Can I still call it a witbier if it's not white???

Hello all, I have been referring to these forums for quite some time and decided to finally post a question of my own. I recently brewed up my original witbier recipe. It's a pretty simple recipe with my own blend of spices and a little extra wheat malt extract to bring up the OG(1060), similar to South Hampton's Double Wit. It is currently fermenting nicely, the thing is after brewing I noticed the beer was a lot darker than I expected, even with 2/3 of the total extract being late addition, hoping to keep it light. I'm not really concerned as long as it tastes good, but would it still be considered a WHITE beer if it's not the typical hazy light yellow it should be?

Just wondering what the heck I should call it. Thanks and happy to be a new member.

Wit doesn't actually mean white, but rather wheat; they just usually happen to be much lighter, rather "white." A WIT must be brewed using at least 25 % of wheat malts. Belgian wheat beers are fruitier, with a slight lemony touch, because the use of coriander seeds, orange peels, and other spices.

I was always under the impression wit was white in dutch....google translate backs me up but if I'm wrong I should still be able to call my beer a wit!


http://translate.google.com/transla...OBMm2tgelx7TjCg&ved=0CBYQrgYwAA#nl|en|witbier

I am drinking my extract wit right now and it is pale yellow in color. I find that it is realy dark at first but mellows out in the fermenter. When I added the extract to the pot it was dark brown almost chocolate in color. It should lighten up a lot over time.

Nice thanks for the heads up. While I'm more concerned with the flavor, I would still definitely like to see it looking like a wit should.

Don't judge the beer's color in the carboy if that's what you're doing. It'll appear much darker than it will be in a glass.

Thanks bubbles.

IrregularPulse said:

Don't judge the beer's color in the carboy if that's what you're doing. It'll appear much darker than it will be in a glass.

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Also, depending on the type of wheat and the amount, it may, or not, come out white-ish in the glass. That doesn't mean that won't taste very close to many other wits. Extract generally runs a bit darker than AG, and a wit can be hard to do right without experience or the right extract.

Wit means white in Dutch. Generally they all share certain similarities, such as a percentage of certain wheats, but even so, they can taste significantly different between recipes. AFAIC a "true" wit not only has the proper color, but also the proper funkiness from true wit yeast. There are American Wit beers (my terminology) that are similar, but don't have the same flavor profile because they use a cleaner American style yeast. I'd probably not call them a "Belgian Wit" in that case.

DoctaC said:

I was always under the impression wit was white in dutch....google translate backs me up but if I'm wrong I should still be able to call my beer a wit!


http://translate.google.com/transla...OBMm2tgelx7TjCg&ved=0CBYQrgYwAA#nl|en|witbier

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According to belgianstyle.com, you would be correct...

Wit, or white, bier is a pale golden, tart, refreshing style thick with sediment and with a high level of carbon dioxide. With the pale malts, unmalted wheat and lack of filtration it's no surprise that it bares some resemblance to German HefeWiesse. The greatest different between Wit and its German cousin is the addition of spices, classically coriander and bitter Curacao orange peel.

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