Review a Wit Recipe

[yyvjpv]

I'm still fairly new to brewing, (this will be my 4th batch) so not at the point where I can look at a recipe and know if it will work or needs tweaking. Side-note, how do you get to that point anyway?!
Wondering if you could take a peak at this and let me know your thoughts. Also I wanted to add a little bit of Indian coriander, I'm thinking maybe .5 oz. Thoughts? Thanks in advance!

Ingredients:

3.3# Briess Pilsen Light LME
3# Briess Bavarian Wheat DME
1# grain (.5 Durst Vienna; .5 German Wheat)
.5 oz organic sweet basil (that weight includes stems) at flameout
1/4# Wildflower honey at flameout
1/2 peel of organic lemon at flameout
1oz Hallertau Tradition hops 10 min
1oz Hallertau Hersbrucker hops 35 min
1oz Citra hops 50 min
White Labs Belgian Wit Ale Yeast
Beer Profile
Original Gravity: 1.0494
Final Gravity: 1.0143
Alcohol by Vol: 4.59%
Recipe Type: partial mash
Yield: 5.00 Gallons

 

[billl]

Wheat DME is actually a mix of wheat and barley already - somewhere in the 1/2-2/3 range, depending on manufacturer. I think Breiss is close to 2/3, so you'll want about 70% Wheat dme and 30% light to get to a 50/50 mix. A typical steeping grain would be flakes oats or flaked wheat.

You've got WAY to much bittering hops for a wit (unless you are counting the minutes in the wrong direction). Recipes count down, not up.

Personally, I'd keep the finishing a bit simpler. Adding a bit of a bunch of things often leads to "muddy" flavors. I'd lean towards just a bit of corriander and cirtus zest (especially if you are using citra hops at the end of the boil). That will give you a better idea of what the base recipe tastes like and then you can added/subtract flavors for the next batch.

 

[ph0ngwh0ng]

+1 on the bittering hops. This is too much, unless you're counting backwards or deliberately want a more bitter wit. I would do 0.5 oz of Citra at 60 min and 1 oz max of Hallertau near flame out.

Not an expert on extract though.

Also, if you're not sure about the basil, you can split the batch after primary fermentation and test out the basil as a dry hop. Just rack 1 gallon over it for a couple of days. The alcohol already in the beer SHOULD keep bugs outta the way.

As for becoming a better recipe designer, there are books/websites that will point you in the right direction. If you want to test different hops for a same grain bill, you can split the wort and do two or more boils. If you want to test different "flame out" additions, split the wort there (boiling wort is a hazard, though), etc. Anyway you get the point.

 

[yyvjpv]

Wheat DME is actually a mix of wheat and barley already - somewhere in the 1/2-2/3 range, depending on manufacturer. I think Breiss is close to 2/3, so you'll want about 70% Wheat dme and 30% light to get to a 50/50 mix. A typical steeping grain would be flakes oats or flaked wheat.

You've got WAY to much bittering hops for a wit (unless you are counting the minutes in the wrong direction). Recipes count down, not up.

Personally, I'd keep the finishing a bit simpler. Adding a bit of a bunch of things often leads to "muddy" flavors. I'd lean towards just a bit of corriander and cirtus zest (especially if you are using citra hops at the end of the boil). That will give you a better idea of what the base recipe tastes like and then you can added/subtract flavors for the next batch.

Good to know! As for the hops, the directions are listed as such:
4) Add Tradition hops at 10 min.
5) Add Hersbrucker hops at 35 min.
6) Add Citra hops at 50 min.
7) Turn off heat at 50 min. and add honey (stir in), basil, and lemon peel. Let steep for 10 minutes, then strain into another pot (unless you were wise enough to place the basil and lemon peel in a sackcloth! recommended...).

So too heavy on the hops then? Would you recommend cutting them in half? Only using 1 or 2 instead of 3? Something else entirely?

Thanks for your insight!

 

[yyvjpv]

+1 on the bittering hops. This is too much, unless you're counting backwards or deliberately want a more bitter wit. I would do 0.5 oz of Citra at 60 min and 1 oz max of Hallertau near flame out.

Not an expert on extract though.

Also, if you're not sure about the basil, you can split the batch after primary fermentation and test out the basil as a dry hop. Just rack 1 gallon over it for a couple of days. The alcohol already in the beer SHOULD keep bugs outta the way.

As for becoming a better recipe designer, there are books/websites that will point you in the right direction. If you want to test different hops for a same grain bill, you can split the wort and do two or more boils. If you want to test different "flame out" additions, split the wort there (boiling wort is a hazard, though), etc. Anyway you get the point.

Thanks for the hops reduction suggestion. And I like your idea of splitting the batch, perhaps a more simple true to style recipe and another one with the extra bells and whistles so I can compare the two.

