Watery Wit

I brewed a Northern Brewer Wit It had 6.3lbs of Wheat LME. Tastes good, but the finish is just a little watery. Anyone have a suggestion for something to steep with the LME next time to maybe give it a bit more body?

You could steep wheat malt or cara-pils next time, which won't contribute any fermentables but may make a slight difference with body, one of the easiest ways to improve mouthfeel though is to add 1/2 lb. of malto-dextrin late in the boil. How long has it been in bottles?

It has been in the keg about a week.

shooting from the hip, here... could one add the malto-dextrine to the keg?

evandam said:

It has been in the keg about a week.

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Has it fully carbonated yet? I find that beers that are not fully carbonated taste thin and watery. For a Wit I would go with somewhere around 2.5 volumes, so it might not be completely there yet.

Southwood said:

shooting from the hip, here... could one add the malto-dextrine to the keg?

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I don't really know, but I don't see why not. I suppose you could boil it in some water for 15 minutes and throw it in after it cools.

Beerrific said:

Has it fully carbonated yet? I find that beers that are not fully carbonated taste thin and watery. For a Wit I would go with somewhere around 2.5 volumes, so it might not be completely there yet.

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Hell, I'd go more than that. I prefer 3 volumes in wit, slightly higher in Hefeweizen. Oh, and you're right about carbonation impacting mouthfeel.

I think Witbier should be slightly chewy, carbonation issues aside. Traditionally, Wit grists contain barley, wheat (malted and unmalted), and oats. Unmalted wheat and oats provide long proteins that not only make the beer cloudy, but also increase the viscosity of the wort, promoting mouthfeel.

Unfortunately, it's not really possible to extract much of the desired stuff from either unmalted wheat or oats without mashing at least some of your fermentables. Steeping ain't gonna get the job done. If you can do even a partial mash, with 2 pounds of barley malt and one pound each of flaked wheat and flaked oats, you can make up the remainder with Weizen LME and have a Witbier with much better mouthfeel (and flavor).

Cheers,

Bob

I made that same kit and it was a bit watery for me as well, I found that it got better with age.

That is good to know.

I also happened to mess up that batch when I made it and used a slight bit too much water, I also did a very small boil (2.5g didnt have a big enough pot at the time).