RecipeDB - A Partial (half) Wit

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A Partial (half) Wit

Wheat - Belgian White (Wit)
Partial

Brewer's Notes

Partial mash is mainly wheat and oats, I would add more barley if possible but don't have a kettle big enough. I did a long mash in the oven, at 50 deg for an hour then 65 deg for an hour. After mashing out, still got a very stuck sparge. THis will need rice hulls in the mash. But only way to get a partial with raw wheat, and no malted wheat.

Tasted really good stright out of fermentor, is now in the bottle for a few weeks - can't wait.

Malt & Fermentables

%	KG	Fermentable
	2.25 kg	TF Torrefied Wheat
	0.5 kg	BB Ale Malt
	0.25 kg	Flaked Oats
	1.25 kg	Generic DME - Light

Hops

Time	Grams	Variety	Form	AA
	15 g	Styrian Goldings (Pellet, 5.4AA%, 60mins)
	15 g	Saaz (Czech) (Pellet, 4.0AA%, 60mins)
	15 g	Saaz (Czech) (Pellet, 4.0AA%, 15mins)

Yeast

125 ml

Wyeast Labs 3944 - Belgian Witbier

Misc

	25 g	Orange Peel
	25 g	Corriander

23L Batch Size

Brew Details

• Original Gravity 1.05 (calc)
• Final Gravity 1.013 (calc)
• Bitterness 19 IBU
• Efficiency 75%
• Alcohol 4.81%
• Colour 10 EBC
• Batch Size 23L

Fermentation

• Primary 7 days
• Secondary 7 days
• Conditioning 4 days

 

[hazard]

Thought I should add some tasting notes - been in the bottle 2 weeks and I couldn't wait any longer to try it.

1. The only oranges I could get at the supermarket when I brewed this were not quite fresh, and still had a green tinge. The beer is nice after 2 weeks, but this "green tinge" taste is very evident. Its strange that such a small amount of zest has such a big impact in 23 litres of beer.

2. Used 25g of crushed coriander and can't taste it. From looking at other recipes this appears to be at high end, what amount do others use?

3. Surprisingly, this is one of the clearest beers I have ever made, even though it is meant to have a distinct haze!! This is totally unexpected:
- the partial mash is mainly oats and raw wheat - got stuck big time, so I never recirculated wort into mash tun. I could see all the bits of grain coming through when I managed to get mash to run, and they all went into the kettle.
-I believe that you don't use irish moss for a wit, and none was added. Nor did I whirlpool. After boiling was finished, I cooled the pot in the in laundry tub then tipped wort straight into fermentor, using a kitchen strainer to catch hops (but I assume that hot and cold break would pass through)
- Beer spent 1 week in primary, then was racked to secondary, but NO finings added.
- After 2 weeks I then racked and bulk primed with 200g of dex and bottled.

SO summary is, tastes OK but not great after 2 weeks and I hope it continues to improve. Colour is OK and slighty cloudy but no more cloudy than any other beer I brew.

So - what is the story here? Is racking to a secondary for conditioning the main thing that improves clarity?? Is whirlpooling and fining a waste of time? I will experiment with my next brew and see what happens!! Any other experiences with good clarity without expecting it??

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