Critique my Witbier recipe. Please!

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Hoppinghog

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6.3 lbs. Northern Brewer wheat malt extract (65% wheat malt 35% pale malt)
1/2 lb. Briess caramel malt (10L)
1/2 lb. Rahr white wheat malt
1/2 lb. torrified wheat malt
1 ounce Kent goldings hops
3/4 ounce coriander seed
3 zests of orange
Wyeast 3463 "forbidden fruit" Belgian yeast


I'm planning this as a basic extract recipe steeping with the specialty malts for 30 minutes at approx. 155 degrees. I plan to use all the ingredients on brew day with the exception of the orange zest from one of the oranges I plan to add to my primary once active fermentation has ceased as a kind of "dry hop" with the orange (I don't secondary which is why I'm planning to add it to primary).

So is there anything else you guys would add or substitute? I'm looking for a witbier that is fairly close to true style although I know that's hard to do without a mash.

Anyway what do you guys think?
 
CityOChampBrew said:
I typically use 1lb of flaked oats in my wits for added mouthfeel and head retention
Click to expand...

I actually thought about doing that since I have some left over flaked wheat I used from another beer I brewed.

Do you know if the torrified wheat will serve the same purpose or should I add the flaked wheat too?

Thanks for responding btw!
 
Also I would say that Forbidden Fruit is a bit wild for wit beers IMO. I know the description on Wyeasts website says it is used in the production of wit beers but it is a very fruity yeast and not in a way that I think compliments a traditional wit beer. 3944 is a much better option.
 
Thanks for responding!

I'm actually making a double batch of this Wit with my buddy so maybe I'll use 3944 for one and forbidden fruit for the other just to see the difference. A little experiment if you will. :)

So you would substitute the 1/2 lb. torrified wheat with 1/2 pound flaked wheat or in addition to?

Also if I wanted to bump the ABV a little since I think the OG on this is like 1.039 would adding table sugar suffice or should I do something else?

Thanks again and sorry for all the questions just trying to pin this all down.
 
Hoppinghog said:
Thanks for responding!

I'm actually making a double batch of this Wit with my buddy so maybe I'll use 3944 for one and forbidden fruit for the other just to see the difference. A little experiment if you will. :)

So you would substitute the 1/2 lb. torrified wheat with 1/2 pound flaked wheat or in addition to?

Also if I wanted to bump the ABV a little since I think the OG on this is like 1.039 would adding table sugar suffice or should I do something else?

Thanks again and sorry for all the questions just trying to pin this all down.
Click to expand...

Table sugar would work well, yes. It will also have the added effect of drying the beer if that is something you are wanting.

Here is my AG recipe for my wit beer if you are looking for other ideas. This really is probably my favorite all around recipe:

[size=+2]Recipe: KE Sharp Wit 5gal[/size]
Brewer: Kyle
Style: Witbier
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications

Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 7.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.048 SG
Estimated FG: 1.009 SG
Estimated Color: 4.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 28.2 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
Code: 
Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU         
1 lbs                 Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM)                     Adjunct       1        10.0 %        
5 lbs                 Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM)                Grain         2        50.0 %        
2 lbs                 Pale Malt (6 Row) US (2.0 SRM)           Grain         3        20.0 %        
1 lbs                 Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)                    Grain         4        10.0 %        
1 lbs                 Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM)                   Grain         5        10.0 %        
0.50 oz               Northern Brewer [9.60 %] - Boil 90.0 min Hop           6        20.9 IBUs     
0.50 oz               Tettnang [3.70 %] - Boil 30.0 min        Hop           7        5.8 IBUs      
0.50 oz               Lemon Grass (Boil 5.0 mins)              Herb          8        -             
0.25 oz               Chamomile (Boil 5.0 mins)                Herb          9        -             
0.50 oz               Tettnang [3.70 %] - Boil 5.0 min         Hop           10       1.5 IBUs      
3.00 Items            Navel Orange (Zest) (Boil 5.0 mins)      Spice         11       -             
0.50 oz               Coriander Seed (Boil 5.0 mins)           Spice         12       -             
2.0 pkg               Belgian Witbier (Wyeast Labs #3944) [124 Yeast         13       -

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 10 lbs
Code: 
Name              Description                             Step Temperature Step Time     
Mash In           Add 13.50 qt of water at 158.3 F        148.0 F          75 min

I highly recommend the lemongrass if you can find it and adding that to your spice sachet.
 
PhelanKA7 said:
Table sugar would work well, yes. It will also have the added effect of drying the beer if that is something you are wanting.

Here is my AG recipe for my wit beer if you are looking for other ideas. This really is probably my favorite all around recipe:

[size=+2]Recipe: KE Sharp Wit 5gal[/size]
Brewer: Kyle
Style: Witbier
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications

Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 7.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.048 SG
Estimated FG: 1.009 SG
Estimated Color: 4.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 28.2 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
Code: 
Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU         
1 lbs                 Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM)                     Adjunct       1        10.0 %        
5 lbs                 Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM)                Grain         2        50.0 %        
2 lbs                 Pale Malt (6 Row) US (2.0 SRM)           Grain         3        20.0 %        
1 lbs                 Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)                    Grain         4        10.0 %        
1 lbs                 Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM)                   Grain         5        10.0 %        
0.50 oz               Northern Brewer [9.60 %] - Boil 90.0 min Hop           6        20.9 IBUs     
0.50 oz               Tettnang [3.70 %] - Boil 30.0 min        Hop           7        5.8 IBUs      
0.50 oz               Lemon Grass (Boil 5.0 mins)              Herb          8        -             
0.25 oz               Chamomile (Boil 5.0 mins)                Herb          9        -             
0.50 oz               Tettnang [3.70 %] - Boil 5.0 min         Hop           10       1.5 IBUs      
3.00 Items            Navel Orange (Zest) (Boil 5.0 mins)      Spice         11       -             
0.50 oz               Coriander Seed (Boil 5.0 mins)           Spice         12       -             
2.0 pkg               Belgian Witbier (Wyeast Labs #3944) [124 Yeast         13       -

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 10 lbs
Code: 
Name              Description                             Step Temperature Step Time     
Mash In           Add 13.50 qt of water at 158.3 F        148.0 F          75 min

I highly recommend the lemongrass if you can find it and adding that to your spice sachet.
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the responses.

So I think I'm gonna replace the Torrified wheat with flaked wheat and do a minimash with all the grains doing one batch a piece with the different yeasts.

I was gonna add about a pound of table sugar at flame out to raise the ABV a little. Is that ok? Will it be to dry?

Also I was gonna do a late extract addition to each adding 3.15 lb. liquid wheat extract at the beginning and then 3.15 lb. 15 minutes before the end of the boil to hopefully keep the color more true to a witbier.

Does everything else sound ok? This is my first time brewing without a kit and doing a wheat beer so I'm somewhat unsure and just wanna make sure I'm doing everything right.

Thanks again!
 
Gotta bump this as I'm brewing this week and would like to get everything nailed down.

Thanks for any and all replies!
 
Hoppinghog said:
1/2 lb. Briess caramel malt (10L)
Click to expand...

One doesn't always find crystal malts in witbeer. I'd suggest dropping this and replacing it with 1/4lb of light Munich and 1/4lb oats.

Wyeast 3463 "forbidden fruit" Belgian yeast
Click to expand...

I've only made one witbeer without using WLP400 or WY3944 and it didn't come out well. If you haven't bought the yeast yet, I would suggest one of those two.
 

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