Witbier Blue Balls Belgian Wit (Blue Moon Clone)

[letmeholleratya]

Can anyone give a beginner moving to all grain a step by step directions for this recipe?

This recipe is pretty basic, so nothing special in regards to making it all grain. Have you already purchased the equipment you'll be using? I'd suggest checking out a general all grain tutorial - there's tons of them here, as well as online in general.

 

[Warrior]

Brewed this again last Fri. I love the fact that I can brew 24 gal and only need 31 lbs of grain. It is a very easy beer to make and a lot of people enjoy drinking it this time of year. I also like that this can be a ten day beer from making to drinking

 

[branman]

About to do fourth batch and I have 1 question. Has anyone else noticed when you get to the last gallon or so in the keg the beer is almost clear with no haze and tastes very different? Do you know what would cause this?

 

[Warrior]

About to do fourth batch and I have 1 question. Has anyone else noticed when you get to the last gallon or so in the keg the beer is almost clear with no haze and tastes very different? Do you know what would cause this?

The cold conditioning settles out the yeast towards the end of the keg. Shake the keg around to suspend the yeast again. Same thing can happen with a Hefeweizen.

 

[Warrior]

Forgot how active a fermenter this yeast strain is. Cleaned up the carboys and airlocks that the yeast came through. Next time I'll use 6 instead of 5 carboys for 24 gal.

 

[swackattack]

Is a wheat so you kind of want it cloudy. I wouldn't.

 

[branman]

Crap.....brewed this on 6-10, forgot to take a reading, just before I bottled I got a reading of 1.028...if I was even close to the recipe FG....ABV will be under 2%......wtf......another beer going down the drain?

That's suuuucks! Dont chunk it, might still be good...

 

[piteko]

Crap.....brewed this on 6-10, forgot to take a reading, just before I bottled I got a reading of 1.028...if I was even close to the recipe FG....ABV will be under 2%......wtf......another beer going down the drain? I racked to secondary on 6-23,,,took out of fermenter chamber and put in swamp cooler for 6 days...water temp was in the mid 70's.......it was frickin hot out all week. put back in fermenter chamber for 7 days.....

My 2 cents: pitch some fresh yeast in krausen, let it work and take some readings.

Good luck from Italy!
Piteko

 

[creekwaterbrew]

Ok two questions,

1. What is the purpose of rice hulls?
2. Should I remove all orange and coriander from wort before primary, or transfer them into primary?

Thanks!

 

[piteko]

1. What is the purpose of rice hulls?

To let the wort drain more easily when you are filtering. If you are confident in your filtering method, they are not strictly necessary (I made the recipe without them and had no problem).

2. Should I remove all orange and coriander from wort before primary, or transfer them into primary?

Remove them. They are used just like hops.

Cheers from Italy!
piteko

 

[creekwaterbrew]

To let the wort drain more easily when you are filtering. If you are confident in your filtering method, they are not strictly necessary (I made the recipe without them and had no problem).

Remove them. They are used just like hops.

Cheers from Italy!
piteko

Thanks!

 

[roastquake]

I like blue moon, and one reason is that it doesn't taste wheaty like other wits and hefes. while I like wheatyness sometimes, I've never been able to make a wit without that bready taste. does anyone have tips for this? less wheat?

 

[BrewmeisterSmith]

sorry if this was mentioned some 500 posts back, but isnt blue moon closer to 5.4% ABV? This recipe is only about 4%.

 

[Setesh]

Just brewed this and I'll be damned if those little pieces of dried orange peel weren't a huge PITA! They kept clogging my spigot as I was transferring to my fermentation vessel. I ended up sanitizing a racking cane and tubing and using a strainer bag to make a safe place in the middle of my ribcage cooler to siphon from. This beer smells absolutely amazing when you add the coriander and the orange peel at 5 minutes! Unfortunately I ended up at 1.049 instead of 1.038 even after topping up to 6 gallons. I shouldn't have double milled the malt.....oh well. Iodine test showed full conversion at 60 minutes.

I really appreciate the recipe! Cheers BierMuncher!

 

[shadows69]

Put the orange pieces and the Coriander into a hop bag...no more problems with clogging the spigot.

 

[Setesh]

Put the orange pieces and the Coriander into a hop bag...no more problems with clogging the spigot.

That is exactly what I will do next time. I know it will effect utilization a bit but I won't be cussing the wort either!

 

[ronstar55]

I have some fresh wheat from the farm. Can I use this instead of flaked wheat? If so, any changes in the mash instructions?

 

[roastquake]

I have some fresh wheat from the farm. Can I use this instead of flaked wheat? If so, any changes in the mash instructions?

you can, just yesterday I opened the first bottles of witbier that I made with local red wheat, got it real cheap. just crush it a little finer than your barley, use a protein rest, and add rice hulls. Mine came out great! oh, and no need to pre-cook, the starches will gelatinize at mash temps

 

[ronstar55]

Thanks roastquake. protein rest it is.

 

[daggers_nz]

I am making this next weekend with Wyeast 3944.. Was this ever answered? Didn't read whole thread

I can't help but notice that this is a wheat beer and there isn't an enzyme or protein rest. Should there be ? What would adding a rest do to the beers taste, head, efficiency, etc ?

Thanks.

 

[carlk47]

Another great recipe BM! Brewed up 3 gal of this and put it on tap last week.. Expecting it to go fast!

 

[traistbrew]

Ill be brewing the original recipe in a few hours. Any last minute advice? And I will post results and pics.

 

[ShaineT]

you can, just yesterday I opened the first bottles of witbier that I made with local red wheat, got it real cheap. just crush it a little finer than your barley, use a protein rest, and add rice hulls. Mine came out great! oh, and no need to pre-cook, the starches will gelatinize at mash temps

Just wanted to +1 you on that, roastquake. I use a raw spring wheat at 50% with the base malt and extended protein rest between 117F and 124F for 45minutes works great.

 

[ShaineT]

I like blue moon, and one reason is that it doesn't taste wheaty like other wits and hefes. while I like wheatyness sometimes, I've never been able to make a wit without that bready taste. does anyone have tips for this? less wheat?

Just an opinion but I've always had an issue with BlueMoon seeming too sweet and the carbonation too harsh. Shocktop, Alaskan-wit and Redhook-Wit are much better but I would always prefer the witbiers of homebrewers.

 

[traistbrew]

Can't wait. The ABV is low but I think its due to I was half a pound short on the wheat. Taste test was good and can't wait to try it in a few weeks

 

[daggers_nz]

I happened to find a Blue Moon 6 pack tonight at the bottle store.. first time trying this beer. I look forward to making it on Saturday!

 

[jasonduff84]

Dude you have great recipes this is damn right on to blue moon. I brewed it earlier this summer hit all my marks, bottled it and it went so fast.

 

[John8251]

Great beer! Thanks BierMuncher for the recipe!






Darn fine looking beer I might add

Edit: definitely messed up my first attempt to post that picture..

 

[daggers_nz]

mine is tasting pretty good 2 weeks in, but the orange is quite overpowering and it tastes a little like honey? Will give it another week

 

[Toggels]

Yes... thanks BierMuncher...

I have brewed this 3 times now... with great results....