brewing this on monday. read all 36 pages, and the piece of paper i printed with the recipe on page 1 doesn't look like the same page. made lots of notes. should turn out well. sticking to the original biermuncher recipe.
cheers
cheers
Witbier Blue Balls Belgian Wit (Blue Moon Clone)
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swerner
Well-Known Member
I bottled this about 10 days ago and it tasted great from secondary. I just opened a bottle and it had a buttered popcorn taste. I assume more bottle conditioning will clean up the diacetyl issue. Any thoughts on this issue. I appreciate the comments.
ZombieBrew83
Well-Known Member
tre9er said:
I had a little bit of a buttery taste in my batch and it faded after about a month in the bottle. Very clean, carbonated, fresh taste after a month in the bottle.
yea, i've got rice hulls. just bought all the stuff. should be fun, unless it storms
nerdyjackal
Member
Ever try to add blueberries to add some blue color to add to the blue balls name
letmeholleratya
Well-Known Member
pascott6 said:
Made my third batch last week. You are right about both!
I just kegged this two days ago. It is a very good recipe only I might try a little more corriander next time. I used 4 ozs in a 23 gal batch. Might try 6 ozs next time.
letmeholleratya
Well-Known Member
Warrior said:
First time I followed the recipe exactly. The other times I've upped the coriander and orange zest. I like a little more spice in mine. 23 gal batch, eh? Jealous you have the equipment required to make that
First time I followed the recipe exactly. The other times I've upped the coriander and orange zest. I like a little more spice in mine. 23 gal batch, eh? Jealous you have the equipment required to make that
One trick I found for coriander is to take the seeds and toast them in a frying pan (no oil or anything). Then crush them with a hammer in a ziploc bag.
I used a coffee grinder on medium-coarse.
letmeholleratya
Well-Known Member
I've just been buying mine pre-ground at the store. Does fresh ground really make that big of a difference? If so I'll start buying whole coriander.
First time I followed the recipe exactly. The other times I've upped the coriander and orange zest. I like a little more spice in mine. 23 gal batch, eh? Jealous you have the equipment required to make that
Nothing to be jealous about. Does not matter brew system size great beers are made on all sized systems. I've been brewing off and on for about 20 yrs, you can grow into a larger system as you get older
Mine was the cilantro I grew last year that went to seed. Dried them in the shop naturally. I used a blender to grind open the seeds which seemed to work fairly well.
jefro
Well-Known Member
I brewed this weekend according to BierMuncher's recipe, mostly. My family wants to call it "Blue Moose".
2lb wheat flakes, mashed 75 minutes at 155
60min boil:
3lb light DME
1lb wheat DME
1oz Golding Kent
last 15 mins:
1oz crushed fresh coriander seeds
1oz bitter orange (from health food store)
yeast: Belgian witbier liquid
OG: 1.36
What went well: wheat was very easy to work with. I mashed it in 2 gallons, then sparged through a colander with another 1.5 gallons at 160 degrees, and got about 8 points with it. Then added the DME and hops, boiled for an hour, and ended up
What confused me: the low OG, but I'm not going to worry. It took a long time to bring it down to pitchable temp - I got it to 90 with ice water in the sink, then added it to 2 gallons of cold water in the primary, but then it sat at about 85 for hours. I put the lid on it, so I am fairly confident it was not injured by the experience. Also, there was very little orange in the initial smell or flavor. I may toss in some fresh zest in a few days.
What's still confusing me: the yeast seemed quite lively when I opened the bottle, but thus far hasn't done a whole lot after 13 hrs, despite pitching it at 78. I know, don't worry (and I won't until tomorrow). I do have a packet of safale 05 in case I need to repitch.
What I won't do again: bottle my 1st batch at the same time as trying to keep an eye on the boil, while also making fresh ciabatta rolls.
More on the situation as it develops
Jefro
---
primary: Blue Moose (Belgian-like substance)
secondary: empty
bottled yesterday: Pullman Porter (aka Take My Bag Porter kit from SF Brewcraft, plus the mistakes I made brewing it)
2lb wheat flakes, mashed 75 minutes at 155
60min boil:
3lb light DME
1lb wheat DME
1oz Golding Kent
last 15 mins:
1oz crushed fresh coriander seeds
1oz bitter orange (from health food store)
yeast: Belgian witbier liquid
OG: 1.36
What went well: wheat was very easy to work with. I mashed it in 2 gallons, then sparged through a colander with another 1.5 gallons at 160 degrees, and got about 8 points with it. Then added the DME and hops, boiled for an hour, and ended up
What confused me: the low OG, but I'm not going to worry. It took a long time to bring it down to pitchable temp - I got it to 90 with ice water in the sink, then added it to 2 gallons of cold water in the primary, but then it sat at about 85 for hours. I put the lid on it, so I am fairly confident it was not injured by the experience. Also, there was very little orange in the initial smell or flavor. I may toss in some fresh zest in a few days.
