Ever had a crystal clear Belgian Wit??

I'm confused. I've made Belgian Wits before and they have always been cloudy. I haven't changed my recipe. My last one came out as clear as a bud light. I have no problem with the clarity. It was just unexpected.

My recipe:

5lb. Flaked Wheat
4.5 lb. German Pilsner
4 lb. White Wheat malt.
1 oz. Coriander
1 oz. Orange Peel

.5 oz. centennial (60 min)

Yeast: WLP 400 , pitched @ 68F, climbed up to 73F. No cold crashing, irish moss, or other attempts to clarify.

The only difference between this Wit and my previous Wits was that I mashed this one for 4 hours (151F down to 139) rather than the typical 1 hour. Would that make a difference?

I doubt your mash had anything to do with it. The last three wits I've made have been totally clear I'm going to start adding some flour at 5min to keep the beer cloudy

Same fermentation time? I usually primary for 3-4 weeks and if I let it go all the way to 4 I have to suck up some of the sediment on purpose or it will be clear.

Flour? I'm pretty sure wit's are supposed to be cloudy from the yeast, not the grain.

Mine start to clear up the longer they are kegged which is to be expected I guess. After a couple weeks they are pretty clear.

jheld00 said:

I'm going to start adding some flour at 5min to keep the beer cloudy

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Please don't add flour.

gannawdm said:

Please don't add flour.

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I'm only adding a teaspoon. May I ask why I shouldn't?

jheld00 said:

I'm only adding a teaspoon. May I ask why I shouldn't?

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Belgian Wits are cloudy because of wheat and yeast that doesn't floculate well. Flour will not improve the taste of your beer. No need to add something that doesn't contribute to your beer. It's OK if it's clear. It's great to hook those lost BMC drinkers on homebrew.

gannawdm said:

Please don't add flour.

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What's wrong with flour? There's wheat in the beer already. For what it's worth, Randy Mosher (in his excellent homebrew text "Radical Brewing") advocates the addition of a small amount of flour in wits to keep them cloudy. Please refrain from giving advice that isn't informed here, as it might confuse future brewers who stumble across this thread.

kegged or bottled? just curious... keg temps can cold crash a wheat pretty quick. flavor changed? if kegged you may need to agitate the keg every few days to keep "stuff" in suspension. kegging my first hefe in 10 days... was worried about the same thing... like my hefe cloudy

+1 to adding flour.
Wits were traditionally done with a turbid mashing technique, which left some starches unconverted. Beyond that, it doesn't add any additional flavor really.

As a side note, Chimay uses flour for a fairly large part of their tripel mash.

If its in a bottle, you can just shake it up right? Same goes for a keg.

bigbeergeek said:

What's wrong with flour? There's wheat in the beer already. For what it's worth, Randy Mosher (in his excellent homebrew text "Radical Brewing") advocates the addition of a small amount of flour in wits to keep them cloudy. Please refrain from giving advice that isn't informed here, as it might confuse future brewers who stumble across this thread.

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Agreed. Mis-information is abundant it seems like...please have something to back up your statements!!

The point of the flour is to replicate the outcome of the traditional Belgian Wit mash...unconverted starch in the wort. That, combined with suspended yeast, is why Wits remain hazy.

The problem that comes with not using flour in the boil is when your bottles sit in the fridge for a few weeks. The yeast drops out like any other beer left cold and your wit no longer looks like a wit. With a tablespoon of flour added to the boil, it creates a permanent starch haze without affecting flavor, giving you the true look of a wit even if they are kept cold for a long period of time (which you shouldnt do...drink em young!!).

I would have provided more info but I was under the impression that adding flour was common practice(w/beers that are supposed to appear unfiltered)... It is among my local home and pro brewer friends. I've known about it for awhile but haven't had to use it until recently. If you have yeast floc issues give it a shot I'm pleased with the results

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/252/760

B

I'm not a fan of adding flour. I rank natural results > aesthetics.

If you're wit was mashed / brewed correctly and came out clear, then maybe you had a better cold break... maybe the 4 hour mash made the beer thinner. Mashing for 4 hours is surely going to reduce any residual starches/unfermentables into maltose fermentables at the appropriate temperature (below 158). Gravity a little higher than expected too?

All in all just enjoy as is. Flour might be a quick fix, but it's not a quality fix. True wit haze doesn't come from bleached processed flour... it came from malted / flaked / raw wheat included in the brewing process. That haze has certain unique character because of that process. Flour will not enhance the flavor or character of the beer... so don't do it. Make up for it next brew and work on methods to preserve natural haze during the brewing process.

Just my 2 cents.

I dont add flour. but I do reserve a small amount of grist (about a cup) and add it to the mash, at mash out, and before sparging. The way it was explained to me is that the unconverted starch remains in suspension and gives the yeast something to hang on to.

there is some evidence that this was part of the original practice.

anyway it has worked well for me, I do it on all my wheat beers.

O'Haggerty said:

Flour will not enhance the flavor or character of the beer... so don't do it. Make up for it next brew and work on methods to preserve natural haze during the brewing process.

Just my 2 cents.

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Not everything we do with our homebrew is focused on enhancing flavor alone. I might add 3% carapils to a pale ale recipe, which has no perceivable impact on the flavor of the beer, but improved the aesthetics of the stand of foam on top of the beer. Adding flour to a wit (clearly) will not enhance the beer's flavor, but it will enhance the experience of drinking it: drinkers and judges alike will value the beer as slightly better based on an aesthetic change.