Made a Wit on Sunday

3 lbs Wheat Malt
1 lb Flaked Wheat
.5 lb Rolled Oats, the quick ones from a round can
6 lbs 2 row - Not pilsner, but it's what I had

1 oz Czech Saaz 4.4% @ 60 min
.4 oz Coriander @ 10 min
.03 oz Chamomile @ 10 min
~1.25oz Fresh Orange Zest @ 10 min (was going to use 1.5oz, but I only had 3 oranges)
~.2 oz Fresh Lemon Zest ( had a nice one on hand)

One package Brewferm Blanche yeast

90 minute mash @ 151°F
Batch Sparge
1.044 OG into the fermenter

I took my first gravity reading today since pitching the yeast on the 4th. It read 1.010.

I still have a pretty thick krausen on top of this brew, though, and I'm wondering if I should just siphon from under it, or wait for it to fall. I am planning on pulling a sample on Sunday and possibly bottling then if it's still reading 1.010.

The sample I pulled tasted pretty damn good. I was a little worried, since there were some pretty weird smells coming out of the fermeter when I popped the lid off. Once I poured out the sample into a glass and smelled it in the kitchen I was pleased to not smell what I did in the primary. The citrus scent is light, but it's there and smells like a fresh orange, which was also really cool. Funny thing there is that I smelled the orange, but I tasted more of a lemon flavor. Again, not a bad thing for me.

I realize this isn't a true Wit, since I had less than 50% wheat, but I'm psyched so far and if this tastes good following the conditioning I'll have some positive things to say for the Brewferm Blanche yeast. I'll be trying another Wit soon with more wheat in the grist this time...

i'd let the krausen fall. always do. but it's probably finished fermenting.

I have one that is 2 weeks old and there is still lots of krausen left on the top. I'm going to transfer it within the next 2-3 days as I suspect it is done.

I am getting wayyy too impatient with this one. It's been in primary for under 3 weeks, but I'm dying to get it in the bottle.

Stinkin' krausen hasn't dropped yet!!!! GRRRRRRR>

Sometimes the krausen gets dried and hard. You can try gently moving the carboy to break it up . That usually helps it fall.

Krausens on those heavy wheat bills can take forever.

I usually just siphon around the krausen and move on. Use a paint strainer around your racking cane and you'll avoid that stuff.

So I waited until the krausen fell, though I might not have been so patient except I work a part time job Tue-Thur nights. I noticed the krausen on Friday evening, but I wasn't able to bottle that night because I had to whip up a batch of potato salad, and decorate a bicycle, a wagon and a bike trailer for a Memorial Day parade and lunch.

First thing first, I pulled another sample, and this actually fermented a bit further than I thought it might. I got a 1.006 today. According to my calculator, this came in around 82%. ABV should be 4.9%. I also was a bit surprised at just how much beer I came out with for this batch. I got 54 standard 12oz bottles, plus a 12 oz and a 22oz fliptops. This was after pulling 3 samples, and leaving about 1/3 a pint in the bottling bucket. I think I'm really learning to control the boil off in the pot and I'm getting more into the fermenter.

Now I just need to get my efficiency up a bit. I've finally messed around with the gap on the Barley Crusher, and I'm hoping my next mash has better numbers than the last couple. I've been right around 70%, so I'm not really too concerned, but I hear so many better numbers here I just have to try.