so, with all due respect (and really, I have seen that you are one of the most polite and helpful people on this board) what are you doing here?:cross:
Thanks Bob for the comments you said it better than I could.
I do 90 minutes.
My information is secondhand from a local microbrewer who has consulted with Pierre, who still comes to Austin from Belgium a few times a year to visit his daughter. He mashes in at 125*F, rests there for about an hour, ramps up to 154*F, rests there for a half hour, ramps to 165*F for mashout. Boils for 90 at a bare simmer, no kettle finings. Coriander is hand crushed using a rolling pin on baking sheets. He adds the spices at knockout and begins running off to the chiller. No whirlpool, his system has an inline filter to remove the break. He chills to 65*F, pitches a bunch of yeast, and shuts off the chiller, letting the fermentation raise the temp in the fermenter up to about 92*F. Strain used is Wyeast 3944. It's a really, REALLY good Wit... so I try to replicate his process as much as possible at home when I brew mine.
Don't worry about it, snail. Not only does practical experience tell you not to worry about it, the science of DMS tells you the same thing.
DMS, while having a relatively low flavor threshold, is really only a problem in lager beers, especially lighter, high-adjunct lagers, where very little is available to mask the cooked-corn flavor. In beers that have more flavor impactors present - dark beers, spiced beers, beers, in short, with more than Pils malt and a touch of hops - DMS flavors if any are masked by the other flavors.
Witbier, with its spices, complex grist, lactic sourness and yeast-driven funk, is one of the last beers you should worry about DMS.
This is one of those bugbears that worry homebrewers way too much. DMS and HSA should be completely stricken from the homebrewing literature and amateur-brewers' memories purged.
In fact, boiling to drive off DMS - which isn't a something you should be worried about - will make an inferior Witbier. A vigorous boil will drive off crucial aromatics. It will also encourage break formation, precipitating in the break the very proteins you worked so hard to put in the beer, the very proteins that remaining in suspension make 'white beer' milky white.
Cheerfully,
Bob
thank you!
And to think of all that propane I've been wasting.Don't worry about it, snail. Not only does practical experience tell you not to worry about it, the science of DMS tells you the same thing.
DMS, while having a relatively low flavor threshold, is really only a problem in lager beers, especially lighter, high-adjunct lagers, where very little is available to mask the cooked-corn flavor. In beers that have more flavor impactors present - dark beers, spiced beers, beers, in short, with more than Pils malt and a touch of hops - DMS flavors if any are masked by the other flavors.
Witbier, with its spices, complex grist, lactic sourness and yeast-driven funk, is one of the last beers you should worry about DMS.
This is one of those bugbears that worry homebrewers way too much. DMS and HSA should be completely stricken from the homebrewing literature and amateur-brewers' memories purged.
In fact, boiling to drive off DMS - which isn't a something you should be worried about - will make an inferior Witbier. A vigorous boil will drive off crucial aromatics. It will also encourage break formation, precipitating in the break the very proteins you worked so hard to put in the beer, the very proteins that remaining in suspension make 'white beer' milky white.
Cheerfully,
Bob
One of those myths that appears to work (I boiled 90 minutes...and got no DMS...it worked!). This will help shorten those double-decoction/high-Pils content brew days.
I agree with this to an extent, but I still think it is something all brewers should be aware of. To worry about doing a 90 min boil on a Wit is a little extreme, but people should be aware of the risks of boiling with lid on and the benefits of quick chilling.This is one of those bugbears that worry homebrewers way too much. DMS and HSA should be completely stricken from the homebrewing literature and amateur-brewers' memories purged.
And to think of all that propane I've been wasting.
Wits are indeed fun, I was never interested in the style till I started researching it and found out how versatile they really are. I went home and made a starter for this a bit ago and tasted the sour mash...and it is coming along quite nicely. If this turns out as good as I think it will, I am going to do a 20% sour mash on my next Saison.Let me know how the sour mash Wit turns out. I'm thinking of trying this myself. Oh, and I'll probably pitch a Wit on the Roeselare cake from a Saison Flanders just for the heck of it... Wits are fun.