What's still confusing me: the yeast seemed quite lively when I opened the bottle, but thus far hasn't done a whole lot after 13 hrs, despite pitching it at 78. I know, don't worry (and I won't until tomorrow). I do have a packet of safale 05 in case I need to repitch.
What I won't do again: bottle my 1st batch at the same time as trying to keep an eye on the boil, while also making fresh ciabatta rolls.
More on the situation as it develops
Jefro
---
primary: Blue Moose (Belgian-like substance)
secondary: empty
bottled yesterday: Pullman Porter (aka Take My Bag Porter kit from SF Brewcraft, plus the mistakes I made brewing it)
jefro
Well-Known Member
Batch bubbling nicely now, albeit slowly, as it is in my "brew room" (utility closet) avg temp around 64. I like watching the little bubbles, though.
letmeholleratya
Well-Known Member
jefro said:
I'd recommend next time to throw the orange and coriander additions in as close to flameout as possible. At 15 you'll probably be losing a lot of flavor.
brew2enjoy
Well-Known Member
Brewed up another batch of this last Saturday. Going to be a challenge, I have to go grain to glass in 13 days. Checked the gravity yesterday (Day 4) and its already at 1.010. Planning to keg it tonight or tomorrow and burst carb it. The gravity sample tasted decent. I added a full oz of the orange peel and coriander this time, along with a 1/2oz of amarillo at 5 min.
jefro
Well-Known Member
letmeholleratya: AH, I see, thanks - that didn't occur to me. Will put it in at flameout on the next batch.
brew2enjoy: holy cow that's fast! I did mine on Sunday and it is still bubbling. (At 64 degrees, though.) What does amarillo taste like?
brew2enjoy: holy cow that's fast! I did mine on Sunday and it is still bubbling. (At 64 degrees, though.) What does amarillo taste like?
letmeholleratya
Well-Known Member
jefro said:
There was a Jamil show episode on Wits. That part always stuck with me. They basically said if you can start really smelling the coriander and orange in the boil, you're losing part of that flavor.
Well brewed this up yesterday but ran out of propane with about 5-10 minutes left. To make matters worse, the gas station also ran out of propane. So I threw the orange and coriander in, stirred it up for about 5 minutes and then started to chill the wort down. Hope it still has enough orange/coriander character to it.
jefro
Well-Known Member
Sounds perfect, actually. It will almost certainly have better orange/coriander flavor than mine, although I think it is coming along. I bottled it last weekend and could taste the spices in a very subtle way, although it is very Witbier and not actually very Blue Moon. Next time I plan to use oats and ale yeast, and will put the spices in at flameout.
Thanks, I did love the smell of the orange and coriander before throwing them in. On a separate note, anybody else get a strong sulfur/beefy smell about a day into fermentation? This is my first time making a Witbier, also first time using this yeast so I wasn't sure if that is normal.
I brewed this about 2 to 3 weeks ago and when I went to bottle it the F.G. read 1.020, so a stuck fermentation im guessing. I overshot the O.G. a little bit with a reading of 1.042. I fermented at 68-70. I'm thinking the added gravity may have been too much for the yeast to handle. So can I re-pitch with nottingham? Or should I re-pitch with the original belgian wit yeast? Thanks 
I brewed this about 2 to 3 weeks ago and when I went to bottle it the F.G. read 1.020, so a stuck fermentation im guessing. I overshot the O.G. a little bit with a reading of 1.042. I fermented at 68-70. I'm thinking the added gravity may have been too much for the yeast to handle. So can I re-pitch with nottingham? Or should I re-pitch with the original belgian wit yeast? Thanks
I just took a hydro sample after 1 week and I was only down to 1.018. I made a starter and also pumped some oxygen into the wort right before pitching so I thought it would've been close to 1.007 - 1.010 by now. But I did read that this strain can take 2-3 weeks to finish and that some people have said to stir the wort every 2-3 days to wake the yeast up and finish the job. So I shook my bucket a little yesterday to mix it up and last night my airlock definitely had some more activity going on. I'll check again in another week and see where the SG is at. Here is a link to some of the reviews/comments on the WLP400 strain:
http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/strains_wlp400.html
shadows69
Well-Known Member
I let my wlp400 run for 3 weeks everytime I use it, no matter what kinda beer style I'm using it for.
Same here, I decided against repitching and ended up swirling the beer a little and upping the temp. My airlock has a lot more activity and my gravity has dropped a couple points since yesterday, I think you're right in that you may need to stir this yeast up every now and then. It seems like in my case the yeast just dropped out a little early--the beer was surprisingly clear. Its looking like my beers gonna ferment out now.
