Witbier Questions

[plasma1010]

So I had good success in the fall making a traditional Norwegian Style Juniper Beer. Now that I got down the technique from A - Z on the basics of beer making, I want to move over to my favorite type of beer, Witbier or the Bavarian Style Wheat Beers.

Now I need some help and pointers. Up to this point I've only been brewing basically with 1 dry malt type, water, yeast and plants. It's been simple brewing. I have a feeling Witbier is going to be a little more complicated which is fine.

My favorite commercial Witbiers are Hoegaarden and Blue Moon, with Hoegaarden being #1.

Basically I was wondering ...

What kind of malt(s) so I need to use, and in what proportion ?

Do I add unmalted Wheat ?

What is a suggested brand / type of yeast ?

Thanks.

 

[bucketnative]

Look in the "recipes" forum. There are a bunch of witbier recipes that you can review, including one that comes from one of the original brewers of Blue Moon.

 

[plasma1010]

Since I've only worked with Malt Extract so far and I havn't gone through the Mashing process, can the starch in sugar be converted in an unmalted grain using Malt Extract, or would I have to mash with malted grain to get the desired results ?

 

[azmark]

There are also extract recipes that can be found. Wheat extract is usually about 50% pale and 50% wheat extract, so should be the perfect mix for a Wit. Just use the proper amount of wheat extract, and add your spices toward the end of the boil and you're set!

From Northern Brewer wheat extract..."Perfect for both American and German styles of wheat beer, Maillard Malts® Wheat Malt Extract Syrup is a blend of wheat malt (65%) and pale malt (35%)." So if you use this extract, you'll want to add some pale malt extract to make it closer to 50-50.

 

[plasma1010]

^^^

Thanks thats what I need for now. Im still a beginner and until I can get decent flavors with malt extracts Im not going to trying mashing yet.

 

[plasma1010]

As far as the orange peel goes, can anyone suggest between using dried or fresh ? Will the flavor work well if I just buy a fresh orange from the store and infuse the fresh peels ?

Also, has anyone had good results using Northeast Abby Yeast for a Hoegaarden / Blue Moon type ? I'm not looking for an exact duplicate, just something similar and tasty.

 

[Lefou]

You can use fresh orange zest.
Drop it in with your hops during the last 15-20 minutes of the boil.
Witbier uses a bit of unmalted wheat grain and oats. Grind 'em up well, and soak in hot 160F-170F water for 30 minutes. Add to the wort.
The wheat and oats will be your flavoring grains.

As far as witbier yeast goes, it's similar to German hefeweizen. I'm not aware of any dry yeasts that approximate that style but there are two liquid yeasts that can be used - WLP400 and WLP410.

You may like this :
http://brulosophy.com/2015/11/16/ye...belgian-wit-ale-vs-wlp410-belgian-wit-ii-ale/

 

[TGFV]

Search different recipes for amount of fresh zest to use if you want a close match for dried (also remember there is a difference between bitter, sweet and other oranges in their peels flavour), just be careful to not include the pith as this creates alot of bitterness.

 

[plasma1010]

You can use fresh orange zest.
Drop it in with your hops during the last 15-20 minutes of the boil.

Now as I understand it Blue Moon DOES NOT have hops and Hoegaarden does. I'm not sure which route to take.

Also I am starting with malt extracts, I will not be malting ... and I understand Blue Moon has Oats and Hoegaarden DOES NOT.

So I guess Im going to have to do a bunch of experiments and find a middle ground.

Search different recipes for amount of fresh zest to use if you want a close match for dried (also remember there is a difference between bitter, sweet and other oranges in their peels flavour), just be careful to not include the pith as this creates alot of bitterness.

Could I supplement some pith as a hops replacement, or use some pith in general in addition to hops for a citrus / bitter element ?

 

[TGFV]

Honestly I have included pith before in a saisons and I didn't like it at all. It's not a pleasant bitterness (which is saying something for me since I am not a huge bitter hop person, or even a big one)

As for hops I am pretty sure they both do (I could be wrong) but both are in the very small IBUs with them both not doing anything past a small initial bittering amount.

If you are wanting to do a small bittering perhaps instead of a 60min boil do a 20 with the zest and hops (citra or moetuka for a limish alternative). This will still add a bit of bitterness (very little though) while adding the flavour.

 

[plasma1010]

As for hops I am pretty sure they both do (I could be wrong) but both are in the very small IBUs with them both not doing anything past a small initial bittering amount.

If you are wanting to do a small bittering perhaps instead of a 60min boil do a 20 with the zest and hops (citra or moetuka for a limish alternative). This will still add a bit of bitterness (very little though) while adding the flavour.

Okay thanks, I think I have a decent groundwork.

 

[flars]

So I had good success in the fall making a traditional Norwegian Style Juniper Beer. Now that I got down the technique from A - Z on the basics of beer making, I want to move over to my favorite type of beer, Witbier or the Bavarian Style Wheat Beers.

Now I need some help and pointers. Up to this point I've only been brewing basically with 1 dry malt type, water, yeast and plants. It's been simple brewing. I have a feeling Witbier is going to be a little more complicated which is fine.

My favorite commercial Witbiers are Hoegaarden and Blue Moon, with Hoegaarden being #1.

Basically I was wondering ...

What kind of malt(s) so I need to use, and in what proportion ?

Do I add unmalted Wheat ?

What is a suggested brand / type of yeast ?

Thanks.

You can find clone recipes here for both of the beers you mentioned. Take a look at the ingredients as a starting pint.

https://www.northernbrewer.com/search/?q=Weizen

You can also get 10% off and free shipping for a couple of days through the NB site.