Belgian Wit with Chamomile, Lavender and Lemon Balm Leaf

[kchomebrew]

So I thought up a Belgian Wit recipe and wanted to share it and also provide some photos/tasting notes at the end. I found some organic chamomile that included lavender and lemon balm leaf. I tried a cup of tea and thought it had a great taste that would go well with a Belgian Wit. The lemon balm leaf is something new that I've never heard of and it provides a very faint/tart lemon note. I can see this complementing the Wit yeast/orange peel/corriander flavors very well. Brewed this yesterday. Here's the details:

I researched some different Belgian water profiles (Brussels, Antwerp, Duvel water source) . Put together additions to bring the strike/sparge water to (added 1.6 tsp CaCl to my KC, MO water also added campden tablets):
64 Ca 6Mg 29Na 77Cl 81 So4
Was thinking I might need to add some lactic acid but the ph at mashout was right around 5.2 so I didn't bother. SO4 might be a bit high for the style, but not a big deal.
=================

eHerms brewed
Kettle Volume: 14.0*gal @ 212*°F (1.042)
Boil Duration: 1.0*h
Evaporation: 2.0*gal
Final Volume: 11.52*gal @ 68*°F (1.049)
Efficiency: 90.0%
Evap./Hour: 2.0*gal
Ingredients:
11*lb (57.1%) Belgian Pils - added during mash
7.0*lb (40.0%) Belgian Wheat Malt - added during mash
.5*lb (2.9%) Acidulated Malt; Castle Malting - added during mash
2*oz (66.7%) Tettnanger (4.5%) - added during boil, boiled 90*m
.5*oz (16.7%) Saaz (5.0%) - added during boil, boiled 30*m
0.5*oz (16.7%) Saaz (5.0%) - added during boil, boiled 1*m
0.5 oz Corriander seeds (crushed) - added flameout - 10 min steep
0.25 oz Ginger (fresh) - added flameout - 10 min steep
1.0 oz Bitter Curacao/Bitter Orange (Peel) - added flameout - 10 min steep
10 tea bags (0.05 oz each) of chamomile flower, lavender, lemon balm leaf mix - added flameout - 10 min steep

used about 1.44 qt/lb ratio - 6.81 gal. mash water, 9.53 gal. sparge.
Protein rest 15 min @ 122F, Mash at 152 85 min - sparge 168F - 90 min. boil - added 1 tbsp of flour to the boil for haze formulation.

chilled post boil (tap water is running about 70 right now so the chilled wort came out around 72. OG came in right on target at 1.049.

- filled 2 five gallon carboys and oxygenated each batch for a 20 sec. count. Pitched starters of WYeast 3944 Belgian Witbier™ yeast. Capped the carboys with blow-off tubes about 9pm Sat. night. Ambient temp in the basement room is right about 65F right now.

Checked on the carboys the next day and carboys are already bubbling away with a good size krausen already formed. This is about the quickest I've ever seen the yeast get after it. I've previously aerated with a paint mixer attachment to a drill. Just got an O2 regulator and stone , so clearly that makes a huge difference. Temp. in the carboys is now down to 70F and will probably keep dropping. I'll let it ride down to 65F over the next 4 days and then probably bring upstairs and let it sit for 10 days at my upstairs temp of 70F to bring out some of the belgian esters/phenols.

Planning to keg one of the 5 gal batches and then bottle condition the other batch. Should be kegging and bottling these in 14 days or so. I'll post more notes as this comes along.

 

[kchomebrew]

Aggressive fermentation has subsided and the blowoff tubes are not showing any signs of bubbles coming from the bucket of water they are running into. Right now the fermenters are showing 66F degrees. Per Jamil's BYO article, he comments that 2/3 of the ferm. time needs to be right around 68F (I figure 66F ought to be fine) and then raising temp to 72F for the last 1/3. I'll take a reading this weekend and if it's close to the FG, then I'll bring the fermenters upstairs (since it's currently exactly 72F on my first floor) and let them sit for a couple of days.

