First Witbier - Recipe and Pictures!

[bgrayson726]

So this is a repost of a thread I made late last night after a few beers. But someone asked for the recipe and I said I was going to include pictures. Also, I couldn't change the title of my original post, so here you go!


I brewed a witbier in december. I was worried about it because it had this very strong alcoholic aroma to it. I posted about it and people told me to bottle it/secondary ferment it and let it age. I have been trying one a week for the last 3 weeks. Right now, it is amazing. I am my own worst critic and I think this is one of the best witbiers I have had. The ONLY problem I have with it is that it is a little too dark, 6 SRM I believe. I save every recipe that I have ever made so it won't be a problem in the future, but wow I love it.

Please bear with the recipe, I am still new to this so it may not be to style.

Belgian Witbier Recipe

Grains Steeped for 30 mins:
0.5 lb 2 row crystal
0.5 lb Rahr white wheat
0.25 lb Belgian carapils

Malt boiled for for 70 mins:
6 lbs of Briess Golden Light

Hops With AA and time added:
1 oz. Cascade, 25 mins left in boil, 6.1% AA
1 oz. Amarillo, 10 mins left in boil, 7.5% AA
1 oz. Willamette, ~1 min left in boil, 4.7% AA
0.5 oz. Cascade, ~1 min left in boil, 6.1% AA

Extras added:
Irish Moss, 10 mins left in boil
0.25 oz. Sweet Orange Peel (dried, bought at LHBS), 7 mins left in boil
1 oz. Bitter Orange Peel (dried, bought at LHBS), 7 mins left in boil
0.5 oz. Coriander, 7 mins left in boil

Water:
Arrowhead Spring Water, Partial boil (3-4 gallons, 2 gallons added after it went into the fermenter)

Yeast:
Wyeast Belgian Witbier (3944)

SG: 1.060
FG: 1.010 - 1.011

Fermented at ~72 degrees

ABV: 6.7%

Estimated SRM: 6.39 Golden Color

I also primed it with 1 cup of dextrose to 2 cups of water

Fermented in primary for 2 weeks. Bottle fermented for almost 2 months.

Clear in the bottle...


Not in the glass...

 

[jbsg02]

Looks good! How does it compare to a Blue Moon?

 

[bgrayson726]

I'm a big fan of blue moon, but I like this beer as much, if not better. It doesn't have a similar taste to blue moon and it's not a clone attempt, so it's hard to compare. They are two completely different beers with similar spices used

 

[jbsg02]

Cool, I'm thinking of doing a belgian wit when my IPA is done

 

[bgrayson726]

anyone else have some feedback? What should I do to this to get a lighter color?

 

[barroomhero1234]

You could do a smaller addition of extract at the start then late in the boil add the rest of extract to lower the caramelization in the kettle.

 

[wyzazz]

anyone else have some feedback? What should I do to this to get a lighter color?

You could use Pilsen Light for the extract, do a full boil (if you're not already), and use a lighter crystal malt. The late extract addition, as mentioned previously, will also help.

 

[jruffatto]

B/c you're a Bears fan I'm trying this one out

 

[bgrayson726]

jrufatto: you like my brewing apron?

 

[cincybrewer]

I'm pretty sure Blue Moon isn't a true witbier because it's made using an American yeast. It makes a big difference in the flavor.

 

[NinjaMedic]

Did anyone else try this recipe? I'm brewing a witbier for my best friend's wedding, but its only my 3rd batch ever and I don't have time to screw it up :-/. bgrayson726 have you brewed this again since? If so did you change anything? How did it turn out?

 

[NinjaMedic]

And what is "2 row crystal"?

 

[Primevci]

And what is "2 row crystal"?

grain..

 

[hough77]

So this is a repost of a thread I made late last night after a few beers. But someone asked for the recipe and I said I was going to include pictures. Also, I couldn't change the title of my original post, so here you go!

I brewed a witbier in december. I was worried about it because it had this very strong alcoholic aroma to it. I posted about it and people told me to bottle it/secondary ferment it and let it age. I have been trying one a week for the last 3 weeks. Right now, it is amazing. I am my own worst critic and I think this is one of the best witbiers I have had. The ONLY problem I have with it is that it is a little too dark, 6 SRM I believe. I save every recipe that I have ever made so it won't be a problem in the future, but wow I love it.

Please bear with the recipe, I am still new to this so it may not be to style.

