WitBier with Orange and honey

Just finished up my second batch that will go into the keg (my 3rd "partial mash" I think ..isn't that where you have to steep the grains ..make the wort, then start a boil, add the extract for about 40 min or so, then add what ever else?) ..if that is not the right term for what I'm doing PLEASE correct me so I don't sound like an 1D10T in the future.

So ..for this batch ..
I followed the Brewers Best WitBier instructions ..when it came time to add the DME and the Spicepack ..I added an additional .25oz of Sweet Orange Peel (the spice pack already had .5oz of bitter orange). then I let that boil for about 5 minutes ..added the remaining "flavor" hopps and boiled for 10 Minutes.
At about the 3 minute mark to being done I started adding 3 lbs of Honey (it was Dark and Robust "Thrifty" Brand.

I then proceeded to cool it ..put it into my primary .then yeast it.

Any ideas how I can make my next batch better (if needed) ..the taste test
was: Nice Honey with a bit of orange sweetness, but not overpowering.

Thanks for any suggestions .........BY THE WAY ...........
I'm perty thick scinned ..stab away ..let the constructive critisim run free


-Cheers-

I was wondering the same thing about "partial mash" just a couple of years ago. I've since learned that you are steeping grains for the color and flavor most of the time. A partial mash must contain a malt that has not had the enzymes destroyed such as pale malt. Any Crystal or caramel malts will have no enzymes to convert the starch to sugars. A partial mash or a mash require much better temperature control than is needed for steeping. You can steep anywhere between room temperature and boiling and get some or all of the color out of the specialty grain but mashing requires temperatures in the 140 to 160 F. range.

To make your beer better next time, assuming you fermented this at room temperature, is to ferment it cooler for at least the first few days. I like to ferment at 62 to 64 because it gives my beer a cleaner taste and because it's easy for me to get those temperatures. Cooler might be better but at much higher cost for me.

If you follow the Brewers Best instructions they say to ferment for about a week and then you can bottle (at least the kits I bought did). When I ferment cooler my beer can still be bubbling the airlock regularly at the 5th day, no where near ready to bottle. Leave your beer in the fermenter longer than that week. I've been leaving mine for 3 to 4 weeks and I like the results much better. I do bring the beer up to room temperature after the first week to encourage the yeast to complete the clean up.

Thank you for the suggestions ..will try them next time.
So ..even when the bubbles stop, I should leave it alone for a couple more weeks? Should I switch into a secondary bucket? ..if so, what exactly do i do to make the best out of that ...?

I LOVE this forum ..have received SOOOOO much advise (can't say for sure yet if it's good/bad, but it's better than the stuff I was getting from my neighbor who uses his tap water with an extract kit, boils for about 1 minute, then yeasts it and waits for a week (he has NO sense of what sterile means also)


:rockin:

Since this is a witbeer, I'd suggest you leave it in the fermenter for a total of 2 weeks and then to the keg or bottle. Witbeers are supposed to mature fast and should be drunk young but they still need 2 to 3 weeks in the bottle to carbonate and settle.

Last night I had a cream ale that I had brewed and bottled a couple weeks ago and it was quite apparent that I should have waited at least another week as the yeast was quite apparent.

RM-MN said:

Since this is a witbeer, I'd suggest you leave it in the fermenter for a total of 2 weeks and then to the keg or bottle. Witbeers are supposed to mature fast and should be drunk young but they still need 2 to 3 weeks in the bottle to carbonate and settle.

Click to expand...

This ^^^

But if it hasn't cleared up any, and the SG is still dropping, let it go even longer.

OK..just moved to a secondary ....
I think I must be figuring something wrong though when it comes to alcohol content ...
when I put it into the primary, the potential was 7.5
when I tested it a couple of days ago, it was at about 7
I was told to take the first number ..subtract the second ..and there's your % ..there is NO way that I have made a .5% beer ...is there?
I have read on here that I need to get a SG reading, but don't know how to do that, and I don't know what my initial was. is there any way to know ..