Of interesting note is that Jamil's 5 gal recipe on the BYO article uses 0.03oz of chamomile flowers. Granted, I used a mix of chamomile flower, lavender, and lemon balm leaf, but my total content was 0.50 oz or 0.25 oz. per 5 gal. Hopefully that's not overdoing it. With that in mind, when I tasted the wort sample, it was only a faint flavor. I get that fermentation might change that though. I'll post more notes this weekend when I take a reading and sample the flavor.

Here's a link to the BYO article on Belgian Wit:
http://***********/stories/item/1647-witbier-style-profile

 

[kchomebrew]

 

[kchomebrew]

Still fermenting away. Removed blowoff tubes and dropped in the airlocks. Should be good for kegging in about 1.5 weeks I hope

 

[kchomebrew]

FG came in right at 1.010. Nice phenols in the aroma and a good tart flavor from the acidulated malt. I can pick up the lavender and chamomile very faintly. Some citrus too. Cant wait to carb it up. Kegged 5 gal at 10 psi and will leave it for a week. Bottled the other 5 gal.

 

[kchomebrew]

Kegged and carbed. Poured my first glass. Good overall aroma but tastes a tad bit green. Only been carbed for 4 days. Probably needs a week on the gas and then should be amazing. Will post tasting notes this coming weekend.

 

[kchomebrew]

Seems like the beer is now perfect. So here are the tasting notes. First, I am very happy with the hazy look to the beer and there is good head retention (I added flaked oats, not originally noted). Pours hazy yellow, aroma is faint lemon and a hint to some sweet aromas from the wheat. Some honey aroma is faintly noticeable on the nose also. Taste is a spicy tartness with some bitterness. Not much citrus though. Corriander might be weak on this one. I'm also noticing a very faint vanilla flavor on the front end. The finish has some floral/earthy notes (lavender and chamomile perhaps) and barely detectable ginger (sometimes on some sips I can't even detect the ginger). Definitely a light tart acidic finish at the end but I was hoping for more in that dept. But there is some sort of odd grassiness to the beer. The earthy flavor has a grassy twang that I don't care for and I also think I didn't get as much citrusy fruity wit esters as I hoped for. More phenol based. Ferment Temp is suspect for that I think. Medium bodied, very smooth mouthfeel and I think I've got the carbonation right (have psi set at 12 for serving).

 

[oelfool]

Nice! I've been wondering what to do with some fresh lavender that I have. I'll have to throw a little I the next wit I do.

Skål!

 

[kchomebrew]

Tried this again except without lemon balm leaf and lavender and split the batch with 3944 and 3711 and also added 1.5lbs of flaked oats. Fermenting both right at 68f and will crank both up to about 75f once krausen forms. Felt like aroma on the wit was lacking last time so in attribute it to too low a ferm temp. We will see. Also used fresh orange zest, cara cara. And also bought corriander from whole foods ( huge seeds and very aromatic). Added 3 tbsp of that and when crushed down it's about 1.5tbsp


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[kchomebrew]

Tried this again except without lemon balm leaf and lavender. Acid malt brought the ph under 5.0 so I added in 1.5tsp boing soda and it got it to 5.2, which is right where I wanted it for a Wit. The mash had 1.5lbs oats this time. I also adjusted hop additions. @ 30m I added 1oz tettnanger and 1oz saaz and then at flameout I added 2 oz. Galaxy and let it fall from post boil to 180F over 30m. Spices were added in at flameout. Fresh orange zest from cara cara oranges (5 oranges). And also bought corriander from whole foods ( huge seeds and very aromatic). Added 3 tbsp of that and when crushed down it's about 1.5tbsp. Also added in dried chamomile flowers from a 100% chamomile flower tea (cut open 6 tea bags and added). I split the batches with 3944 and 3711. Fermenting both right at 67/68f and will crank both up to about 75f once aggressive fermentation ceases and the krausen drops down a bit. Felt like aroma on the wit was lacking last time. I attribute it to too low a ferm temp. We will see.if this helps.

 

[kchomebrew]

3944 batch is still chugging away and at 73f. 3711 batch has ceased fermentation and krausen dropped and disappeared. 3712 is at about 76f. Hoping I can bottle the wit this weekend.


