Witbier

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1Mainebrew

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2010
Messages
934
Reaction score
39
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
Wyeast 3944
Yeast Starter
YES
Batch Size (Gallons)
5
Original Gravity
1.041
Final Gravity
1.008
Boiling Time (Minutes)
60
IBU
20.12
Color
4.3
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
34
Additional Fermentation
Carbing time in bottles
Tasting Notes
Crisp and tangy. Tart with sweet notes from additions. Very refreshing.
FERMENTABLES:

5 lb Belgian Wheat
4 lb Belgian 2-row
1 lb Carapils

HOPS:

1 oz Hallertauer 4.8%AA 60 mins
1 oz Hallertauer 4.8%AA 3 mins

YEAST:

Belgian Witbier-Wyeast 3944

ADDITIONS:

1 oz Orange peel (15 mins left in boil)
0.5 oz Coriander seed (15 mins left in boil)
0.5 oz Star Anise (15 mins left in boil)
0.5 oz Rose Hips (15 mins left in boil)
0.5 tsp Ginger root (15 mins left in boil)
1.5 tsp Cinnamon Powder (15 mins left in boil)
0.5 tsp Nutmeg (15 mins left in boil)
0.25 tsp Cloves (15 mins left in boil)
0.25 tsp Cumin (15 mins left in boil)

MASH:

Mash at 150 F for 75 mins
12.5 qt at 166 F

Sparge with 18 qt at 170

CARBONATION:

4.5 oz corn sugar

APPEARANCE:

Retains high volumes of the yeast in suspension, giving it the classic cloudy whitish appearance. Nice white head. (Pictures will follow when I get home later today)

TASTING NOTES:

This is a very tasty, very refreshing beer. There is a crisp tartness (from the yeast) that is most noticed when the beer is cold and as the beer warms, the sweet tastes of the spice additions (particularly the cinnamon) come through though they are still subtle enough not to detract from the base beer. I will post a picture of this when I get home later today.
 
Sorry, I fermented it at 70 and ramped up to 80 at the end of the first week. I then brought it back down to 70 for the last few weeks.
 
After another week in the fridge it has a distinct orange citrusy and banana flavor up front and light clove and cinnamon in the finish.

image-58092033.jpg
 
This beer is several months old now, but man- I think its better now than when it was young! Usually wheats don't age well, but this has suprised me!
 
It should get better with age. At least for six months. Make sure to save some until then. I like most of those spices in my wit but the cinnamon is had not thought of, thanks.
 
Planning on it. Glad you like the cinnamon idea. The spices age amazingly well. I'm happier with it now than I was after drinking it young.

Now it's time to culture the dregs and build up a starter and brew it again, then wash the yeast and brew up a big tripel!
 
Two questions:

1. Could I harvest a bottle of Hoegaarden for yeast?

2. What would you say to some fruit in this beer? Maybe some kind of berry?
 
Well, try both and report back! I would try raspberry purée in secondary and rack onto it. The only thing is that you might lose some of the interesting nuances from the spice additions. I can only comment on the original and it's superb. However, just as in classical music, variations on a theme can yield some fun and interesting results on their own merits too. Try it the original recipe and with the variations and do a side by side, and let us know...
 
DMartin said:
Two questions:

1. Could I harvest a bottle of Hoegaarden for yeast?

just make sure you harvest enough, and do step starters from 100 mls (gravity ~1.040) to 1000 ml's, then up again if you want have enough to pitch and save some for future use.
 
I'm planning on brewing this up tomorrow and I'm very excited about it. I've got my starter going on the stir plate at the current moment.

My question may be a little stupid but I'm wondering if there was a way with this recipe to up the alcohol content slightly. I recently sampled a local brew belgian witbier that was around 9% and it was a beautiful golden color with similar spice notes, just higher in alcohol content adding (at least to my impression) more of a belgian brewing style to it.
 
Long boil and/ or sugar. Be careful though.

i apologize, i just researched the beer i was thinking this would be close to and it turns out that one is a belgian strong pale ale.

I'm not going to try and ruin your recipe haha. I will make it how you've perfected it and try the other one on my next batch.

Thanks for the recipe, I will let you know how it turns out.

Since its my first all grain batch and I am new to the brew process, I'm trying to keep a little photo record of it (photography is my other hobby)

If you're interested:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/belgian-witbier-all-grain-batch-documentation-283538/

thanks again
 
You bet! Have fun, it's a great hobby! Try making the Belgian strong and using washed yeast (recommended) from this batch or rack onto the yeast cake (another, less preferable option) to save some money on yeast. Post your pics too, it's fun to document your brew days. I would love to do that a bit better, but am terrible with a camera. Best wishes on tomorrows brew day!
 
Oops, thanks for posting your pics on that thread! Well documented! Keep me posted!
 
quick question.

recipe says its for a 5 gallon batch but i just finished my mash according to your recipe and ended up with about 7 gallons of wort... am i supposed to cut this back to 5 before adding the hops and extras or continue on and only fill the carboy to 5?
 
Looks like your efficiency was better than mine, or your grain absorption was less, or your boil off was less (either from a less vigorous boil or higher humidity or lower altitude).

Either way, as long as your Gravities were on, you will simply will have more beer to enjoy! Way to go!
 
Or you're talking preboil volume. If so, just boil away, chill, whirlpool and get what you get!

Your Preboil gravity =1.0??
 
preboil gravity is 1.040

i apologize for the edit, i had to cool the wort before taking an accurate reading
 
Fg? Btw, carb with a full 5-6 oz corn sugar for better carbonation if you get >4.5 gallons.
 
Fg? Btw, carb with a full 5-6 oz corn sugar for better carbonation if you get >4.5 gallons.

Post Boil OG ended up at 1.050

I'm not sure how the temperature was because i accidently dropped my thermometer on the floor and shattered it and the "fermometer" i have seems to be purely aesthetic. I cooled it down with a wort chiller until the container was cool to the touch, took my post boil OG reading, shook my carboy and pitched my yeast starter.

took a sip of my gravity sample and it seemed VERY heavy on the cinnamon... hopefully that settles out a little in primary.
 
The spices fade as do hop aromas and flavors. In a month or so when you bottle it you'll have very different flavors.
 
The spices fade as do hop aromas and flavors. In a month or so when you bottle it you'll have very different flavors.

I can't thank you enough for all your help. I've updated my progression thread with pics from today. Sorry for cluttering your thread up, you can scrub the back and forth posts if you'd like to keep it simplified.

I can't wait to see how this turns out :mug:
 
Ramping up the temp at the end of the week is important for this beer's attenuation, ester formation and flavor profile. These esters help to meld the spice additions better and create the crisp tartness this yeast is known for.
 
Ramping up the temp at the end of the week is important for this beer's attenuation, ester formation and flavor profile. These esters help to meld the spice additions better and create the crisp tartness this yeast is known for.

i think temperature control is going to be my biggest obstacle at the moment.

sitting in the closet my carboy is currently reading 78*

im sure that will mellow out with the slowing down of fermentation but you said you kept it at 70 then ramped it up to 80... i'm almost at 80 already haha

should i just try to maintain that 80? (i found a cost effective solution to building a fermwrap, i just need to find a cost effective temperature control setup)
 
DMartin said:
Two questions:

1. Could I harvest a bottle of Hoegaarden for yeast?

2. What would you say to some fruit in this beer? Maybe some kind of berry?

Have you brewed this idea up yet?
 
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