Belgian Witbier Recipe

Grains Steeped for 30 mins:
0.5 lb 2 row crystal
0.5 lb Rahr white wheat
0.25 lb Belgian carapils

Malt boiled for for 70 mins:
6 lbs of Briess Golden Light

Hops With AA and time added:
1 oz. Cascade, 25 mins left in boil, 6.1% AA
1 oz. Amarillo, 10 mins left in boil, 7.5% AA
1 oz. Willamette, ~1 min left in boil, 4.7% AA
0.5 oz. Cascade, ~1 min left in boil, 6.1% AA

Extras added:
Irish Moss, 10 mins left in boil
0.25 oz. Sweet Orange Peel (dried, bought at LHBS), 7 mins left in boil
1 oz. Bitter Orange Peel (dried, bought at LHBS), 7 mins left in boil
0.5 oz. Coriander, 7 mins left in boil

Water:
Arrowhead Spring Water, Partial boil (3-4 gallons, 2 gallons added after it went into the fermenter)

Yeast:
Wyeast Belgian Witbier (3944)

SG: 1.060
FG: 1.010 - 1.011

Fermented at ~72 degrees

ABV: 6.7%

Estimated SRM: 6.39 Golden Color

I also primed it with 1 cup of dextrose to 2 cups of water

Fermented in primary for 2 weeks. Bottle fermented for almost 2 months.

Clear in the bottle...
http://img708.imageshack.us/i/dsc00489ke.jpg/

Not in the glass...
http://img440.imageshack.us/i/dsc00490b.jpg/

Go Bears!

 

[Primevci]

go pack go..

 

[bgrayson726]

I've brewed it once and it was a hit. Everyone LOVED it. I am making an all-grain version of this in less than a week and will update this thread when that is done. It is DEFINITELY worth brewing if you have at least 2 months (the yeast takes a while to be happy).

 

[brewit2it]

Beer looks good in the pics but it doesn't look like the same beer. The one in the bottle is completely clear and the one in the glass totally cloudy. Could be chill haze I guess and the bottle was room temp.

A couple of notes, the recipe isn't a witbier really because there is no wheat in the fermentables unless I missed something. It looks like the only wheat was .5 lb in the steep so this would be more of a spiced ale. Generally for it to be wheat bier it would have to have a significant amount of the fermentables from wheat (like 40% or more).

Also when you say 2 row crystal that doesn't really make sense. When you list 2 row in a recipe you are typically referring to base malt. Crystal malts are usually just listed by their degree L which tells you how much it has been roasted, so I'm not sure if you added crystal or american 2 row. And when designating malt extract in a recipe you want to list DME for dry malt extract and LME for liquid malt extract. I'm assuming you used DME. The last thing is if this is a 5 gallon batch I dont think there is any way you have a 6.7% ABV beer. Closer to low 5's if it was DME and less still if it was LME. There is just not enough sugar in there from the extract and you didn't do a mash.

Anyway, the beer looks tasty

 

[bgrayson726]

To brewit2it:

This is a relatively OLD thread, but I'll address all of your concerns.

It is the exact same beer in the pictures. I took the picture of the bottle, poured the beer, and took a picture of the glass.

When I said "2 row crystal" I have no idea what it was. I just copied down what was on my receipt. I'm assuming that it was crystal 10 or 20L. I'd brew it with crystal 10, if I tried it again. But then again, why would I add a base malt to an extract brew? It doesn't really seem that hard to decipher.. You don't want the beer to be too dark, so if crystal malt is listed, I'm assuming that you would use a very low degree of Lovibond.

As far as the 6.7% beer, I'm just reading the scale lol. If it's ~1.060 OG and ~1.010 FG it will be a high 6% beer... Just copying down what I calculated.

As far as naming the beer incorrectly, I name my extract brews off of the yeast that I use. I didn't attempt to brew to style.

 

[Scruffy1207]

Go Bears!

I second this. Bear down, Chicago Bears!

 

[hough77]

I have had my Belgian (extract kit) in the fermenter for 1 week today, it looks and smells great, I'm leaving it in the primary for the duration, gravity reading is on the money. The ABV should be about 4.2%, kinda week for me. What can I do to give it a boost w/ out ruining it?

 

[brewit2it]

I have had my Belgian (extract kit) in the fermenter for 1 week today, it looks and smells great, I'm leaving it in the primary for the duration, gravity reading is on the money. The ABV should be about 4.2%, kinda week for me. What can I do to give it a boost w/ out ruining it?

I'd just leave it be. If it smells and looks great it will likely taste great as well, so why risk ruining it by adding anything now. Nothing wrong with 4.2% abv but If it comes out good and you want to make it again with a little higher abv next time you can just add more malt extract.

 

[hough77]

I'd just leave it be. If it smells and looks great it will likely taste great as well, so why risk ruining it by adding anything now. Nothing wrong with 4.2% abv but If it comes out good and you want to make it again with a little higher abv next time you can just add more malt extract.

I shall leave it then since it is my favorite style beer. Thanx for the malt extract tip