Belgian WIT... comments please

So I decided to try my hand at wit extract brewing. Comments would be greatly appreciated on the following.....

1/4 lb belgian aromatic (steep @ 165 for 30 mins)

7lbs pilsner malt extract, liquid (boil for 45)

.5 oz coriander @ 45 mins
.5 oz coriander @ 10 mins
1 oz dried orange peel @ 10 mins
1 oz seeds of paradise @ 10 mins
1.5lb orange blossom honey @ 10 mins
yeast nutrient @ 10 mins

Wyeast belgian wit ale @ 76F

Original gravity 1.060

Comments would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Lucas

Its not really a "wit" without the wheat. I would do 6 lbs of wheat LME or at least half and half of wheat/pilsner.

Also, I would add the coriander at once with about 10 minutes left in the boil and only add .5 oz or maybe a bit more if its a 5 gallon batch. Just my .02...

There's a lot going on with that recipe, and none of it really says Witbier. The grain bill for a Wit is 60/40 Pils/wheat - if you use a wheat malt extract, you get pretty darn close to that ratio. Aromatic has no place in a Wit- save it for a Dubbel! Use enough to get to an OG around 1.047. Use just a smidge of noble hops to get IBUs around 10-12.

Now if you're steeping, there's no reason you can't do a partial mash employing some base malt, flaked wheat and flaked oats!

Good on ya for using the bitter orange peel! You need that bitterness to offset the malt sweetness and balance the beer.

The spices (bitter peel, GOP and cracked coriander) should be added to the kettle at around 5-10 minutes from flameout. An ounce of GOP is WAY too much, use around 5 grams (less than a 1/4 ounce) The spicing should be even and not overpowering. The beauty of Witbier is in its subtlety.

In addition to those recommendations, I would reduce the temperature of the "steep" of the aromatic malt. Aromatic malt must be mashed, and should be no higher than 155 degrees. You may want to use a pound of wheat malt in with it, and maybe a pound of pilsner malt, so you can convert the aromatic malt.

For a wit, I probably wouldn't use aromatic malt anyway, though.

The aromatic I used since I had a touch of it left over and wanted to get rid of it. As to the pilsner malt, my LHBS didnt have dutch extract so my guy said to use pilsner which is a good second choice.

It wasnt the perfect recipe that I wanted, but I made do with what I had on hand.

Lucas

Have you already brewed this beer? Because I'm interested to see how it turns out.

SkewedAle said:

Have you already brewed this beer? Because I'm interested to see how it turns out.

Click to expand...

Brewed last night. Now to wait for a week or so and see how it turns out! I'll keep the thread alive and updated.

cheers

Sounds good. Although I wouldn't call it a Wit, this definitely looks to be unique brew that I'll be interested to hear how it tastes. (I'm all for experimentation)