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[kchomebrew]

Splitting the 3711 batch today. Half of it will be bottled as is and the other half is going into a 3 gallon fermenter that's getting 3 lbs of Chilean white nectarines and Brett B. Will let that ferment away for a few months. The actual wit batch is still fermenting , sort of surprised about that actually.


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[kchomebrew]

3711 batch about to get half racked on nectarines with Brett b




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[kchomebrew]

Bottled the remaining 2.5gal. of the 3711 batch today. FG was 1.007. Figured the 3711 would take this lower, but not the case. No big deal, 1.007 is fine. Will let this bottle condition for about a month and then should be drinkable.

For the 3944 wit batch, looks about ready to be kegged or bottled. I'm about to kick a keg of Kolsch, so I think I'm just going to go ahead and keg the Wit, since I have the space. Figure the Kolsch will kick tonight or tomorrow.

 

[kchomebrew]

I kegged the 3944 batch yesterday. OG on this one came in at 1.054 (interesting that it was that high...I think the flaked oats addition did it) and FG was 1.014. Took a sample and it's too young to tell for sure what this will be like. But, with that in mind, the citrus (combo of galaxy hops and coriander I assume) on this is noticeably strong and I did recognize the chamomile "juicy fruit" flavors. Kind of kicking myself for not having cold crashed the fermenter for a couple of weeks before adding to the keg. Anyway, I'll let this one sit in the keg for a couple of weeks before I drink it (of course I'll try samples along the way though).

If I brew this one again, I think I'd probably add in a touch of fresh lavender and go out of my way to obtain actual whole chamomile flowers. The grain bill for this one will give this more of a Avery White Rascal look/feel. I'll see how it goes but will more than likely add in flaked wheat for next incarnations of this one.

On another note, the brett b/nectarine batch has krausened again and is working away actively.

 

[kchomebrew]

took a sample taste off the keg today. the wit is showing signs of carbonation and it's pretty good so far. it's got a tartness to it that it didn't in the last batch I brewed. So I'm excited about that ! We will see. Hoping I'll have a solid pour to sample by this weekend.

 

[kchomebrew]

Well. Proud to report I've finally nailed the Belgian wit. Believe it mostly to be temp related. Can't reinforce the right temp enough on this yeast. Wonderful beer !


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[kchomebrew]

An update on the 3 gal. batch that received 3711 saison yeast and 3lbs of Chilean nectarines added to the secondary with Brett B. Added nectarines and Brett B once the gravity was down to 1.007 and that was around 3/15. Took a sample off of the fermenter and it's a nice dry saison with some brett aromas and flavors and faint peach/nectarine to it. From the looks of the beer in the fermenter it does look like it's probably ready to be bottled. But, I'm going to resist the urge to do that and just let it go till June 15 and then will bottle. I figure 3 mo. of letting the brett b do it's thing and feeding off the nectarines should make for some interesting aroma/flavor profiles.

 

[kchomebrew]

Decided to bottle the Nectarine Brett Saison I made off of the belgian wit wort. FG was 1.005 (OG was 1.054). Aroma coming off of this is about the funkiest I've ever had off a brett saison (awesome !). Will let these bottles sit for about a month and then will sample. Should be excellent.

 

[kchomebrew]

So I never entered the nectarine brett beer in a competition. I have 4 12 oz. bottles left and a couple large format bottles and will probably enter 3 of the 12oz. ones in some competition soon. This beer is absolutely fantastic and the main reason I haven't entered it is because I wanted to keep as much as I could for myself.

On another note, the all 3711 Saison batch ended up great. I really enjoyed it. A low ABV saison and the spices and malt from the witbier wort really work with this. I'll certainly plan to split future batches of wit with a saison yeast. Sort of discovering saison's above 6% abv are not my thing. I think saison's under 6% exhibit a crispness and balance that is missing in higher abv saisons. Plus.....lower abv is true to historical style ! To each their own.

 

[kchomebrew]

Well. I brewed this agin with adj to flaked wheat and oat additions. Also ceased orange zest and used citra hop in hopback instead. We will see