Uncharted Territory

[Gymrat]

One thing that isn't showing up here is I am also going to use an ounce of culinary lavender. I just haven't decided if I should add it to the boil or steep it like doing a hop stand.

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Ralph the Wonderdog's Wondrous Wit
Brewer: Roger
Asst Brewer: Ralph the Wonderdog
Style: Witbier
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 6.52 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.98 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 4.60 gal
Estimated OG: 1.048 SG
Estimated Color: 3.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 16.5 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 82.8 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
6 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 66.7 %
3 lbs White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 2 33.3 %
1.00 oz Willamette [4.70 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 3 16.5 IBUs
1.00 oz Orange Peel, Bitter (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 4 -
0.75 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 5 -
1.0 pkg SafBrew Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-33) [23.66 Yeast 6 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 9 lbs

[Inkleg]

I used 0.50 oz coriander seed in a 5 gallon Saison and it was way to overpowering for me. YMMV

[Gymrat]

I used 0.50 oz coriander seed in a 5 gallon Saison and it was way to overpowering for me. YMMV

Maybe I should cut it down to a quarter ounce.

[mashani]

1oz of orange is a lot too.

I think I would cut both the orange and coriander if you really want the lavender to shine through. Maybe 3/4oz of orange and 1/2rd ounce of coriander. I personally don't think I'd go as low as 1/4oz of coriander in 5 gallons of WIT beer which it seems like what your going for.

Now in a Saison like was mentioned by Inkleg, then I would likely use even less. Saison yeast ferments out so much more dry then normal yeast that anything you add gets amped up - there isn't any sweetness/maltyness left to play against it. But S-33 is going to finish with a lot more malt sweetness intact. Also S-33 isn't going to give you the default background citrus and spice and/or tartness that a regular WIT yeast would add (also a Saison yeast but even more so), so you want to make sure you spices are enough to give you the character you want.

If I was adding lavender, I would make a tincture of it in some vodka in a little jar and toss that into the batch after primary fermentation settled down, so all the aroma doesn't blow off. Hard to say. Just cover it in a mason jar with vodka, cap it, and shake it a few times a day every day for a week, then toss it in. This will also let you taste and smell it before you add it, so you have an idea of how strong it is. IE maybe you don't want to add it all either?

EDIT: I'm just going to throw this out there too. If you really wanted to you could make a tincture out of all 3 individual spices. Make them as strong as you like in this case. Then blend them together using a dropper in various proportions and find a proportion that gives you the ideal flavor and/or aroma you are looking for. Then blend the tinctures in that ratio in a proportion that you think will give you the strength you are looking for.

In mideval times (think holy roman empire monks) they would have put the lavender and such in what amounts to a big "tea bag" as such and suspended that in the fermenter (think bag hanging from an equivalent of a hop spider, except used as a dry hop like method). There is an actual name for this but I can't remember it at the moment.

But the tincture is safer to assure wild yeast and other weird stuff don't get added to your beer. (it was likely already in their beer so it didn't matter so much to them...)

[John Sand]

I was going to suggest the tincture/test thing. But Mash did it so much better. Listen to him.
I did read a method of testing tincture by adding drops to existing beer. Track the numbers where you can first taste it to where it becomes too strong. Choose in between, then calculate the ratio for the batch. If you bottle, you can add different amounts to different bottles.

[mashani]

I did read a method of testing tincture by adding drops to existing beer.

This would be a good use of BMC.

[Inkleg]

This would be a good use of BMC.

Finally it has a use.