HBrew71
Well-Known Member
Blue Moon is kinda sweet. Was wondering if anybody tried to brew this beer with sweet orange peel instead of bitter. How did you like it?
Dstnly2000
Active Member
Try hitachino white. I did a clone of that with sweet orange peel in the recipe as well as two cups of fresh squeezed oj at 0 minutes. Turned out amazing.
I have bairds maris otter and cm 2 row which would be best to use or should I buy the Pale malt crisp? Also how many lbs of rice hulls would you reccomend? What's everyone using as far as water to grain ratios for the mash? I usually use 1.25 quarts per pound of grain. Thanks all
OP
OP
Use your basic 2-row. Don't measure out rice hulls in pounds so much. A ten pound sack is the size of 55 sack of barley. I usually use one full (decent sized) sauce pan for every five gallons.Your water / grain ratio looks fine.
BierMuncher said:Use your basic 2-row. Don't measure out rice hulls in pounds so much. A ten pound sack is the size of 55 sack of barley. I usually use one full (decent sized) sauce pan for every five gallons.Your water / grain ratio looks fine.
Thank you BM. I also decided to go with us05. Should I add flour or leave it alone? How much flour do I use If so?
Thanks all
milldoggy
Well-Known Member
lud said:
Adds that cloudy haze you get in a hoooooooooogarden
Sippin37 said:
Well this turned out fantastic! The only difference I made was zested about half an orange, let that sit in some triple sec for 2 days, strained out the zest, and then dumped it right into the keg. Now I can actually taste the orange and DAMN is this good! Thanks Biermuncher
jefro
Well-Known Member
Reporting back - I think I failed. My batch is tart (almost sour), and has a taste that is distinctly not Blue Moon. It may be the phenolic taste of Hoegarden, but I have never tasted one, so don't know.
Points to consider:
- I didn't use oats. I should have read this entire thread before jumping in!
- I had a heck of a time cooling it off (large volume & no wort chiller) and pitched at 80 after several hours in an ice water bath.
- I boiled away my aromatics by adding them too soon. Orange and coriander should go in at flameout or very close to it.
- I used Belgian Witbier yeast. I think this may be the main source of the tartness/aroma. It also tasted very yeasty even after 3 weeks in the fermenter.
- I bottled too soon (3 weeks) - should have used a secondary and aged it for a while.
So.. will this beer improve, or should I just chuck it and keep experimenting? It ain't Blue Moon or anything near it, but it might be a nice Belgian for all I know. It tastes like paint to me, but for all I know that is how Belgian Witbier is supposed to taste. (Don't ask how I know what paint tastes like.)
Points to consider:
- I didn't use oats. I should have read this entire thread before jumping in!
- I had a heck of a time cooling it off (large volume & no wort chiller) and pitched at 80 after several hours in an ice water bath.
- I boiled away my aromatics by adding them too soon. Orange and coriander should go in at flameout or very close to it.
- I used Belgian Witbier yeast. I think this may be the main source of the tartness/aroma. It also tasted very yeasty even after 3 weeks in the fermenter.
- I bottled too soon (3 weeks) - should have used a secondary and aged it for a while.
So.. will this beer improve, or should I just chuck it and keep experimenting? It ain't Blue Moon or anything near it, but it might be a nice Belgian for all I know. It tastes like paint to me, but for all I know that is how Belgian Witbier is supposed to taste. (Don't ask how I know what paint tastes like.)
ZombieBrew83
Well-Known Member
I have made this recipe twice now and can firmly say this a delicious Belgian Wit, however it is not in the same neighborhood as Blue Moon. I agree that mine have come out much closer to Hoegaarden. Mine have not tasted like paint, as you describe. I have bottled this recipe after only three weeks in the fermenter without any ill results.
For something closer to a Blue Moon clone, I recommend trying one of the recipes in this thread:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/blue-moon-clone-65328/
I bottled Niloh's #4 recipe (listed towards the end of the thread) a couple weeks ago and tasted much closer to Blue Moon than BierMuncher's recipe. Good luck!
jefro
Well-Known Member
Thanks ZombieBrew83 - I may have overstated by describing it as "paint" The flavor is not solvent-like, but it is very ... fruity almost, estery I guess. Before I dump it I'll try to find someone who knows the styles who can advise on whether I brewed a bad batch, or a good batch I don't like. I'll try the other recipes next.
The flavor is not solvent-like, but it is very ... fruity almost, estery I guess. Before I dump it I'll try to find someone who knows the styles who can advise on whether I brewed a bad batch, or a good batch I don't like. I'll try the other recipes next.Similar threads
