Witbier advice

My brother is a big fan of witbiers, so we're making a batch this weekend. It's my second brew ever, so I was curious to get some advice.

First of all, here is the recipe. Got it from my LHBS:

6 lbs. wheat extract
0.5 lbs. Honey, Corn Sugar or Candi Sugar (I'll come back to this)
7 oz CaraPils
1 oz Belgian Aromatic

Hopping Schedule:
#1 Saaz (4.2%) 1.0 oz 60 min
#2 Saaz 0.5 oz 5 min
#3 Coriander 0.5 oz 5 min
#4 Bitter Orange Peel 0.5 oz 5 min

OG: 1.048
Yeast: Wyeast 3944 Belgian White


Here are my questions for all you HBT experts.
(1) Any suggestions on which I should choose form the honey, corn sugar, or candi sugar? I was leaning toward honey, but just want the best tasting brew.
(2) Any suggestions on tweaking the recipe a little bit?
(3) Any reason I shouldn't rack this to a secondary in a week? My buddy and I are planning on doing a dark Belgian next weekend and I will need the primary bucket.

Thanks!

1: You don't really need any of those. Whichever you use will raise the ABV slightly and give you a slightly dryer final product. If you are shooting for a Bengian, candi sugar that would be apropriate. Candy sugar would be most to style with that yeast.

2: sounds tasty

3: if you are making a wit, I wouldn't bother with secondary. Just get another bucket. You want it to be a bit cloudy anyways.

Thanks for the reply, Ark. From my previous searches on the forum, you seem to be the wit guy.

What do you think about the practice of crushing the coriander seed with a rolling pin? I saw that in another thread.

crush em up

heywolfie1015 said:

Thanks for the reply, Ark. From my previous searches on the forum, you seem to be the wit guy.

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Ya, over half of my brews are wheats (wit or wizen). Just what i prefer to drink.

Give them a good crack with a rolling pin, just don't crush them up too much (similar to a grain crush)

Have you concidered making your own candi sugar it is just as good, and alot cheaper.

VTBrewer said:

crush em up

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Yep. If you don't crush them, you won't get the flavor or aroma that comes with the seeds that are typical in this type of brew. I did an AG wit similar to this and used .75 of coriander seed and the aroma and taste was pretty strong the first 2 weeks(I was impatient) then I left it alone for another 2-3 weeks and turned out yummy!

I make a lot of Hefe Weizens and still secondary every one.

The reasoning is to allow more of the yeast to drop out of suspension. You can always add more yeast back in during racking if it gets too clear.

There's no reason to have 1/2" of yeast in the bottom of your bottles when only a little will do.

Arkador said:

Have you concidered making your own candi sugar it is just as good, and alot cheaper.

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Sounds great, but I'm not sure I'll have time. Definitely something to try in the future, though.

1. I say clear candi sugar (home made) screw the stuff they sell at LHBS, over priced and just about pure sucrose. Takes about 20-30 minutes tops.

2. Corriander and Orange peel are, of course, the traditional ingredients, but if you are looking for something unique substitute grains of paradise or sichuan peppercorns for corrinader. When using Orange peel use fresh Seville orange peel if you can get it, or maybe substitute lime leaves (muddled or finely chopped), and chamomile flowers can add a "je nes sais quoi". Again, just suggestions if you are trying to break the mold an make something more unique.

3. Racking to secondary is not really an issue (as long as you don't leave it in the secondary for an extended period of time), but in all honesty with a wit or wheat, I generally go straight to bottling after a 3-4 week primary. They are supposed to be cloudy.

FWIW, I always swirl my bottles to rouse the yeast back into suspension before pouring. No "pouring to the shoulder" with my wheats and wits!

Good luck!

homebrewer_99 said:

I make a lot of Hefe Weizens and still secondary every one.

The reasoning is to allow more of the yeast to drop out of suspension. You can always add more yeast back in during racking if it gets too clear.

There's no reason to have 1/2" of yeast in the bottom of your bottles when only a little will do.

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yeast will drop out of suspension weither it is in primary or secondary. my typucal wizen is kegged or bottled after 2 weeks. As long as you don't shake up the primary or stick your siphon down into the yeast cake, the amount of yeast will be about the same.

Arkador said:

yeast will drop out of suspension weither it is in primary or secondary. my typucal wizen is kegged or bottled after 2 weeks. As long as you don't shake up the primary or stick your siphon down into the yeast cake, the amount of yeast will be about the same.

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I fully agree with you that a HW does NOT need a secondary, but I will continue my practice until the day I stop making them.

I've been drinking HWs since my first time living in Germany (Feb 1975). I discovered a fondness to HW then.

I like to make my HBd HWs a bit cleaner. If it clears too much I always rack enough yeast to get/keep it cloudy. This is how I maintain control over the amount of yeast in each bottle.

I'd rather have a very small layer of yeast on the bottom of the bottle than a 1/4".

homebrewer_99 said:

I fully agree with you that a HW does NOT need a secondary, but I will continue my practice until the day I stop making them.

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That is the beauty of homebrewing. Make it the way you like it!
If you like a cleaner HW, by all means secondary it. I don't secondary many beers anymore, that is partially driven by more patience in primary, laziness, and other things occupying my time.

Schnitzengiggle said:

1. I say clear candi sugar (home made) screw the stuff they sell at LHBS, over priced and just about pure sucrose. Takes about 20-30 minutes tops.

2. Corriander and Orange peel are, of course, the traditional ingredients, but if you are looking for something unique substitute grains of paradise or sichuan peppercorns for corrinader.

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I have been looking into this for the past week and there are a bunch of threads here about sugar. I am doing a Grand Cru this weekend and it calls for 2lbs of candi sugar. After reading half a dozen of threads on this, I am just going to add 2lbs of white, granulated sugar to my boil with about 15-20 left. This was the best thread I found... https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/ad...ot-going-make-taste-like-freakin-cider-90498/

Grains of paradise subbed for the coriander... I will try that too!!

Arkador said:

That is the beauty of homebrewing. Make it the way you like it!
If you like a cleaner HW, by all means secondary it. I don't secondary many beers anymore, that is partially driven by more patience in primary, laziness, and other things occupying my time.

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I know where you're coming from so there's really no debate going on...

I can also see not doing a secondary if you do not move your kegs after filling and tap in place. I'm certain many of the brewers here do that. This way any sediment is not roused to make the brew cloudy again.

In my case my keezer is in the garage and my kegerator is in the basement. If I did not secondary my keezer kegs would be cloudy again by time I carried them to the basement and slid them into place in the kegerator. It would be a waste of time (on my part) if I didn't secondary.

As for bottles I also swirl them with about 1" of beer left to top off the glass.

dmob29 said:

I have been looking into this for the past week and there are a bunch of threads here about sugar. I am doing a Grand Cru this weekend and it calls for 2lbs of candi sugar. After reading half a dozen of threads on this, I am just going to add 2lbs of white, granulated sugar to my boil with about 15-20 left. This was the best thread I found... https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/ad...ot-going-make-taste-like-freakin-cider-90498/

Grains of paradise subbed for the coriander... I will try that too!!

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Buy a cheapo candy thermo at Wally world and buy some citric acid at the health food store, you can make your own invert sugar. My LHBS sells their "Belgian" candy sugar for 7.99/lb what a friggin rip-off. I have since been making my own. I can make 2lbs for the cost of sugar itself. Plus I like to use turbinado or "organic" sugar to make candi sugar, sure it isn't clear, but it doesn't add that much color to the finished beer. I also sleep better knowing that the LHBS isn't bending me over for some sugar.