Witbier Austin Homebrew's Blue Moon Clone (AG)

ok, Got my issue figured out. probably should have noted I was using a refractometer-for the first time!! my glass hydrometer had broke and I replaced it with a nice refractometer. so after looking around for a while I came across a spreadsheet that helped me to figure out that you cannot just use a refractometer like a hydrometer.
If anybody else is new to their refractometer, please look at this http://morebeer.com/learn_vids/vids_refract
Turns out I was spot on!!

Any word on the Brazilian style??

So I'm about to start this baby and got to thinking it through and realized that I don't think I have the setup for it. I did an all-grain partial mash style and just mashed it in my brewpot, but the grainbill for that was only 5lbs total. 10lbs would be way too much to try and mash in my pot. Should I just do half the grains at a time and pour that half the wort into the fermenter, then do another whole mash with the second portion of the grains and then boil that out as normal, then add pour that into the fermenter with the first batch?
Maybe I just need to bag it and build a mash ton?
Thanks for the help!

This is an awesome kit, everybody who tries this, loves it. I really think you should prepare this the proper way and building a mash tun is fun and rewarding!! Go for the mash tun, I use a 10G rubbermaid as you see in my avitar... You can easily build it yourself for about 50-70 bucks and a trip to your local big home improvement store. There are many threads on this. If you want any tips or have questions, PM me..

Update:
Built my mash tun this weekend!!! However, I went ahead and started this since I had the grains milled a while back and was afraid of staleness by the time I could get a mash tun.
So here's what I did:
Basically, did 2 separate mashes and 2 separate boils in the same night and then combined those in the fermenter. Although, I didn't add any hops or other stuff to the first boil....I just boiled it and cooled it like normal. Then I added all the hops, orange, and coriander to the second boil, cooled, and combined that into the fermenter. Pitched yeast...yadayada. Got airlock activity about 16 hours later.
Think this'll turn out ok? Comments/Concerns? Thanks so much!

Congratulations! May your mash tun bring you much happiness!
Did you take any gravity readings? That's the easiest way to tell..
Taste is a goo test too..
I suppose the reason you didn't boil all in one boil is because of kettle size? IMO, it would behoove you to get a larger boil kettle. (I think) There is a lot of chemistry going on in those mashes, I think you should try and get all the wort through your grain bed, and a 5 gallon boil with all the ingredients really helps too.. Look around, even on amazon they have some great pots for cheap prices... encapsulated aluminum is a nice feature to help heat evenly. There is a 21qt prime pacific on amazon right now for fifty bux to your door! Also check out the 35QT...

Lil' Sparky said:

This seems to be a popular beer people like to brew and it's probably one of the best beers I've ever brewed - everyone loved it! It's AHS's recipe. I can't take any credit for it.

Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 50.0 %
3.00 lb Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 30.0 %
1.00 lb Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 10.0 %
1.00 lb White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 10.0 %
0.50 oz Cascade [6.90%] (45 min) Hops 10.0 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [6.90%] (10 min) Hops 3.9 IBU
0.18 oz Orange Peel, Bitter (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
0.18 oz Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
0.35 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs Belgian Wit Ale (White Labs #WLP400) Yeast-Wheat

Mash Profile
Name: Double Infusion, Medium Body
Mash Grain Weight: 10.00 lb
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F S
parge Temperature: 168.0 F
Sparge Water: 3.79 gal

Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Protein Rest Add 10.00 qt of water at 131.1 F 122.0 F 30 min
Saccrification Add 7.00 qt of water at 208.0 F 154.0 F 30 min
Mash Out Direct Heat to 168.0 F over 2 min 168.0 F 10 min

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I brewed this one up yesterday as my first all grain!

I did decide to change things up a bit:

Instead of buying bitter and sweet orange peels, I just zested my own navel oranges - 4 of them. I added .5 oz of Coriander rather than .35oz. I also went out, bought some Chamomile Tea pcks, and added three of those. I added all these aroma-filled ingredients along with the last hop addition at 10 minutes. (Yes, I cracked open the Coriander seeds)

My OG came out a little higher at 1.054!

I am very excited as it is in my basement chugging away as I type thanks for the great recipe!

UPDATE:

After only 5 days I took a Hygrometer Reading and got a 1.012! 5.5% ABV. Krassen(sp?) is still prominent and I have a little over a week to go!

edit: 04-10-2011: Amazing recipe!! I cannot express how much better than Blue Moon this is! Just pulled the first glass fron the Keg and my mouth was ambushed with flavor WOW! =)

Thought I'd post a picture....

Beautiful, I was going to make my first Bavarian Hefe tomorrow, but I might make this instead as the wife loves Blue Moon.

