Belgian Wit - How Much Spices??

[BlackDuck]

A friend of mine really likes Belgian Wits, so I'm going to make some for him, and me of course!! I've got the recipe down, at least I think I do. But I'm not sure how much coriander and orange peel to add in. I realize this is a matter of taste, but I thought I would ask for some help form some of you that have brewed these in the past. I'm looking to get a subtle flavor addition from the spices, but nothing too over-powering. As you can see from the recipe below, I've got .50 oz of each plugged in.

What do you guys think, am I good with that much or should I adjust it some? Also opine on the rest of the recipe if you would like.

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Das Wit
Brewer: Antler Brewing
Style: Witbier
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.45 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.90 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.25 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.054 SG
Estimated Color: 3.8 SRM
Estimated IBU: 16.2 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
5 lbs 4.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 44.7 %
4 lbs 8.0 oz White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 2 38.3 %
1 lbs 4.0 oz Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 3 10.6 %
12.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4 6.4 %
1.25 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [4.00 %] - Boil 60 min Hop 5 16.2 IBUs
0.50 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 10.0 mins) Spice 6 -
0.50 oz Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 7 -
2.0 pkg Safbrew Wheat (DCL/Fermentis #WB-06) [50 Yeast 8 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 11 lbs 12.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 17.63 qt of water at 164.5 F 151.0 F 75 min

Sparge: Fly sparge with 4.45 gal water at 170.0 F

[mashani]

That is fine as a subtle baseline amount. You will taste them but it will not be overpowering.

I've used as much as 0.75oz of Coriander and 1.75oz of a mixture of both sweet and bitter orange in a beer like that and liked the results, but I was looking for stronger flavors. I also used grains of paradise in that beer.

EDIT: I just noticed your yeast - WB06 will not give you the same spicy and tart/citrus flavors of some Belgian Wit yeasts. So you may want to consider adding maybe 1/4 or 1/2oz of Grains of Paradise and maybe a bit more orange if you go that route.

Also FWIW, Blue Moon doesn't even use a wheat strain, they use an American Ale strain, and just adjust the spices to get the flavors they want.

It really depends on what you want.

[BlackDuck]

Ok...I've adjusted the recipe slightly. I've added some rice hulls to make sure I don't get a stuck mash. I'm planning on brewing this on Friday.

Mashani...thanks for the note on the yeasts. I'm going to keep it at the WB-06. I wish my LHBS carried the Wyeast smack packs or I would go with one of their Belgian Wit yeasts. They only carry white labs and I haven't made the jump to starters yet. I bought Valencia Orange Peel that comes from McCormick. It's pretty finely crushed, so I'm thinking that I'll get a good amount of flavor from that. If it doesn't give me what I want, I'll adjust it for the next time. I did notice too that the WB-06 is only projected to get down to a FG of 1.015...which seems a little high to me. Not sure why it's coming in so high. We'll see what I actually get.

Here's the recipe that I'm going with:
BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Das Wit
Brewer: Antler Brewing
Asst Brewer:
Style: Witbier
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.45 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.90 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.25 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.054 SG
Estimated Color: 3.8 SRM
Estimated IBU: 16.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
1 lbs 8.0 oz Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 1 11.5 %
5 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 38.5 %
5 lbs White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 3 38.5 %
1 lbs Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 4 7.7 %
8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 5 3.8 %
1.25 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [4.00 %] - Boil 60 mins Hop 6 16.3 IBUs
0.50 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 10.0 mins) Spice 7 -
0.50 oz Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 8 -
2.0 pkg Safbrew Wheat (DCL/Fermentis #WB-06) [50 Yeast 9 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 13 lbs
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 19.50 qt of water at 164.5 F 151.0 F 75 min

Sparge: Fly sparge with 4.14 gal water at 170.0 F

[haerbob3]

I think both Wyeast & White Labs have the same cell count. The pac that breaks in the smack pack is the yeast nutrient. In the end you get the same amount of cells.

[BlackDuck]

Bob....Thanks, but the problem is that I don't have access to the smack pac, and I haven't done a starter yet, so the White Labs is out for now.

One other question for you guys. Is the amount of rice hulls and flaked oats OK for this recipe? Or should I scale them up or down a little? Thanks for the help everyone.

[Kealia]

Chris,

The Blue Moon clone that I brewed up used 1.5oz of orange peel and .25oz corriander in a 3G batch. I'll be testing it Sunday night and can let you know how that comes out. I took the recipe from somebody that has brewed 12 different clone versions so he has done a number of experiments. Blue Moon may or may not be what you are teying for, though.

(If you want to read up on his versions and notes Google "Nilo Blue Moon clone" and go from there. I'm on my phone or I'd link you myself).

Again, that may or may not be the direction you want to go.

[ssorck]

I brewed the same one Kealia, except a 4 gallon batch. Will try a bottle next weekend and see how it is.

[BlackDuck]

Thanks Guys...I'll take a look at that site. I appreciate the help!!

[Kealia]

Chris,

I'm happy to send you a bottle next werk so you canvtry it and adjust the amounts for yours. It's just a matter of when you want to brew yours.

ssork, which # did you do?

[BlackDuck]

Chris,

I'm happy to send you a bottle next werk so you canvtry it and adjust the amounts for yours. It's just a matter of when you want to brew yours.

ssork, which # did you do?

Thanks...but I'm brewing mine Friday. Going to the LHBS this afternoon, so no need to send one. I appreciate the offer though!!

And just to clarify, the recipe I'm going for is not a Blue Moon clone. Mashani mentioned that to make sure that I'm using the right yeast if that was what I was after. I'm looking more at a traditional Belgian Wit, that's why I was going with the WB-06.

Actually, I've adjusted the recipe slightly again after looking through a lot of recipes last night online. I took out the rice hulls completely. I really don't think I'll get a stuck mash with my manifold. I also reduced the amount of oats slightly, and increased the amount of orange peel a little.

[BlackDuck]

All done...and I hit my projected OG's finally. I adjusted my mash technique again. Prior to this, after recirculating to set the grain bed, I would drain the mash tun completely and then start the sparge. This time I controlled the output flow rate from the tun to the kettle to match as close as possible the flow rate from the hot water tank over top of the grains. I tried to keep a few inches of water above the grains at all times. My projected OG was 1.054 and I hit 1.056. It's about damn time!!!!

The color was really nice and the flavor was tasty too. Hopefully the end product will be as good as the brew day went.

[Beer-lord]

Way to go. Sounds like you've got it down now.

[BlackDuck]

Here's the first pour. Color was perfect, head was good. The aroma and flavor were just a tad heavy on the banana side. I beleive it's a good representative of the style, but just a bit much of the banana for my tastes. I think if I make this again, I would turn this into an American style wheat and use S-05 instead of the WB-06, which will take care of the banana issue. But it's still a good beer.

image.jpg (110.8 KiB) Viewed 564 times

[jimjohson]

fwiw. you can ferment at a cooler temp. you'll get cloves instead.

[Root Skier]

That looks beautiful. I like Belgian Wit's, but I LOVE Double or Imperial Wit's. Gonna make one in a few brews...