Some whitbeer advice?

I'm going to prepare for summer with a whitbeer, and I'm needing a little help from the community. Here's the recipe I'm shooting for http://beertools.com/html/recipe.php?view=3019. It looks good and I'm going for a 3 gallon batch, but I've got a few questions:

1. I've heard rumors of doing a protein rest with wheats. Not needed here? Please say yes, because it sounds scary.
BeerTools users
2. I usually use 2 gallons mash and 3 gallons sparge water. Does THAT change at all because of the wheat? Using a 5 gallon cooler as my mash tun with a metal braid/filter on the drain. Should the temps change from a standard 155 (mash) and 175 (sparge)?
3. I don't have a citrus zester. I've heard some use a cheese grater or a potato peeler that is sharp. Tips there? Do I bash the hell out of the coriander, or lightly crush?

Overall, any tips would be great. I don't want a stuck mash and I FINALLY got one of my all grains to come in on-style :rockin:, so I don't want to screw this one up.

THANKS!

1 - Depends on your malt. With most wheat malt it may not be necessary, but without a detailed malt analysis it's impossible to say.

2- I generally collect slightly less volume and slightly lower gravity when using a lot of wheat. YMMV.

3 - Bitter orange peel is from Curacao oranges, not the kind you get in the grocery store. I never add more than 1g/gal of any spice to my beers. It's really easy to overdo it. If you have a mortar and pestle for the coriander, use it. If not, just use a spoon and crush however well you can. It's not necessary to blend it up into powder.

Oooo, I forgot one more question. I use dry yeast (Safale) as I don't need to pay for 5 gallons of liquid yeast when I won't use all of it and can't save it. Any suggestions on dry yeast?

Safbrew T-58 would work well in a Wit.

I've done some experiments with my Belgian Wit's. One thing I have observed is doing a protein rest (because of the flaked wheat) increased my efficiency nicely. I would always come in under on my Wit's then had read, I believe it was in Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels, that flaked wheat is unmalted and benefits from a protein rest. Anyhow, ever since including the protein rest for my wit's I now have my usual consistent efficiency.

There's nothing scary about it really, just rest at 122 or so for 20 minutes.


Rev.

I always use protein rests when they are appropriate. Large amounts of insoluble protein (like in flaked wheat) or large amounts of protein in general will benefit from a low-temp rest 110*-130* ish.

T-58 is my go-to yeast for "neutral" Belgian styles. You get some phenols and esters, but it likes low temps and gets kinda weird if you ferment over 70*. In a wit it's fine, but in more yeast-centric Belgian styles like a Golden Strong it's not the best, although it's good enough for me, most of the time.