Wit "mistake" is Great

[beeraggie]

A few weeks ago while brewing a wit beer, I was trying to crush up my dried bitter orange peel, my mill fell off the bucket and all my orange peel went all over the garage floor. With the beer 45 mins into the boil, a justed added the zest from a fresh orange SWMBO had in the kitchen.

I tapped into this beer today not knowing what to expect. I was pleased to find it was almost a spot on match to Blue Moon. The orange flavor lacked just a bit to the "real"blue moon, but the zest added such a great aroma. When I put it in a taste test, everyone has prefered mine to Blue Moon!!!!

 

[DUCCCC]

Jamil's new book says to do this very thing, and skip the dried stuff. Of course he also says to use some chamomile too. I don't know which way I'll go when I finally get a Wit together. Congrats on a good brew!

 

[jdoiv]

I've got a standard wit recipe that I make fairly often as my SWMBO loves it. This last batch, I decided to try the fresh zest and chamomile. I used zest from 2 oranges and one grapefruit and two bags of chamomile tea added at knockout.

It has a very strong citrus taste but is very nice. SWMBO isn't so sure as the citrus made it a little more tart than the normal recipe I do. Next time, I'll just do two oranges and one bag of chamomile and see how it turns out.

 

[sirsloop]

IDK... I find blue moon pretty thin... I suppose that goes for most "standard bar" commercial imports. Its pretty easy to make a wit that destroys Blue Moon in flavor... not to take anything away from your batch or anything...

 

[bbrim]

The only problem with using an orange is that they are often coated in pesticides. If you want to use fresh orange zest again I would recommend purchasing organic oranges to avoid the possible contamination.

 

[sirsloop]

You just gotta wash the oranges very well...

 

[beeraggie]

A little pesticide never hurt nobody... it will take care of any worms you might have

 

[beeraggie]

Seriously though, next time I make this I will do it the same way except use the zest of 2 oranges. This turned out to be a very nice beer.

 

[Poindexter]

Seriously though, next time I make this I will do it the same way except use the zest of 2 oranges. This turned out to be a very nice beer.

Did you seriously zest the oranges so you had a paper thin layer of bright orange colored stuff, or did yu peel the oranges and use the whole peel including the white part under the orange layer? Just asking, I do gots a citrus zester...

 

[beeraggie]

Did you seriously zest the oranges so you had a paper thin layer of bright orange colored stuff, or did yu peel the oranges and use the whole peel including the white part under the orange layer? Just asking, I do gots a citrus zester...

I really zested them to paper thin shreads. I tried not to get any white into the zest. I used the fine part of a cheese grater.

 

[Spyk'd]

The "white part" is extremely bitter and should be avoided unless you like to pucker whilest drinking beer.

 

[GlassblowersBrew]

I'm gonna have to give this zest a try. Sounds delicious.

 

[rabidgerbil]

Jamil's new book says to do this very thing, and skip the dried stuff. Of course he also says to use some chamomile too. I don't know which way I'll go when I finally get a Wit together. Congrats on a good brew!

I picked up all my ingredients, and will be doing a wit as one of my last extract brews before I jump to AG. I read that in Jamils book, an also heard Doc talking about it on the archive episode of the show when the covered Wits. I picked up the fresh citrus fruits, and the chamomile, and will be doing both.

As to how much to use, from that episode, it sounds like Doc uses a TON of zest in his recipe.

Last but not least, if you don't own one, look in your local kitchen store for a Microplane Zester. These work fantastic for zesting fruit, but are also great for shaving chocolate, grating hard cheeses, etc. The way they are designed, you really have to work hard to get any of the bitter white pith, if you use it in the normal manner, all you get is lots and lots of wonderful fine grated zest, perfect for brewing a thirst quenching Wit.

 

[g_rath]

Last but not least, if you don't own one, look in your local kitchen store for a Microplane Zester. These work fantastic for zesting fruit, but are also great for shaving chocolate, grating hard cheeses, etc. The way they are designed, you really have to work hard to get any of the bitter white pith, if you use it in the normal manner, all you get is lots and lots of wonderful fine grated zest, perfect for brewing a thirst quenching Wit.

Beat me to it. +1 on this. these rock.

 

[Tommish]

IDK... I find blue moon pretty thin... I suppose that goes for most "standard bar" commercial imports. Its pretty easy to make a wit that destroys Blue Moon in flavor... not to take anything away from your batch or anything...

+1 to that. I will take homebrewed wit over Blue Moon any day! Blue Moon is not bad, but it seems to be the only commercial wit beer available to many in the U.S. Several years ago I had a wit in a restaurant in Paris that was very pale, pretty cloudy (lot of wheat I assume) and very judiciously flavored with citrus & spice. It was VERY different from Blue Moon (and from the wits I've made). which just goes to show that there can be a lot a variation within a particular style...