witbier-partial mash intro

[beenjammin]

i'm trying to slowly coax my father into the partial mash world. he's been doing extracts (mostly kits from northern brewer) for years but i thought he would enjoy something a little different with potentially better results. so i'm looking for a critique of this witbier recipe. i was at the homebrew store paying my respects to the grains and on a whim i put together a recipe off the top of my head for a parting gift as i fly home.

grains:
1# light wheat
1/2# pilsner malt
1/2# malted oats

hops:
perle 6.4% .5 oz at 60 and .5oz at 30

extracts:
5.4# LME wheat (that's 55% light extract and 45% wheat i think)

spices:
1/2oz coriander
1oz bitter orange peel both at 10 minutes

mash grains in 3qts water at 165f for 30-45minutes, sparge with 2qts at 170f

its barely even a partial mash, i'm hoping to pretty much trick him into thinking he's just steeping grains like an extract but really he'll be mashing...hah.

thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[Bob]

Sounds pretty darn tasty! Since you asked, I'll make a few comments.

The partial mash will be very sticky. I'd increase the pils malt to 1 full pound, because I fear a half-pound won't provide enough hull material to prevent making it very difficult to "sparge", even if he just pours water over a strainer holding the grains. That is, unless your malted oats have husk matter - if so, I happily retract the above.

Ease up on the hops. When I make Witbier, I don't even add hops until 30 minutes, and then I use Hallertau or some other delicate hops very, very lightly. In my opinion, Witbier should have no hops flavor or aroma at all. Instead, the flavors should come from the yeast and the spices. The hops are only there as a preservative. So, if I were making this, I'd drop the second hops addition and go with something less assertive than Perle. After all, according to my calculations, your Perle additions will teeter you on the brink of exceeding the upper IBU limit of the style guidelines. But you've already bought the stuff, no? So tell Pops to ignore the 2nd charge of Perle and save it to augment his next kit beer.

If you can find it before you fly out (or can send him out to the store), pick up some star anise and paradise seed; one or two blades broken off a whole star anise, along with a teaspoon or so of lightly cracked grains of paradise, will augment the Curacao orange and coriander wonderfully! You can find those spices at organic or Indian/Pakistani shops.

But you don't have to listen to me, 'cos as written it's a damn fine recipe!

Cheers,

Bob

 

[beenjammin]

thanks for the suggestions....i think the anise may be a good idea...i have already bought the ingredients so no swapping at this point but i may drop that second perle addition. the "mash" may be thick but i think he'll manage...

again thanks for the response