I went out this morning on a drop of a hat and ended up at my local brew shop. I chose a witbier kit and to be honest I never even herd of this kind of beer. Does anyone know anything about it? Also reading the directions I have to steep to convert the grains for 45 min, is this considered parsial mash?? Thanks
brewers best witbier
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Suthrncomfrt1884
Well-Known Member
A witbier is like a Blue Moon, Hoegarden, Celis White, etc. Very clean crisp wheat beer with orange and corriander. One of my favorite summer beers.
Steeping grains is not concidered partial mash. In order to have a partial mash, you would need a seperate mash tun to convert your grains in. Your kit is what's called "extract w/ grains".
Steeping grains is not concidered partial mash. In order to have a partial mash, you would need a seperate mash tun to convert your grains in. Your kit is what's called "extract w/ grains".
yodalegomaster
Well-Known Member
The real key to this style is using the right yeast. Its'a a great light refreshing beer with lot's of flavor. See more on the style at BJCP.org
Chudz
Well-Known Member
I brewed the BB Witbier kit as my third brewing attempt. Witbiers are some of my favorite beers due to the spices. I think their "steep to convert" directions are more for flavor than they are for extracting fermentable sugars. I'm not sure if that's considered "partial mash" or not, however. I'm curious how yours turns out. Mine had a really blunt spicy taste to it, not what I was shooting for.
speters33w
Member
I just finished up a batch. Here's what I have to say about it:
Not bad at all! Reminds me of Atwater Dirty Blonde.
This is what I would do differently next time:
1) Use the included yeast for, I don't know, bread or something and use a White Labs WLP400 or similar yeast.
2) Throw away the spice pack. Into the trash. Crack fresh Indian coriander and boil for five minutes, and add fresh orange zest at flameout.
3) Probably add a little more corn sugar at bottling. The OK but weak "pop-fizz" on opening a bottle may be due to the yeast, though.
Not bad at all! Reminds me of Atwater Dirty Blonde.
This is what I would do differently next time:
1) Use the included yeast for, I don't know, bread or something and use a White Labs WLP400 or similar yeast.
2) Throw away the spice pack. Into the trash. Crack fresh Indian coriander and boil for five minutes, and add fresh orange zest at flameout.
3) Probably add a little more corn sugar at bottling. The OK but weak "pop-fizz" on opening a bottle may be due to the yeast, though.
Witbiers are my favorite, such as blue moon or shocktop, so I was thinking about brewing one. Shocktop has an ABV of 5.2%. However, all the kits I have seen have SG between 1.042-1.046 and FG of 1.010-1.012...a significantly lower alcohol content. Just wondering if anyone knew a good wait to raise the SG of a witbier maybe to about 1.050-1.051 without altering the taste too much or even making it better. Thanks for the help!
i brew wits all the time, as they are my favorite session beer. i do mine all-grain, but even so, there are a couple things that may help. like speters33w says, don't ever use the yeast in the kits. it's the cheapest generic muntons out there. yeast is a BIG key in this style. if you want liquid yeast, use wlp400; dry yeast = wb-06. you should also buy some coriander and some bitter orange peel ( or use zest from fresh oranges, which i prefer ). use that instead. to make them stronger, you can partial mash in flaked wheat and 2-row at 55/45% ratio, or brew in an extra pound of wheat dme
novaau
Active Member
McGarnigle
Well-Known Member
Easiest way is just to add less water. Everything stays in balance, although you wind up with less beer. or you could add a little wheat extract (1 pound?).
I don't think either Shock Top or Blue Moon use true Belgian wit yeasts. This means your beer might turn out a little different from these. I really don't know about Safale 06 though. [EDIT: I see I'm mixing up two different posters here.]
slicksmix
Well-Known Member
Use it. Its pretty decent yeast. After 3 weeks conditioning I finally tasted my bb witbier. Very good imho. One thing I did a little different was added a little corn sugar when I added my spice pack for a little higher abv. I also crushed my corriander. Everything I ever read about wheat beers says to crush it but the directions in the kit didn't mention it. I like my results
novaau
Active Member
Use it. Its pretty decent yeast. After 3 weeks conditioning I finally tasted my bb witbier. Very good imho. One thing I did a little different was added a little corn sugar when I added my spice pack for a little higher abv. I also crushed my corriander. Everything I ever read about wheat beers says to crush it but the directions in the kit didn't mention it. I like my results
It's good to hear a more positive take on it, something that was lacking in my forum search of the yeast. One thing that concerns me is that my fermentation will likely be on the higher side (likely no more than 74 though), and I noticed quite a bit of people saying that higher temps produce a "clove-y, but not in a German Hefeweizen sort of way," off-flavor, and wanted to avoid that- maybe add more orange? Or should it even be a concern?
Lriliin
New Member
My first beer was the BB witbier kit. Mine came with Fermentis WB-06 yeast as well. Turned out great, thought it had a bit of an off flavor when I bottled it but I cracked the first bottle 2 nights ago and I can't taste anything. Verry yummy. The specialty grains were the oat and wheat flake with pale 2-row. Steeped at 155 for 45 min. If that's not mashing then I guess I don't know what is. Any thoughts are encouraged. I like it a lot. Thinking about doing an all grain version of it.
Cider123
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My first AG was a Wit. I use the BIAB method. It came out great and with a ABV of around 4% which is fine for me. This is a refreshing drinker not a slayer. I used Wyeast 3944 and was very happy. I have some yeast washed and saved in the fridge for the next time. And there will be a next time.
DerrangedPOJO
Well-Known Member
I just cracked open my witbier from BB. It was advertised as a blue moon but it is a Hoegarden the wit blanche!! I ended up with a 4.95% abv. OG was 1.047 and FG was 1.009. very fun recipe! i liked doing more than just adding LME!! Im working on collecting everything i need to start AG or BIAB. Im addicted!!!
JeepDiver
Well-Known Member
The yeast that comes with the kit is good. This was my first brew ever. I have brewed it a couple of times since going all grain when I wanted a quick easy brewday.
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