Brewed this on 4/2. Came out of the Primary and into secondary with 1.013 and had a OG of 1.053, so its right where I would like it at 5.2%. Kegging it this weekend and will give a brief review once it sits in a keg for a couple days.

Brewing this right now! I forgot the 1lb white wheat last night had to go back this morning to NB milwaukee. Oops

brewed this recipe yesterday. I did add some chamomile and .25 lbs of victory malt. My efficiency came out a little High at 85% with an OG of 1.052 (I'm thinking it was the 2 step Mash with lots of stirring).

I'll let you know how it taste!!!!

"La Flama Blanca" Belgian Witbier
16-A Witbier
Author: Holy Ghost Brew
Date: 2/23/2011

Size: 6 gal
Efficiency: 85.0%
Attenuation: 77.6%
Calories: 171.19 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.052 (1.044 - 1.052)
Terminal Gravity: 1.012 (1.008 - 1.012)
Color: 4.58 (2.0 - 4.0)
Alcohol: 5.26% (4.5% - 5.5%)
Bitterness: 14.7 (10.0 - 20.0)

Ingredients:
5.0 lb Pilsner Malt
1.0 lb White Wheat Malt
4.0 lb Wheat Flaked
0.25 lb Victory® Malt
0.5 lb Rice Hulls
0.3 oz Orange Peel Sweet (dried) - added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
0.3 oz Orange Peel Bitter (dried) - added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
0.4 oz Corriander seeds - added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
3.0 tsp Chamomile (dried) - added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
.5 oz Cascade (7.5%) - added during boil, boiled 45 min
.5 oz Cascade (7.5%) - added during boil, boiled 10 min
0.0 ea WYeast 3944 Belgian Witbier

Schedule:
Ambient Air: 60.0 °F
Source Water: 60.0 °F
Elevation: 0.0 m

00:04:15 Mash In - Liquor: 1.93 gal; Strike: 135.28 °F; Target: 122 °F
00:19:15 Protein Rest - Heat: 15 min; Target: 122 °F
00:34:15 Raise temp to 154 - Heat: 15.0 min; Target: 154 °F
01:04:15 Sac Rest - Rest: 30 min; Final: 154.0 °F
01:06:38 Mashout - Heat: 2.4 min; Target: 169.0 °F
01:09:08 Mash Run Off - Volume: 0.62 gal; Final: 117.2 °F
01:24:08 Fly Sparge - Sparge Volume: 7.62 gal; Sparge Temperature: 175 °F; Runoff: 7.6 gal
01:47:26 Boil Wort - Heat: 23.3 min; Target: 212.0 °F
03:17:26 Boil and Hop additions - Rest: 90 min; Final: 212.0 °F

Wow HolyGhost That's a lot of work

yeah....i went with JZ's brewing recommendations for witbier. Hopefully it is worth the extra effort

AUSTIN, You have done an excellant job with this recipe. I do have a DELEMMA with your beer. I can't make it as fast as we are drinking it!! I've made about four batches so far, and it's my best beer. I have a friend who doesn't like "beer", but he loves your clone. Thanks again for a special brew. I changed a few things, but it's still YOUR clone. I put .2 oz. bitter orange and .2 oz sweet orange in my batch. I also give it a 20 minute protein rest at 122 degrees. I have been ending up with a 1.062 O.G. This is a bit high, but it's been great drinking it. I have been telling many people your the one who deserves the credit for this GREAT beer! Thanks again. Jim Bouty Escanaba, Mi. (BOATER)

Just curious - have people been doing the step mash? is it necessary or have people tried the single infusion?

Thanks for any help.

doing a double brew day and was hoping to simplify the mash

CidahMastah said:

Just curious - have people been doing the step mash? is it necessary or have people tried the single infusion?

Thanks for any help.

doing a double brew day and was hoping to simplify the mash

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I did a single infusion, 60mins @ 154. Hit all my numbers, came out great. Brewed for Easter with a house full reverse beer snobs (Coors light drinkers). Keg was kicked in 3 hours. My brother inlaw noticed right away that it had a slight hint of orange to it. Not bad coming from a guy that only drinks Coors light 30packs on weekends.

PNuke said:

I did a single infusion, 60mins @ 154. Hit all my numbers, came out great. Brewed for Easter with a house full reverse beer snobs (Coors light drinkers). Keg was kicked in 3 hours. My brother inlaw noticed right away that it had a slight hint of orange to it. Not bad coming from a guy that only drinks Coors light 30packs on weekends.

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Very cool to know - I plan on a double brew this coming weekend (was missing some ingredients) - I think it would make the recipe easier to work in with a single infusion - thanks very much for the heads up!

