Mango Witbier

[Queequeg]

My first fruit beer. This what I have so far

Recipe: Mango Worship
Brewer: Queequeg
Style: Witbier
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 30.00 l
Post Boil Volume: 25.00 l
Batch Size (fermenter): 21.75 l
Bottling Volume: 20.00 l
Estimated OG: 1.053 SG
Estimated FG: 1.011
Estimated Color: 6.5 EBC
Estimated IBU: 14.4 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 67.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 73.9 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
2.00 kg Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (3.9 EBC) Grain 1 26.6 %
2.00 kg Wheat, Flaked (3.2 EBC) Grain 2 26.6 %
1.00 kg Pale Wheat (Dingemans) (3.2 EBC) Grain 3 13.3 %
0.25 kg Oats, Flaked (2.0 EBC) Grain 4 3.3 %
0.13 kg Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 EBC) Sugar 5 1.8 %
11.00 g Magnum [11.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 14.4 IBUs
56.00 g Azacca [15.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 30.0 Hop 7 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg Belgian Wit Ale (White Labs #WLP400) [35 Yeast 8 -
2.12 kg Fruit - Mango (0.0 EBC) Adjunct 9 28.2 %


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 7.50 kg
----------------------------
Step Temperat Step Time
66.7 C 60 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (5.82l, 15.75l) of 75.6 C water

Notes:

Will be using Kesar Mango pulp (93% mango, 6% sugar 1% citric acid) hence the dextrose addition

Mashing higher than normal wit to account for the drying effect

Will be fruiting in primary after main fermentation as stopped.

Am considering Bitter orange peel addition and a dry hop with Azacca.

Apologies for metric forgot to convert

 

[Queequeg]

For those that a metric blind

5US Gallon batch

4.4lb Belgian Pilsner
4.4ib flaked wheat
2.2lb pale wheat malt
0.5lb flaked oats
0.4oz Magnum (60min)
2oz Azacca (whirlpool)

mashed at 152F

5lb of Kesar mango pulp in primary after fermentation is complete

 

[Horseflesh]

Every time I use mango, the final product comes out tart, much more so than I'd like. 5 lbs is a lot... I've used from about 2 to 6 lb in the past, and 5 is as much as I would want.

All my mango beers benefitted from weeks of cold storage, but in the end I didn't love any of them because the tart note dominated. I hope yours comes out better. Let us know!

 

[Queequeg]

Thanks for the heads up. I will probably mash even higher than above to provide some sweetness to balance the final beer.

 

[Queequeg]

O.k after some research I discovered 2 things

1) The mango will significantly dry the beer
2) the final pH will be significantly lower than normal (depending on fruit ripeness)

So following on from this I am going to mash at 156F to leave as much residue sugar in the beer as possible. Beersmith estimates a FG of 1.013 and normally beersmith under estimates attention (at least in my brewery) so I would expect this to end up around 1.010.

Also I will pull a sample prior bottling for pH and adjust if necessary to the 3.8-4.3 range using calcium hydroxide solution. I will mash at normal pH and hopefully I won't have to do this because the fruit is Kesar mango canned so should be ripe with low acidity. I will obviously omit the normal lactic addition that I would do for a wit.

I will have stevia on stand by also to back sweeten if needed and sugar to dry if needed

I was going to ferment for 1 week, then add the mango for 2 weeks, then cold crash and keg to get the beer off any mango solids.

Thoughts, suggestions

 

[Horseflesh]

I would also mash high but those residual sugars don't have too much of a sweet taste.

Consider lactose instead of stevia--or maybe a mix. Either way I would do some small trials before treating a whole batch.

 

[Queequeg]

What about a honey malt addition?

 

[ericbw]

I probably wouldn't dry hop a fruit beer. I think fruit smells (aroma) more than it tastes, so you don't want to overpower it with hops. Just my opinion.

I think adding bitter orange to the end of the boil could be good.

I do think that if you start adding stevia and dry hopping with fruit, you're going to get a more muddled end result. But I can see how the sugar will ferment out and you'll be left with a tart beer at the end.