Style Of The Week 22/11/06 - Witbier

[KoNG]

I'm thinking of using about 13% raw and 39% malted wheat in my next Wit. The rest pilsner and a little vienna.

i ended up going 40% pils , 40% raw wheat , 20% wheat malt
i put the raw wheat through the mill twice and then again with the pils
didnt need any rice hulls and it stil resulted in a really quick effortless sparge.
i think i will need to crush the raw wheat a bit more for my next attempt, just to try and get the effeciency up a little more.

 

[neonmeate]

did a wit today with "cracked wheat" from the healthfood aisle which looks exactly like bourgal but doesn't say anything about being cooked. anyway the sparge was just about the fastest of any beer ever - did a mash of 52C 30 mins
64C 60 mins
mashout 78C half an hour

then it came cascading out. and that was with 60% wheat!

looking fwd to the beer - ardennes yeast, with 10g chai spice mix, 20g chinese-shop peel, 25g indian coriander

 

[tangent]

This is a roughty of my Xmas Wit. I used to like necking a few early Hoegaardens on Chrissy so I thought I'd open a few longnecks instead
If i don't brew it soon, it'll be my new-years Wit.


Fermentables
Ingredient Amount % When
German Wheat Malt 3.00 kg 38.7 % In Mash/Steeped
German Pilsner Malt 2.50 kg 32.3 % In Mash/Steeped
German Vienna Malt 1.25 kg 16.1 % In Mash/Steeped
SA Wheat 1.00 kg 12.9 % In Mash/Steeped

Hops
Variety Alpha Amount Form When
Glacier 5.0 20 g First Wort Hopped
Amarillo 8.4 20 g First Wort Hopped

Other Ingredients
Ingredient Amount When
Coriander Seed 20 g In Mash
Coriander Seed 20 g In Boil
Orange Peel, Sweet 18 g In Boil

Yeast
Wyeast 3944-Belgian Witbier

EDIT - if you're single infusing, what temp do you aim for?

 

[DarkFaerytale]

i came in 4th of 22 entries in this years VICBREW with Grumpy's Belgian Witbier i compared it to a Hoegaarden and the flavour was very similar more coriander flavour in grumpy's recipe and was a darker color all the reviews i got back said it could do with more wheat malt next go around i'll be doing an all grain version which i think will deffinatly bring out the wheat flavour alot more than the tinned goo did, so far this is the best brew i'v made IMO

Edit: forgot to add a few things, mashed at 65C for 90 mins, i used marmalaide instead of orange peel, wyeast 3944 and i brewed it high at 24-25C intentionally to see what flavour i'd get out of the yeast

-Phill

 

[KoNG]

then it came cascading out. and that was with 60% wheat!

looking fwd to the beer - ardennes yeast, with 10g chai spice mix, 20g chinese-shop peel, 25g indian coriander

Same!! my sparge would have been the fastest ive had ever.
that said... i think i could have milled my raw wheat finer, which would have helped my effeciency.
but instead i think i'll just keep my effeciency set a bit lower, mill the same and just use an extra 250g of raw wheat. The super sparge is worth paying an extra 50c. B)


where did you source the "indian" corriander? my local hippy shack only had what looked like the standard round seed.

 

[warrenlw63]

looking fwd to the beer - ardennes yeast, with 10g chai spice mix, 20g chinese-shop peel, 25g indian coriander

Should be a good one NM. Did my best ever Wit with Ardennes. What an all-rounder. :beerbang:

Are you dropping something bigger on the cake?

Warren -

 

[Josh]

If you use the proper yeast strain, ie White Labs belgian Wit or belgian Wit II or the Wyeast equivalent and a grist of at least 40% raw wheat you will get a very nice tart beer. The yeast gives a mild tartness to the brew but the raw wheat seems to make the sourness stand out. In the past I made my Wits with wheat malt for simplicity and was happy with the results but my last one was with 45% raw malt and it was a beauty.

Does this go for torrified wheat too? I am drinking my small case swap wit at the moment which was brewed with alsmost half pilsener malt and torrified wheat with a little oats. Fermented with the White labs Belgian Wit yeast. It has a nice tartness to it. I used less coriander and orange than most people have indicated in this and other threads.