I brewed this on Saturday. Nailed all the numbers listed in the OP. Today (Wednesday) I took a small sample from the fermenter as it was also time to take it off the blow off tube and put on an air lock, plus I like to check and see how far into the fermentation I am when I do this. Gravity is a 1.012 and i tasted the sample, Forrest, you are the man. It tastes awesome and this is at 65 degrees and 5 days in primary. It still smells a little yeasty as to be expected but it made me super happy. It tastes at the moment dead on like blue moon and something tells me that with a few more weeks of aging and come bottle conditioning it will put blue moon to shame.

One thing I want to ask is that I put this recipe into CP's Brew Chart spread sheet and I hit allt he numbers dead on but it came back with a 59% efficiency. I was wondering if anyone knew where the discrepency was?

My previous brew came in using CP's brew chart with a 79% efficieny...any ideas?

I bought an extract kit from austin home brew of the blue moon clone. i have it fermenting now.. this is my first try at brewing. there is really no activity in my carboy. as far as i know there is supposed to be some bubbles on top? or my air lock should be having air bubbles in it. it has been sitting for 3 days now. if anyone has any knowledge on this please let me know. thanks in advance

What temp did you pitch your yeast?

around 70

Did you record the OG? It could've been a bad batch of yeast and you might want to just suck it up and throw another pack in there (I'm assuming it was dry)

Yes I did. It hasn't moved.

did you rehydrate your yeast before pitching? Aerate your wort before pitching? If there's absolutely no activity or krausen forming, then you might just have dead yeast, which is an unfortunate (semi) regular occurrence when buying kits.

disregard, repeat Q

Its kicked on this morning. I am business now have a nice layer of foam and can see activity will check gravity tomorrow. But it's not dormant any more

contrabrew said:

Its kicked on this morning. I am business now have a nice layer of foam and can see activity will check gravity tomorrow. But it's not dormant any more

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Likely you just had low viability of the yeast, or you under pitched. The yeast just took several days to reproduce and build up an army big enough to take on your brew.

next time (if you are fermenting in glass), shine a flash light into the wort and look for little particulates in suspension, possibly floating upward and into suspension - that is the the yeast getting ready to rock. If you are in an opaque bottle you don't have that luxury.

In the future:

1. Try waiting about 5 days before getting worried.
2. Keep your temp at 68-72F or so until you see signs of fermentation.
3. Start learning about appropriate pitch rates.

If I were you I would leave your ferment alone and not check the gravity until it is done fermenting (krasuen falls, etc.). the more you touch it, the more chance you risk infecting your batch.



Good luck!

This is taking some
Time.. Checked my gravity and it was 1.040.. Still have activity going on. Impatiently waiting for it

I'm still a big fat noob with only a handful of all-grain batches under my belt, but im looking to brew a few batches of this up with my next grain order. Would Briess Red Wheat Flakes be the same thing as flaked wheat?

That should sub fine

Made this one today. Initial results look good. I had to sub with wyeast Belgian wit. Il sure it will come out fine.

I don't have access to any wit style yeast (and there are no LHBS within 75+ miles of where I live). Could anyone suggest another possible yeast to use for this like an american wheat 1010?

I have used so4, so5, and wlp400. Wlp400 has been by far the best for this style of beer.

I don't really get a "Blue Moon" feel out of this one (Maybe I goofed something up), but thats not to take away from the quality of the brew or the instructions. Definatly get the esters from the Belgian Wit yeast. This has earned its dedicated tap in my kegerator. It's a family favorite!

/

I'm on my 3rd batch of this. The first batch was too sulfury, so I fermented it warmer for the next batch. The second batch tasted kinda tart, so I made a huge starter for the next batch. 3rd batch is damn close to Blue Moon, but I think it still tastes a bit citrusy on the back end. Gonna add some more coriander(i've been using ground coriander)...and I'm kinda thinking of subbing out the Cascade for Hallertaur.

jprice said:

I'm on my 3rd batch of this. The first batch was too sulfury, so I fermented it warmer for the next batch. The second batch tasted kinda tart, so I made a huge starter for the next batch. 3rd batch is damn close to Blue Moon, but I think it still tastes a bit citrusy on the back end. Gonna add some more coriander(i've been using ground coriander)...and I'm kinda thinking of subbing out the Cascade for Hallertaur.

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grinding the coriander will give you hella citrus IMO. More will just mean more citrus. We smashed our corriander the box kit and the beer was too Lemon Pledgey. It's subsiding over time, but a Wit is meant to be drank earlier, rather than conditioning for hella. You may want to just crack the seeds next time and make sure you don't put in boil too early.

Hey guys, I'm new to brewing. I was wondering if this recipe would be to hard for a beginner brewer?