Extract Belgian Wit Recipe

[FLOutlander]

Hello all,

I came up with a recipe that I'd like your feedback on.

5 gallon batch
2.5 gallon boil

6 lbs Wheat LME
.5 lbs Carapils
1.25 ounce Hallertau Pellets(4.2%)
.5 ounce Corriander Seed
2 ounces Sweet Orange Peel
WLP-400 Yeast

OG: 1.045
IBU: 18.7
Color: 3.7
Estimated FG: 1.011
ABV: 4.4%

Heat 2.5 gallons of water to 152-156 degrees. Add Carapils and steep 30 min. Then add 3 lbs Wheat LME and bring to boil. Add hops and boil for 60 min. Remove from heat and add remaining 3 lbs Wheat LME. Chill wort in ice bath to 80 degrees. Add to ferm bucket and fill to 5 gallon mark with cool filtered water. Stir for 5 min to mix and areate. Pitch WLP-400 at 68 degrees.

Due to the size of my brew kettle, I'm only able to boil about 2.5 gallons. Adding half the LME should bring the wort gravity to around 1.043 which should be good for the hop boil. Adding the other half of the LME at flameout will keep this brew as light as possible. Planning on fermenting this at 72 degrees for 10-14 days. This will be going into 12 ounce bottles.

What do you think? Any suggested changes or tips? This will be my first 5 gallon batch.

Cheers!
Outlander

Sent from my Z796C using Home Brew mobile app

 

[sweetcell]

recipe and process look solid. only thing you don't mention is when you're adding the coriander & peel. hopefully your plan is todo so in the last minutes of the boil.

are you making a starter?

 

[FLOutlander]

I will be adding the Coriander and Orange Peel with 10 minutes left in the boil. Should I leave this in the wort during fermentation or strain it out while adding wort to ferm bucket? I have a strainer that would work great for this, and it helps with aeration as well. But I may just leave the Coriander and Peel in there if needed.

I'm not planning on making a starter. I was just going to pitch the yeast as is. However, I'm open to suggestions here. I've never made a starter. The last time I used this yeast I pitched it at 68 degrees and noticed krausen about 15 hours later. May look into this.

Cheers!

Outlander

 

[sweetcell]

i would strain them out. you'll get everything you need in those 10 minutes of boiling, plus the peel can add bitterness if left in too long.

have a look at http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html. if your yeast was a day old, the recommended amount would be 1.6 vials. if your vial is a month old, the recommended amount is 2.1 vials.

here are some tutorials on how to make a starter:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/how-make-yeast-starter-pictorial-76101/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/how-make-yeast-starter-pictorial-updated-340261/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/how-make-starter-my-wyeast-smack-pack-194370/