Witbier Blue Balls Belgian Wit (Blue Moon Clone)

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Well this will be the first beer I had to dump :( Not really sure where that weird flavor is coming from. time hasnt really helped it like i was hoping for...

I will brew again but I think I will either put very small amounts of the coriander /OP or just leave it out entirely...
 
Well this will be the first beer I had to dump :( Not really sure where that weird flavor is coming from. time hasnt really helped it like i was hoping for...

I will brew again but I think I will either put very small amounts of the coriander /OP or just leave it out entirely...

FWIW I use only WY1007 or S05 as I dislike clove in my beer; don't know what the 3447 may do to flavor.
 
FWIW I use only WY1007 or S05 as I dislike clove in my beer; don't know what the 3447 may do to flavor.

I used 3944. Though I thought about using 05.. i might do that. i dont think its a yeast issue, or sanitation issue, 2 batches after that were just fine...
 
I used 3944. Though I thought about using 05.. i might do that. i dont think its a yeast issue, or sanitation issue, 2 batches after that were just fine...

3447, 3944, apparently my short term memory is not up to the task. Sorry. I did look up 3944 and read "spicey phenolics" and that makes me think "clove", hence my comment.

But your off flavor description doesn't mention clove as being the flavor you dislike in this batch.

Wish I could help more.
 
3447, 3944, apparently my short term memory is not up to the task. Sorry. I did look up 3944 and read "spicey phenolics" and that makes me think "clove", hence my comment.

But your off flavor description doesn't mention clove as being the flavor you dislike in this batch.

Wish I could help more.

I really dont know how to describe it , but its a very bitter after taste, i just feel its one of those two cor/OP...

also, last time I used flaked wheat... should i have used raw white wheat instead? or is there a difference?
 
Use malted grains to have enzymes to convert starches to sugar. Barley or wheat. If raw (means un-malted), then no enzymes. But base malts can have enough diastatic power to convert both themselves and other starches in the mash.

Raw wheat to me means unmalted. There is white wheat malt, which is malted. There is raw wheat berries which you have to do a cereal mash first to even gelatinize their starches to make them even available for the enzymatic conversion to fermentable sugars. That's what torrified and flaked wheats are - prepared for simply adding to the mash, starches prepared for enzymes from other malts in the mash to convert.
 
Use malted grains to have enzymes to convert starches to sugar. Barley or wheat. If raw (means un-malted), then no enzymes. But base malts can have enough diastatic power to convert both themselves and other starches in the mash.

Raw wheat to me means unmalted. There is white wheat malt, which is malted. There is raw wheat berries which you have to do a cereal mash first to even gelatinize their starches to make them even available for the enzymatic conversion to fermentable sugars. That's what torrified and flaked wheats are - prepared for simply adding to the mash, starches prepared for enzymes from other malts in the mash to convert.

https://www.morebeer.com/products/briess-raw-white-wheat-malt.html

https://www.morebeer.com/products/great-western-white-wheat-malt.html

both say for use in Wheat Beers? just wondering what if any difference there is...
 
Someone more knowledgeable than I will have to answer that one. I don’t know the differences between malster’s in terms of taste, or usage. Sorry
 



The product listings show the Breiss as 2 Lovibond, and the great western as 3.1, so the great western is going to be a tiny amount darker. And, I’m guessing here, but the great western would then also have a tiny amount more toastiness. By tiny I’m saying “I’m not sure you’d notice unless you went looking for it.” At the end of the day, the best way to tell the difference is try them both in iterations of the same recipe, and see what you like better.
 
The product listings show the Breiss as 2 Lovibond, and the great western as 3.1, so the great western is going to be a tiny amount darker. And, I’m guessing here, but the great western would then also have a tiny amount more toastiness. By tiny I’m saying “I’m not sure you’d notice unless you went looking for it.” At the end of the day, the best way to tell the difference is try them both in iterations of the same recipe, and see what you like better.

So the briess is what I ordered this time, I will see how it goes...thank you :)
 
Someone more knowledgeable than I will have to answer that one. I don’t know the differences between malster’s in terms of taste, or usage. Sorry

thats fine, you have been more than helpful, thank you :)

I bought the Briess so will give it a try this time.. though I doubt the wheat was the reason for the bad taste...
 
