Noob... Witbeer

[PrepVet]

Hello all, this is my first post here and as with something new I have many questions before I spend money on a new hobby.

The thread that BrettCo started has been beyond helpful in my search in what to purchase to have a solid beginner set up. I too have no problem spending up to a grand in the process. Once I am done with that entire thread and I make my final choice on the kit I will let you know where I am...

But two types of beer I tend to drink more than others.

The first being Belgian Witbeer. My absolute favorite beer is Door County Brewing's Little Sister. And IPA or APA's. I am normally a lighter beer drinker.

Couple questions once I pick a kit amd set up:

1. How would I need to tweak a kit or what additions do I need to get to able to make witbeer?

2. What recipes and ingredients would you suggest?

3. I know I am missing a lot of info and am here to learn.

Thanks!

 

[McGarnigle]

Do you want to just buy a witbier kit? No tweaking needed.

If for someone you couldn't, you could use an American wheat beer kit, swap out the yeast (for, say Wyeast 3944), add some orange peel and coriander, and maybe cut back on the hops (depends on the original recipe).

I don't have a favored recipe. You could Google a few and get the gist of them pretty easily.

 

[tektonjp]

Here is the actual style outline: http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style16.php

The ingredients section says it all. Make and tweak to your own heart's content.

Pay close attention (take notes) of the amount of coriander and orange peel you use. I give each no more than 10 minutes in the boil.

Different yeast will of course change the flavor profile. I usually go with US-05. That's just me, though. Belle Saison would be a good one.

I just killed a keg of my seasonal favorite, a wit beer which gets some yuzu (a very aromatic citrus here in Japan) punched in for a few days before kegging. It pretty much overwhelms the coriander, but is one great beer. And I make it with bitter orange peel as well.

So, as you can see, there's a lot of room for artistic variation.