Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: WY 3944
Yeast Starter: Yes
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.0
Original Gravity: 1.052
Final Gravity: 1.010
IBU: 20
Boiling Time (Minutes): 90
Color: 3.5
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 21 days @ 62-65F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 7+ days @ 68F
Tasting Notes: Mellow lemony-orange citrus with a subtle peach-spice flavor. Very refreshing!

Foremost, this is not a manly beer. It does not go well with smoked meat or football games, and should not under any circumstances be shared with your snobbish BMC drinking co-workers. As my friend said, if this beer could talk, it would ramble on about minivans, shopping at Pier 1, and furniture upholstery. It is, however, a very tasty and refreshing beer that most people seem to really enjoy. And it’s easy to make.

Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 55.60 %
4.00 lb Flaked Wheat Grain 44.40 %

1.0 oz Saaz (60 min) Hops 20.0 IBU

For last 10 min of boil:
0.50 oz crushed Indian Coriander
1/4th teaspoon Mace (Spice)
Zest of 2 large Lemons, 1 Lime, 1 Navel Orange or Grapefruit

Mash at 152 for 75 minutes
Boil gently for 90 minutes

2lbs fresh Peaches cubed or puree (added to secondary)


Notes:

Go easy on the spices, the mace especially. Mace is a very strongly flavored spice and can overwhelm the beer if too much is added. However, it complements lemon and fruit flavors amazingly (think peach pie and fruit breads) and it really adds some complexity to the beer. If you are worried about the amount, add a little during the boil and adjust later in the secondary.

I use fresh peaches that have been cubed and gently heated to kill any bacteria, but not enough to set the pectin. You can use canned peach puree or frozen peaches from the supermarket if you prefer. I found 2lbs added the perfect amount of peach flavor; enough to make one think of peach, but not too much that it becomes a peach beer. I added it to the secondary for about a week.

Feel free to use whatever citrus fruits you have laying around; though I find the lemon and lime additions really bump the citrus flavor.

Some of you may have noticed that the ferment temp is a little low. There is a reason for this. Since there are a lot of things going on in this beer, we don't want tons of crazy esters and yeast flavors to dominate the beer. A lower ferment temp will keep the beer relatively clean and allow the subtleties of the peach, spice, and citrus additions to come through.

Lastly, this beer was awarded 3rd place (witbier) at the NY State Fair. The peach flavor and mace sort of threw the judges a bit, but it was overall well liked and received good comments.