For the record, swapping tangerine peel in for the bitter orange peel smells and tastes amazing. It is probably easier to get a hold of at the grocery store.
 
Ok, looking for my next couple of beers for end of summer/early fall drinking and after my last year of venturing into too many IPAs this is looking good.

What do others think of bumping the orangzle zest up to a few ounces and dry hopping? The one complaint I generally.have with most Wits, and American Wheats clamming to be Wits, is the orange is very muted. At least to my palate I have to be looking to get any subtle orange taste, in this I want the orange to be more prominant. I'm somewhat looking for a base to use for a cranberry(maybe hibiscus)/orange beer for holiday time and if I can get the orange flavor to come through I think a Wit will be good.

Just food for thought if I do make the holiday brew, I'll likell raise the ABV a little and add some victory or biscuit malt to give some bready flavor!!
 
Try bumping up the bitter orange peel to 1 oz. That's what I did and it shines through real nice in the samples. I just brewed the recipe but subbed the pale 2 row for Pilsen malt, bumped corriander and bitter orange peel up to 1oz. Was going to get wlp400 straight up from whitelabs in Asheville but they were out so ended up using wyeast 3944 with a .5l starter. Pitched at 72f and let free rise to 70f with a 2 degree differential...meaning fermentation fridge kicks on when it hits 72f. It's only been a week in primary so far but the sample (minus the sulfur) had a nice strong orange tone to it. Not much yeast flavor yet but figure that may take some time. Like they say...RDWHAHB!

Edit forgot to add I added a lb of oats
 
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If you more of an orangey flavour use fresh orange zest or sweet orange peel instead of dried bitter orange peel. Up the coriander a bit too in a normal wit it's actually the Indian coriander seeds that add the orangey flavour more than the bitter orange peel. I heard good quality orange marmalade is also an option.
 
Hello guys,
I brew this beer 6 days ago, and today I took a gravity reading and it went from 1056(I used a little more grains) to 1012 with US-05. The problem is that it has only a slight smell of coriander, but it doesn't taste at all of coriander or orange peels, I get only the bitter from the hops.
I have used:
- 1 oz hallertau on 40 min (I use the no chill method)
- 1 oz sweet orange peels from my LHBS, put it them whole (their are ~1cm pieces) in the boil at 5 minutes
- 0.75 oz coriander that I milled it in the blender - in the boil at 5 min
What could be the problem?
-That I no chill and the spices stayed to long in the hot wort? Next time I should add them at flameout or I should I add the coriander at 10min instead of 5?
-The spices are not so fresh?
-The beer is still fermenting so the coriander and orange aroma should appear after bottling and conditioning?

Should I try to make a "dry hop" with another 1 oz of coriander and 1 oz of orange peels ? Maybe this time I will mill the orange as well. How do I sanitize the spices?
Thank you !
 
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Hey guys, I'm planning to make this one for my next batch. I do have a question about the flaked wheat, as I've never used it before. My HBS sells unmalted flaked wheat and recommends to boil them for 30 minutes before using them in the mash. This way the starch would become accessible in the mash. Is boiling the unmalted flakes required or recommended for this recipe?
 
Hey guys, I'm planning to make this one for my next batch. I do have a question about the flaked wheat, as I've never used it before. My HBS sells unmalted flaked wheat and recommends to boil them for 30 minutes before using them in the mash. This way the starch would become accessible in the mash. Is boiling the unmalted flakes required or recommended for this recipe?

Brewed this yesterday.
I bought torrified wheat because it was cheaper than flaked and similar.
I just ground it up in my mill and mashed an hr like normal.
I cracked the coriander seeds with a rolling pin.
In past orange beers I ground them up in a coffee grinder and the flavor was too strong.
I also used a full oz of the orange peel.
because I BIAB and get higher efficiency I just went with 4lbs of both and came in at 1.036. next time i'll just go with the 4.5lbs of each grain.

its fermenting now.
 
Yeast took a while to drop.
finished out at 1.007 so 3.8%
Cold crashing now and kegging tomorrow.
sample tastes pretty darn good and smooth.

Might use this as a base for a grapefruit flavored beer.
 
