Extract / mini-mash Wit help

[LowerMillHillBackyardBrew]

Hi, I'm planning a Wit for the summer!

I have 5.5 lbs of Munton's Wheat DME (55 % wheat, 45 % barley).

Will it be good using just the DME (+ of course orange,coriander,belgian yeast, maybe chamomile), or should I try a mini-mash with flaked wheat, flaked oats and some basic pale ale malt? What difference will it make? Mouthfeel, probably? Does it affect aroma/flavor as well? I've only done extract brews so far, some with steeping grains, so the world of mashing is a little new to me. I've read a lot of recipes, some indicate that all DME is cool, others recommend all-grain or a partial/mini-mash, so I'm a bit confused and hope someone can enlighten me

I know pale ale malt probably is a little too dark for a wit, but I've also read (in BYO magazine) that it's really hard to get that super light color when using extract, so I'm OK with this beer ending up a little darker than a true witbier should be. (Although it would be awesome to get a really light color if that's possible with extract&a mini-mash! I do like the color of Wits.)

I could also get some pilsner malt if that's more appropriate, but if the difference is only the color I'll probably go with the pale malt I already have on hand.

Edit:
And what amounts of pale ale malt / flaked wheat / flaked out would you recommend for a 5.5 gallon batch?
I'm using BeerSmith to plan my brews, so I'll enter it there and adjust the amount of DME etc to get my target OG.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Oldsock]

A mini-mash certainly will add some body as well as a fresher/grainier flavor. Not required, but worth it if you have the effort. You need ~2 lbs of pale for every pound of flaked grain, so how much you use depends on how much space you have to mash. When you are done take a gravity reading to determine how much extract you need to add.

The color difference between American pale malt and pils is pretty small. The size of your boil, and when you add the extract will make a bigger difference.

 

[LowerMillHillBackyardBrew]

Fantastic, thanks for your reply! I did a mini mash for a pale ale yesterday and that worked quite well, so I will do that with my Wit too!