Belgian Wit - How Much Spices??

[wollffy]

That's a good looking beer BD.

[Kealia]

Looks good Chris. And bonus points to you for the right glassware, too!

[Kealia]

Looks good Chris. And bonus points to you for the right glassware, too!

[mashani]

Looks good. I'm sure I'd like it, I like both clovey and banana forward wheats.

But really, WB-06 doesn't make a lot of isoamyl acetate (banana ester) normally unless the fermentation temps get upwards of 74-78 degrees. It makes nowhere near as much of that stuff as many liquid hefe yeasts at the same temperature. So either your very sensitive to isoamyl acetate, or your fermentation got pretty warm at some point...

That said, next time if you want to brew a Belgian Wit, I'd use an actual Belgian Wit yeast. They are different then hefe yeasts. EDIT: or if your going for blue moon (which is not a real Belgian Wit) then use S-05 or an American ale liquid yeast and get all your flavor from the spices.

[BlackDuck]

Thanks for the comments guys.

Good suggestions on the temps too. According to my notes, I pitched the yeast direct at 70.5F, which is what the directions from Fermentis instruct you to do (direct pitch above 68F). My basement temps were running around 64F and I checked the temp a couple times during active fermentation and I never saw it above 68. But it could have spiked higher than that. I also remember reading that pitch rate is quite important for this type of beer, and that it can effect the flavor profile that the yeasts give off. It is possible that I overpitched slightly by using 2 full packs of 06.

Good suggestion on using an actual Belgian Wit yeast Mashani....I thought that was what 06 was. Learn something new every day, and I thank you for that.