Hey Guys. I recently brewed a simple wit from extract. Here's the recipe. I'm from Ireland and so have used metric recipe measurements - but you hopefully get the general idea
2 kg. Dry Wheat Spraymalt
1 kg Light Spraymalt
21 g. Hallertau Hersbucker boiled 60 min.
16 g. Saaz boiled 15 min.
25 g. Curacao Orange Peel (dried) (10 min)
14g Indian Corriander seed, crushed (10 min)
Yeast : WLP400 (no starter - pitched straight from the vial)
Pitched a little high at 75 F and fermented between 68 - 71
Fermentor volume 22 l
OG 1055
FG 1010
I let it ferment out for two weeks. Fermentation was insane for like two days and then would slow down. I had read that this was normal with WLP400 and so swirled the fermenter gently every few days to keep the yeast in suspension and active. Everytime it was swirled crazy head would form and one time it blew out the airlock. It smelled great the whole time - kind of like an orange yoghurt. I tasted a little after a week and it was coming on great - still sugary but unmistakeably an immature wit
.
In any case it finally stopped bubbling after two weeks so I took a gravity and it came out at 1010. I tasted the gravity sample and it had a really strong treacley flavour. It tasted almost sweet but not like a sugary sweetness - and the gravity backed this up, given that it wasn't that high. The treacle flavour was overpowering. I've left it in the fermentor for another two weeks in the hope that the yeast might help to clear this flavour up but haven't tasted yet to find out (the fermentor is in my girlfriend's apt as I don't have room in my place). I plan on bottling this weekend. The smell from the airlock isn't as nice as it used to be, a little more harsh, a little less mellow and a bit sulphury but I wouldn't say it smells bad. Any ideas what the funky flavour might be? I'm not sure what phenolic or estery smells/flavours are like so it's hard to determine if this is a result of a normal WLP400 fermentation, but if it is - this wit bites.
2 kg. Dry Wheat Spraymalt
1 kg Light Spraymalt
21 g. Hallertau Hersbucker boiled 60 min.
16 g. Saaz boiled 15 min.
25 g. Curacao Orange Peel (dried) (10 min)
14g Indian Corriander seed, crushed (10 min)
Yeast : WLP400 (no starter - pitched straight from the vial)
Pitched a little high at 75 F and fermented between 68 - 71
Fermentor volume 22 l
OG 1055
FG 1010
I let it ferment out for two weeks. Fermentation was insane for like two days and then would slow down. I had read that this was normal with WLP400 and so swirled the fermenter gently every few days to keep the yeast in suspension and active. Everytime it was swirled crazy head would form and one time it blew out the airlock. It smelled great the whole time - kind of like an orange yoghurt. I tasted a little after a week and it was coming on great - still sugary but unmistakeably an immature wit
. In any case it finally stopped bubbling after two weeks so I took a gravity and it came out at 1010. I tasted the gravity sample and it had a really strong treacley flavour. It tasted almost sweet but not like a sugary sweetness - and the gravity backed this up, given that it wasn't that high. The treacle flavour was overpowering. I've left it in the fermentor for another two weeks in the hope that the yeast might help to clear this flavour up but haven't tasted yet to find out (the fermentor is in my girlfriend's apt as I don't have room in my place). I plan on bottling this weekend. The smell from the airlock isn't as nice as it used to be, a little more harsh, a little less mellow and a bit sulphury but I wouldn't say it smells bad. Any ideas what the funky flavour might be? I'm not sure what phenolic or estery smells/flavours are like so it's hard to determine if this is a result of a normal WLP400 fermentation, but if it is - this wit bites.
