Witbier critiques!

[joshesmusica]

OK all, I'm pretty new to this, usually only do extract with steeping grains. Done 9 brews so far. My wife really wants a hoegaarden clone, and of course i gotta get her what she wants when she wants it so that she allows me to keep brewing all the stuff i want. and of course i will drink the styles she likes as well.

so now i'm attempting to venture into the partial mash area. i've read as much as i can about doing the partial mash, and think i'm pretty prepared, but i wanted to make sure my recipe was a good one.

recipe:
.5 kg - pilsner 2 row - 2 ebc - 10.5%
.5 kg - wheat, flaked - 3.2 ebc - 10.5%
.25 kg - oats, flaked - 2 ebc - 5.3%
1 kg - wheat liquid extract - 6.5 ebc - 21.1% - 60 mins
15 g - Saaz - 60 mins - 7.3 IBUs
.5 kg - light dry extract - 8 ebc - 10.5% - 15 mins
2 kg - wheat liquid extract - 6.5 ebc - 15 mins
30 g - Saaz - 10 mins - 5.3 IBUs
7 g - sweet orange peel - 5 mins
3.5 g - coriander seeds (crushed) - 5 mins
1 pkg - Safbrew Specialty Ale T-58
15 g - Citra - dry hop 5 days
15 g - Saaz - dry hop 5 days


I know it's not an exact hoegaarden clone. should be using bitter orange peels, but know she'll like the sweet ones better. shouldn't be using dry yeast, but it's what i prefer, and i think it'll be good enough with t-58. and know i shouldn't be throwing in citra, but one of my favorite beers (and that of my wife) is boulevard's 80-acre hoppy wheat, which has been the one i've attempted to clone the most (5 of my 9 brews!).

other than those critiques, any other ones to add?

 

[IslandLizard]

That's the beauty of homebrewing, you can make the beer anyway you want it to be. Looks like a good recipe. And as long as you keep the missus happy, it's always a winner. That dry hop will be great!

Toast those coriander seeds a little before you crush and add them, gives better flavor. Not dark roast, just a few shades darker, to a slight tan. If you like the coriander you can easily double it to 7 grams for that batch. That's what I've been using, 7g dried peel (ground up in an electric coffee grinder) + 7g coriander, and I like to keep steeping them a bit longer, 30 minutes at 170-190°F after flameout, before chilling it all the way down.

Added:
If you want a more permanent haze, add a tablespoon of wheat flour (bread or cake flour), made into a slurry with some water, at 5 minutes.