Question about Witbier flavor

[Jmeisse]

Until I watched Beer Wars recently I never realized Blue Moon was made by Coors, I'm ashamed!

I typically like Blue Moon so I ordered another Witbier at a local restaurant, Allagash White. The weird peppery aftertaste made it almost undrinkable for me. I checked on Bear Advocate and I saw that Blue Moon gets B's and C's while Allagash White get's A's and A+'s. Could it be that I actually don't enjoy the flavor of real Witbiers?

Here's the question: I was going to try brewing Charlie Papazian's Felicitous Stout this weekend, it's his hybrid of a Belgian Witbier and a Stout. Is that weird peppery flavor a major factor in Witbiers?

 

[FreeM80s]

what you are probably tasting is coriander

 

[Bobby_M]

Blue moon is way closer to an American Wheat beer than a Belgian Wit. I doubt they even use Belgian yeast. Allagash is a lot closer. What you probably don't like is the coriander but even the WLP400 yeast gives you a bit of peppery/spicy notes. What kind of yeast does Papazian call for and is there a coriander addition?

 

[Jmeisse]

Bobby M: The recipe is at home (I'm at work right now) but I recall that it did use orange peal and coriander.

 

[FreeM80s]

Bobby M: The recipe is at home (I'm at work right now) but I recall that it did use orange peal and coriander.

like .5 oz of sweet orange peel, .5oz of bitter orange peel and .5oz of coriander?

 

[IrregularPulse]

Blue moon is, IMO, an overly sweet America Wheat. Not a Wit by any means. Try Hoegarden. That seems to be a very popular example of a wit that can be found at most locations. Wit is German for White, not wheat.

 

[Jmeisse]

Blue moon is, IMO, an overly sweet America Wheat. Not a Wit by any means. Try Hoegarden. That seems to be a very popular example of a wit that can be found at most locations. Wit is German for White, not wheat.

I live by a pretty well stocked liqueur store, I'm sure they'll have Hoegarden but if there's an even better example that might be hard to get I'd like to know.

 

[Franzi]

Blue moon is, IMO, an overly sweet America Wheat. Not a Wit by any means. Try Hoegarden. That seems to be a very popular example of a wit that can be found at most locations. Wit is German for White, not wheat.

Actually weiss (or wei&#946 is white in German. Wit must be Belgian talk (Flemish?) for white.

I grew tons of cilantro last summer (stuff grows like weeds) and harvested the coriander. I love it and just dumped 2 tsp in a recently brewed batch. It tastes orangey, not peppery to me.

 

[Blackgaurd_Brewing]

Wit is actually Dutch for white.

Wiki about wheat beers

 

[Jmeisse]

Well, I picked up a pack of Hoegaarden Original White Ale and two beers recommended by coworkers: Chimay Grande Réserve (Belgian Strong Dark Ale), and Delirium Tremens (Belgian Strong Pale Ale)

It's got to be the yeast, they all have the same flavor in the background that just makes my taste-buds revolt. Luckily my girlfriend likes them so it isn't going to waste.

I ended up brewing an English Bitter from the brew shop's recipe book
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/deja-brew-bagend-bitter/32011/

The place was pretty cool but the guy working there pitched my yeast strait into boiling hot wort and then said how he'll pitch some more later to help it out. I should of said something but I was kind of overwhelmed by the crowded place and all the free beer I was consuming during the process.

 

[gunner65]

Are you sure he wasnt pitching the hops in?

 

[Pivzavod]

Pitching yeast into boiling wort would kill it.

I like Blue Moon and when I started brewing that was my 2nd batch. I've always found that my Wit's taste better than Blue Moon and I tried Hoegarden on tap once and hated it, that place had BM and I switched to it for the rest of the night. I think the reason I hated it was that their beer lines were dirty and I could taste a weird off flavor. I went to the same place again and had another beer and tasted the same off flavor in a different beer. The yeast I used (WY 3944) is actually harvested from Hoegarden and I think I should give it another chance. Blue Moon is a lot more available in the places I go to get lunch while Hoegarden is not.

On the side note - I went to watch Superbowl @ my sisters house and bought some Blue Moon in bottles by her house. I never had it in bottles, only on tap. The bottled one tasted so nasty I only had 2 or 3 the whole night. I dont know if its old beer from a small grocery store or if its just bad in bottles.

OP - if you dont like coriander but like Witbiers try AHS Half Wit. They are using 1/2 oz of coriander versus full 1 oz that regular recipe calls for. This recipe is also like $19 for PM without sugar / yeast.