I think that has let the tartness from the torrified wheat and the yeast come through more than overpowering the flavour with coriander as I did with my first couple of wits.

Does this sound right? Only my third or fourth wit.

 

[DarkFaerytale]

i noticed alot of people use oats in there wits, what does this add?

-Phill

 

[AndrewQLD]

If you use the proper yeast strain, ie White Labs belgian Wit or belgian Wit II or the Wyeast equivalent and a grist of at least 40% raw wheat you will get a very nice tart beer. The yeast gives a mild tartness to the brew but the raw wheat seems to make the sourness stand out. In the past I made my Wits with wheat malt for simplicity and was happy with the results but my last one was with 45% raw malt and it was a beauty.

Does this go for torrified wheat too? I am drinking my small case swap wit at the moment which was brewed with alsmost half pilsener malt and torrified wheat with a little oats. Fermented with the White labs Belgian Wit yeast. It has a nice tartness to it. I used less coriander and orange than most people have indicated in this and other threads.

I think that has let the tartness from the torrified wheat and the yeast come through more than overpowering the flavour with coriander as I did with my first couple of wits.

Does this sound right? Only my third or fourth wit.

I have never tried Torrified wheat Josh so I can't answer your question sorry but if you can taste the tartness then your spot on, and the corriander can overpower the wit at times, but it also gives the beer a nice dryness as well. I bet the others in your case swap will enjoy your beer.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[neonmeate]

Are you dropping something bigger on the cake?

Warren -

yeah i will be doing a la chouffe clone based on a recipe i found on babblebelt

http://www.babblebelt.com/newboard/thread....tpg=1&add=1

caraway should be interesting.


KonGG, indian coriander is available at coles in the asian food section - "maharajah's choice" brand. you can also get it at herbie's, but it's like 9 times the price. i like indian coriander better, it's a bit sweeter and less rough than normal coriander.
not that it's "better", just a slightly different spice. i think normal coriander is better in curries where you want more pungency. also my homemade hommus works better with normal coriander.

 

[Stuster]

Surprisingly, Indian coriander is also available in Indian grocery stores. 100g for $1 in Ashfield.

 

[Weizguy]

i noticed alot of people use oats in there wits, what does this add?

-Phill

G'day,

If I may answer this one...
The oats (usually rolled oats, as steel-cut oats need a cereal mash IIRC) add the same as they would in any other beer (say, Stout or Baltic Porter, perhaps). That' s a silky or velvety mouthfeel and a bit of body. It makes your upper palate feel slippery on the tongue, or vice versa.

I hope that's helpful to you.

I assume that the oats help balance the mostly dry and tart flavours of the Wit, caused by low mash temp/thin body.

Seth

 

[DarkFaerytale]

cheers seth

 

[warrenlw63]

caraway should be interesting.

Interesting would be an understatement. :blink:

Go easy with that stuff. The flavour is anything but subtle. h34r:

Warren -

 

[KoNG]

Surprisingly, Indian coriander is also available in Indian grocery stores. 100g for $1 in Ashfield.

UN-surprisingly... Manly doesnt have one of those...
(i'll have to get you to post me some, next wit. Thanx stuster... )

KoNG

 

[Stuster]

Well that's what you get for living in that kind of suburb, isn't it now. :lol:

Next AHB pub crawl perhaps. :unsure:

Oh and just to make you even more jealous of the "Glorious Inner West", I got raw wheat for $1.40/kg. Go west, young man, go west.

 

[warrenlw63]

Hey Kong

Does Manly have "anything" besides pubs, beaches and chicks with big norks? :lol:

Oh hang on! What's not to like.

Warren -

 

[KoNG]

answers:

stuster... i only payed $1.86/kg for my raw wheat, so i'm alright there (the beach and tits far out weigh the 46c/kg)

Warren... YES, we have Tom Williams, Holly Brisley and Guy Leech haha. enough said. (oh and the Manly Marlins)

 

[tangent]

I assume that the oats help balance the mostly dry and tart flavours of the Wit, caused by low mash temp/thin body.

So generally a low temp then for an easier drinker?

 

[roach]

For those in Adelaide they sell hard white wheat(their good quality wheat) at Gilbertson's Fodder store in Gepps Cross - 40kg for $21. I went for the 10kg for $9.50!

Will be brewing my first wit tomorrow