Galdalf the Grey- Belgian Wit

[acidrain23]

This is my 2nd attempt at a wit (the first being "Galdalf the White" of course). Also, technically, this is my first all grain batch. Since I only cooked up a three gallon batch, I found I could handle all of the grain BIAB style in my 7 gallon pot! Additionally, I found some interesting ingredients to add (my secret spice!), more on that in a sec. Here is what I came up with:

For 3.5 Gallons

For 3.5 Gallons

2 lbs flaked wheat
2 lbs pilsner malt
2 lbs wheat malt
8 oz flaked oats
(Rice Hulls)

60M .5 oz Styrian Goldings
10M .75 oz Styrian Goldings
5M .5 oz crushed coriander, zest of four tangerines, zest of three sweet/Persian limes*** + juice, 1 tsp fresh grated ginger, .25 oz dried chamomile
0M .75 oz Styrian Goldings

Predicted-
OG: 1.049
FG: 1.012
IBU’s: 23

Yeast: Wyeast Belgian Wit

Actual yield, 4 gallons, OG: 1.052

I started the mash at 122F and then ramped up to 154F for a 90M mash (possibly why I got better efficiency then predicted). I also did a more through "sparge" than usual (took the whole grain bag and added it to a pot of fresh hot water, then did more rinsing after I removed that). Since I got a higher gravity than expected, I just topped off with water until I hit my desired gravity giving me more wort. The extra wort was put in another vessel, I'm going to top off with this after the Wit yeast blows about 1/3 of the beer out of the blowoff tube, haha.

The ginger is new, I thought the lemony/spiciness of fresh ginger in small amounts would add a nice touch.

 

[acidrain23]

***sweet/Persian limes/lemons: I found these at the little Latino grocery store down the street. They call them 'limon dulce' or sweet lemons (although limon means both lime and lemon in Spanish). They are also known as Persian limes, though I'm not sure if they are the exact same species.

They look like this:

The skin is light yellow-green, and they are a bit bumpy and ugly looking. Scratching the skin yeilds a lemongrass/citronella note. I thought it would add some interesting complexity. The weird thing about sweet lemons is that they are totally lacking in acid, and the juice is almost melon like (and also has that citronella flavor).

When I zested them, I also got a bergamont note initially. Interestingly the bergamont orange is a similar hybrid and grown mostly for its aromatic peel. Anyway, zest three of these only yeilded about two teaspoons of zest so interested to see if this carries through.