonable conversion from JW pils (which is what I'm using) so I think it should work. I might increase the sacch rest to ensure it though. I've also lowered my efficiency estimate in Promash to 65% in case it doesn't work as well as I hope.

The step I'm most concerned about is the 42 degree 'glucan' rest. I don't want the mash to turn into a cake in the tun, so do you think this step is long enough?

 

[Synthetase]

I didn't really want to bump this, but I'm probably going to put it down tomorrow so any suggestions on the 42 degree rest would be great.

Cheers.

 

[Nick JD]

I do 45C for the Ferulic Acid rest.

 

[Synthetase]

Put this one down today.

Things I've learned:
Raw wheat is hard and clogs mills
Protein. Protein. Protein. So much gunk.
Cubing cuts time on brew day. (My first ever cubed batch as all my fermenters are full at the moment.)
Smells fantastic on the boil.
Efficiency loss estimate was good. Hit my numbers right on the head.

I'm really looking forward to tasting this. Need to kick an ale into a keg and get the ferment going.
Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[Synthetase]

This tastes fantastic. Hit this keg on the weekend and I'm really happy with how it turned out. Very easy to drink. Similar to Hoegaarden but different in its own way.

Thanks again for the advice.