Thanks again!

 

[IslandLizard]

+1 to all the above.

As billl said, first start getting used to recipes counting down and design/list them that way. Such as 60' boil, 60' bittering hops. At 30' add flavor hops, at 10' add aroma hops. Any flameout additions (0') are some flavor and mostly aroma.

A few hints and ideas:
1/2 lemon peel - Is that just the zest (1/32-1/16" deep) of half a lemon or is there some white pith in it, like 1/8" deep? The pith adds some aroma and flavor but more so a lot of citrus bitterness, which is usually not wanted.

Perhaps add some (half to one tablespoon, crushed) of lightly toasted coriander seeds at 10' or flameout. It brings out a subtle orange flavor, and is traditional in Wits.

Your grains - Vienna doesn't belong in a Wit. But let that not deter you. If you want to use it, go ahead, but it does need to be mashed, as does the wheat. The German Wheat, is that wheat malt or flaked wheat (unmalted)? You should do a mini mash (partial mash) for those grains, but if you use flaked wheat you also need a pound of 2-row to get conversion. Otherwise you'll end up with a whole bunch of starch in your wort instead of fermentables.

At the end of the boil you could add 3 tablespoons of a wheat flour slurry to cause a permanent haze if you want that look.

I would add that honey when the primary fermentation is about finished. It will kick it up a bit, which is good, but more of the flavor is retained instead of stripped away by the early primary stage. Leave it there for at least 2 weeks before taking hydro samples. 1/4 pound is not much in a 5 gallon batch, you'll never find it. Perhaps increase to a pound?

Agree on racking off a gallon for basil infusion a la dry hop method. You may want to that when you bottle the main batch, so you don't oxidize it.

Oh, forgot to say: You'll need to make a starter for your yeast a day or 2 before you brew. One vial is not enough. Look up on how to make starters if you've never done it. It is fairly simple. You can make it in any glass jar, like a 1/2 gallon pickle jar, covered with aluminum foil. Eventually you'll want to build a stir plate, but I made many starters by just swirling. A drop of Fermcap helps to keeps the foaming down.

 

[yyvjpv]

+1 to all the above.

As billl said, first start getting used to recipes counting down and design/list them that way. Such as 60' boil, 60' bittering hops. At 30' add flavor hops, at 10' add aroma hops. Any flameout additions (0') are some flavor and mostly aroma.

A few hints and ideas:
1/2 lemon peel - Is that just the zest (1/32-1/16" deep) of half a lemon or is there some white pith in it, like 1/8" deep? The pith adds some aroma and flavor but more so a lot of citrus bitterness, which is usually not wanted.

Perhaps add some (half to one tablespoon, crushed) of lightly toasted coriander seeds at 10' or flameout. It brings out a subtle orange flavor, and is traditional in Wits.

Your grains - Vienna doesn't belong in a Wit. But let that not deter you. If you want to use it, go ahead, but it does need to be mashed, as does the wheat. The German Wheat, is that wheat malt or flaked wheat (unmalted)? You should do a mini mash (partial mash) for those grains, but if you use flaked wheat you also need a pound of 2-row to get conversion. Otherwise you'll end up with a whole bunch of starch in your wort instead of fermentables.

At the end of the boil you could add 3 tablespoons of a wheat flour slurry to cause a permanent haze if you want that look.

I would add that honey when the primary fermentation is about finished. It will kick it up a bit, which is good, but more of the flavor is retained instead of stripped away by the early primary stage. Leave it there for at least 2 weeks before taking hydro samples. 1/4 pound is not much in a 5 gallon batch, you'll never find it. Perhaps increase to a pound?

Agree on racking off a gallon for basil infusion a la dry hop method. You may want to that when you bottle the main batch, so you don't oxidize it.

Oh, forgot to say: You'll need to make a starter for your yeast a day or 2 before you brew. One vial is not enough. Look up on how to make starters if you've never done it. It is fairly simple. You can make it in any glass jar, like a 1/2 gallon pickle jar, covered with aluminum foil. Eventually you'll want to build a stir plate, but I made many starters by just swirling. A drop of Fermcap helps to keeps the foaming down.

Yeah, the way I posted it I could see how its confusing. The recipe called for just the peel (no pith). I am just following directions at this point so have no need for it to be Vienna, what would you alternatively suggest?

Good suggestion on when to add the honey, I was worried about losing some of the subtle flavor. As for the basil, I have a couple of smaller carboys so rather than putting into one fermenter and then splitting later, I may just split in half right at the start.

And thanks for the yeast starter reminder, I actually have done it with the intermittent shaking method, I am not mechanically inclined enough to even think about trying to build a stir plate!