Witbier

I am looking a making a witbier for the first time and here are a couple of recipes i was looking at. Which one do you like better and are there any adjustments or tips that will help me along the way. Thanks in advance for you advise.

Boil Size: 5.20 gal
Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.2 SRM) Grain 50.0 %
4.50 lb Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 50.0 %
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (60 min) Hops 17.0 IBU
0.75 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
0.75 oz Orange Peel, Bitter (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs Belgian Wit Ale (White Labs #WLP400) Yeast-Wheat

Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body
Sparge Water: 2.14 gal
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F


Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 11.25 qt of water at 165.9 F 154.0 F 60 min
Mash Out Add 6.30 qt of water at 196.6 F 168.0 F 10 min
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Gallons: 5

Malt:
3 lbs. Belgian White Wheat
2.5 lbs. German Wheat
2 lbs. Belgian Pilsner
1 lbs. German Pilsner
1 lbs. Rolled Oats
1 cups wheat flour

Mash: Mash all but wheat flour at 114 F for 20 min.
Infuse to 146 F for 100 min
Infuse to 168 for 15 min and mash out
Add wheat flour to first runnings

Hops: .75 oz Cascade (6.3% AA) - 75 min
.75 oz Saaz (3.0% AA) - 45 min

Spices: .75 oz crushed coriander (last 5 minutes of boil)
2 oz fresh grated orange peel (flameout)
.75 oz coriander (flameout)
1 oz dried sweet orange peel (day 17)
1 oz dried bitter orange peel (day 17)

Boil Time: 90 min
Yeast: White Labs WLP800

I'd do the first recipe. The second looks more like a weizen with spices.

Yeah, first looks great. You might want to lower your mash temp, but looks like a solid recipe.

Agreed on the mash temp comment. I like 149, but I like a light wit. Maybe 152 if you want a little more body.

Thanks any other tips are greatly appreciated

I'd be more inclined to go with hallertau or something a little less earthy than goldings.
I will say that my wit is the only time i've ever had a slightly stuck sparge, which I attribute to all the flaked oats. Rice hulls are cheap insurance.
A few recipes reference dried chamomile as one of the spices. I used one of my wifes chamomile tea bags on yesterdays brew, so its too soon to say if its noticeable.

Do a light crack on the corriander, if you pitch it whole you will not get much flavor transfer

good stuff keep it coming

the bitter orange peel has a similar herbal aroma to chamomile. I'd say one or the other.

For a 5 gallon batch, I'd also add about 15ml of lactic acid. That will give it a little bit of a tart crispness that the best wits have, that most wits are missing.

I recently did a 1:1:2 bitter orange/sweet orange/coriander ratio for my spices. I also added one pod of star anise. It's a very subtle addition, but the anise seems to accentuate the orange flavor.

If you want an even lighter color you could swap out the pale malt for pilsner malt. Also, Saaz hops are used a lot in Witbiers.