Hoegaarden Clone

[TheGoodDudeGiveth]

If anyone has an awesome Hoegaarden clone I would love to try it. Been hit or miss with my wheat beers. Keep getting color, orange taste and wheat taste wrong.

Thanks

 

[Lefou]

Try the Homebrew Talk Recipe database link under "Recipes".
You'll be looking for witbier under the Homebrew Ale section.

 

[tri_clamp_ninja]

I'm not saying you should limit yourself to a kit but try one of these:

https://www.austinhomebrew.com/Hoegaarden-White-Ale-16A--EXTRACT_p_3352.html

https://www.northernbrewer.com/gaarden-hoe-witbier

If you have issues dialing in your own recipe it can be easy to get to a point where you've changed so many things you lose track of what. This may let you go back to square one, round out your brewing process, and try your own again. Also... Both Austin and northern let you download the brew sheets for these kits, while the may not specifically list every single ingredient used you should be able to put two and two together to form a good base recipe that can be tweaked as you go.

 

[RM-MN]

If anyone has an awesome Hoegaarden clone I would love to try it. Been hit or miss with my wheat beers. Keep getting color, orange taste and wheat taste wrong.

Thanks

Kits or recipes? Extract or all grain. Both of these factors matter.

 

[tri_clamp_ninja]

Kits or recipes? Extract or all grain. Both of these factors matter.

This is the "extract brewing" section of the forum so it's safe to assume extract. Also, OP has another thread in this same section about extract wheat beers, being kinda new to recipe making, and trying to dial in wheat beers. It should also be safe to assume that OP is open to kit or original recipe as they are looking for a specific clone that could later be tweaked to their liking.

 

[Lefou]

With extract, many of your lighter brews will end up noticeably darker. This is due to Maillard reactions and caramelization of sugars in the wort. This will give a different taste compared to a partial mash or all grain beer, too.
Witbiers will - or should - contain a portion of oats and unmalted wheat grain, too. Such beers are usually best as an all grain recipe consumed reasonably fresh.

 

[tri_clamp_ninja]

With extract, many of your lighter brews will end up noticeably darker. This is due to Maillard reactions and caramelization of sugars in the wort. This will give a different taste compared to a partial mash or all grain beer, too.
Witbiers will - or should - contain a portion of oats and unmalted wheat grain, too. Such beers are usually best as an all grain recipe consumed reasonably fresh.

True, now with reserving 90% of your extract for flame out you can drastically improve flavor and color issues. As far as adjuncts and the whole steeping issue: you can steep flaked oats, flaked wheat, toasted malts, etc and they will still contribute most of what they would if you mash them in terms of flavor and mouth feel. The main reason to not steep such grains is due to 1. introduction of starches which can cause haziness and 2. can open up your beer to bacteria over time. With something like a hoeegarden clone (or most wheat beers in general) haziness is stylistically appropriate so that squashes issue #1 and since it is a homebrew batch that is usually consumed quickly you can squash issue #2. I would never suggest steeping grains like that for a very high gravity beer due to lengthy maturation times and increased probability of bacterial build up but for something like a hoeegarden clone you are looking at tops 2 weeks in primary, skip secondary, and 2-3 for bottle conditioning (unless you keg/force carb, even better!). Also, most conversion in a mash takes place within 30 mins or less.... most steeping is 30 mins or less... OP can simply add an equal amount of milled base malt to his "steep" which will help convert those starches and fill the rest out with extract. Still is an extract beer, still is the same process, but eliminates starch/contamination issue.

 

[RM-MN]

This is the "extract brewing" section of the forum so it's safe to assume extract. Also, OP has another thread in this same section about extract wheat beers, being kinda new to recipe making, and trying to dial in wheat beers. It should also be safe to assume that OP is open to kit or original recipe as they are looking for a specific clone that could later be tweaked to their liking.

It's never safe to assume anything on this forum as some people will post in the wrong area or are ready to look at all options. I like to ask first, then go with the specific answer I get. It can save confusion or can lead a new brewer to make the leap to all grain, as small of a leap that it is.

 

[tri_clamp_ninja]

It's never safe to assume anything on this forum as some people will post in the wrong area or are ready to look at all options. I like to ask first, then go with the specific answer I get. It can save confusion or can lead a new brewer to make the leap to all grain, as small of a leap that it is.

Very true and well put. I have a habit of taking things at face value haha.

 

[Remos112]

I've brewed this half a year back and it was a delicous witbier, definetely close to Hoegaarden:

Make a 5 liter hops pot and add:
500 grams Extra Light DME
15 grams of centennial @30min
30 gram of Saaz @15
20gr of coriander @15 min
22 gr of curacao (bitter orange peels) @ 15
Poor the hops pot in the fermenter and add:
1,5KG Wheat LME
500G Wheat DME
Top up with cold water to 20L
Pitch 1 smack pack of Wyeast 3944/ Whitelabs WLP400
Ferment for 2 weeks, prime with desired amount of bottling sugar, and be ready to drink it within the week (mine was fully carbed in 3 days)

Not as pale as the real deal, which I think is impossible to achieve with extract anyway, but it was very very drinkable!
I have now switched to all grain so I will have to get back to the drawing board.