Enjoying this as my "gardening" summer beer; please excuse the dirt....
https://i223.photobucket.com/albums...7-3402-454F-9425-4C0903F0C08D_zpsq9kcjo4d.jpg
A20EF317-3402-454F-9425-4C0903F0C08D_zpsq9kcjo4d.jpg
 
Soon as a Fermenter is open i'll be brewing 10 gallons of this.
I have some Arcadian hops I grew last yr that give you an orange tangerine flavor/aroma with dry hopping.
no idea on AA% but supposed to be 9%.
Think I'll toss an oz in for the 60 min since I have no east kent gold.
 
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So I brewed up 10 gallons of this on the 13th.
so been in the fermenter a week and a few days.
changed it slightly to be less shock top with an orange and more bluemoonish without the orange.

10 lbs of pale.
10lbs torrified wheat.
1 oz of first gold at the 60 min. mark.
1 oz of first gold at 5 mins.
1 oz of bitter orange peel 5 mins.
1 oz of coriander seed run through a coffee mill gently at 5 mins.

T-58 yeast at 64 F.

OG was 1.042
FG 1.002.

way lower than expected. I mashed in at 156 to try and avoid too dry a beer.
It tastes like a wheat beer with a bit of spiciness and a hint of orange.
the spice flavor lingers in my mouth.
which is what I was trying for in a fall beer.
So the yeast did what it was supposed to. :)

gonna bring the temp up to 70 and give it a few more days in the fermenter then get it kegged.
 
So I brewed up 10 gallons of this on the 13th.
so been in the fermenter a week and a few days.
changed it slightly to be less shock top with an orange and more bluemoonish without the orange.

10 lbs of pale.
10lbs torrified wheat.
1 oz of first gold at the 60 min. mark.
1 oz of first gold at 5 mins.
1 oz of bitter orange peel 5 mins.
1 oz of coriander seed run through a coffee mill gently at 5 mins.

T-58 yeast at 64 F.

OG was 1.042
FG 1.002.

way lower than expected. I mashed in at 156 to try and avoid too dry a beer.
It tastes like a wheat beer with a bit of spiciness and a hint of orange.
the spice flavor lingers in my mouth.
which is what I was trying for in a fall beer.
So the yeast did what it was supposed to. :)

gonna bring the temp up to 70 and give it a few more days in the fermenter then get it kegged.
Sounds delicious! Can't wait to see a pic of the first pint!
 
Sounds delicious! Can't wait to see a pic of the first pint!

just kegged it.
initial thoughts are it's super crush-able and has a surprisingly pleasant orange character to it without it being the focus like the original recipe.
it subtlety finishes with a hint of spice that lingers on the tip of your tongue.
it is warm and flat and really cloudy though so things change after a few days of carbonation and chilling.
 
So I let some friends sample it. Everyone said it needed more orange and spice. So I boiled up a half oz of orange peel and crushed coriander seeds In 2 cups of water for 5 mins. Tossed in the French press. Then dumped that in the keg. Gave it a few mins to mix and let them sample again. Got the thumbs up.

So it looks like all I really did was change the yeast and the hops. Orange + coriander amounts were pretty much spot on from original.
shouldn't of tried to mess with perfection. :)

14FAC100-93FA-4BCC-A2B0-EC850D6D3126.jpeg
 
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Should I try to make a "dry hop" with another 1 oz of coriander and 1 oz of orange peels ? Maybe this time I will mill the orange as well. How do I sanitize the spices?
Thank you !

Did you try the dry hop option? I just brewed this yesterday and its bubbling away but wondering if I'll need more orange or coriander flavor.
 
Did you try the dry hop option? I just brewed this yesterday and its bubbling away but wondering if I'll need more orange or coriander flavor.
I go an oz of each for orange and coriander to make it pop and will sometimes make an orange peel tea to add if more is needed.
i don't dry hop this.
everyone loves it and it goes quick.
but i have a new 25 gallon pot so i should be able to biab up 15 gallons of this so i have spare kegs.
it goes down fast when i have people over plus i can drink it most of the day on the weekend. :)
 
I'm looking to experiment with some lemon and pineapple wheats.
since i have a lot of torrified wheat on hand (bought to make lots of this :) )
thinking I'll just use this grain bill as the base for them.
 
Brewing another 10 today.
i'd do 15 but i'm out of room in my ferm chamber.
using T-58 yeast.
didn't have enough torrified wheat so sub'd in 3lbs of red wheat.
shouldn't make a huge difference.
 
I brewed a Blue Moon Clone using a different recipe a few months ago and found the overall flavor profile quite underwhelming (5G packaged). Although I used 1.5 oz of orange peel and 0.6 oz of coriander, neither of those flavors came thru. I used Hallertau Blanc as that's the closest hop I had and find it imparts an Earl Grey tea flavor...which is not bad but certainly different than Blue Moon.

5.5# Briess 2-Row Pale Malt 2L
4.5# Briess White Wheat Malt 2.5L
1.5# Flaked Oats 1.5L
1.0 oz Hallertau Blanc Hops (last 40 mins of boil)
0.6 oz Ground Coriander (last 10 mins of boil)
1.5 oz Valencia Sweet Orange Peel (last 10 mins of boil)
Safale S-04 English Ale
 
I brewed a Blue Moon Clone using a different recipe a few months ago and found the overall flavor profile quite underwhelming (5G packaged). Although I used 1.5 oz of orange peel and 0.6 oz of coriander, neither of those flavors came thru. I used Hallertau Blanc as that's the closest hop I had and find it imparts an Earl Grey tea flavor...which is not bad but certainly different than Blue Moon.

5.5# Briess 2-Row Pale Malt 2L
4.5# Briess White Wheat Malt 2.5L
1.5# Flaked Oats 1.5L
1.0 oz Hallertau Blanc Hops (last 40 mins of boil)
0.6 oz Ground Coriander (last 10 mins of boil)
1.5 oz Valencia Sweet Orange Peel (last 10 mins of boil)
Safale S-04 English Ale

The problem with the recipe is you're using spices in the boil. How do you make tea? Would you throw a tea bag in boiling water and let it continue to boil for 10 minutes or would you throw it in after the water has been removed from the heat source (flame out)? I had the same issues and consulted with a buddy of mine with over 20 years of head Chef experience. That is exactly what he said and he's not a brewer. I tried that and the spices finally came through. Give that a shot ;)
 
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The problem with the recipe is you're using spices in the boil. How do you make tea? Would you throw a tea bag in boiling water and let it continue to boil for 10 minutes or would you throw it out after the water has been removed from the heat source (flame out)? I had the same issues and consulted with a buddy of mine with over 20 years of head Chef experience. That is exactly what he said and he's not a brewer. I tried that and the spices finally came through. Give that a shot ;)

I absolutely agree with this I used Wayne's recipe but threw in my coriander and sweet orange peel at flameout and the coriander and orange definitely came through very well.
 
I absolutely agree with this I used Wayne's recipe but threw in my coriander and sweet orange peel at flameout and the coriander and orange definitely came through very well.

The chef said when you boil spices it flashes off all the oils and such that you're looking to keep in the "tea". If you steep it the oils are retained. HUGE difference since I started doing this
 
Not knowing any better, I just followed the OP (Wayne's) recipe which indicated to put those ingredients in for the last 10 minutes of the boil. Now i know.
 
I've always run my coriander and orange peel through a coffee grinder when i make this and never had any issues with the flavor when tossing it in last 5 mins. of the boil.

so, I brewed 10 gallons of this on wed the 7th.
used t-58 at 65 deg.
it's currently at 1.010.
i need this for sat the 17th. lol.
For some reason thought i had more time.
I upped the temp in my ferm chamber so i'm hoping it can finish out in a few days and i'll have a few days to burst carb the keg then transfer to a new keg for transport.


what i like about this beer is that it has a fast turnaround time and it's cool it's cloudy because so is shocktop/bluemoon.
 
my kegs are empty. busy summer. decided I'm going to brew up 20 gallons in one shot then split it off into 4 different beers.
#1 the OG blueballs wit.

#2 Grains of paradise, lemon zest, and some hallertauer dry hop. ( same adams summer spices)

#3 Blueberry with 3lbs of frozen blueberries as a secondary and flavoring if needed. this one needs to get sorbated to keep the yeast from fermenting out the blueberry flavor.

#4 crystalized mango, smoked Habanero powder, and a small citra dry hop. these are home grown peppers, smoked with cherry wood and ground to dust. hot as hell so only a little bit. mainly just going for hints of flavor.

making a big starter with Jovaru yeast.
OYL-033 Lithuanian farmhouse.
i don't have temp control right now and this yeast doesn't need it plus they say it makes a great wit.
 
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