Hey guys I have just been asked by my girlfriend to brew a beer to her tastes. Her favorite beer is a blue moon Belgian White so that’s what I am going for. It doesn’t have to be identical by any means but to be similar. After browsing the web for a couple days here is what I came up with.
Grains:
• 5lbs Belgian Pilsner malt
• 4lbs White Wheat Malt
• 1lbs Flaked Oats
• Added rice hulls to prevent stuck sparge- I have never used these before so what is the best way to use these and how much given my grain bill.
Hops:
• .5oz Willamette @ 60min**
• .25oz Willamette @ 10min**
• 1oz Coriander(crushed) @ 5min
• 1oz Sweet orange peel @ 5min
• Zest of 1 orange added @2min
Belgian Wit Ale WLP400
• Pitched at ~68F
• Expected Attenuation ~76%
Looks pretty good to me. That grain bill is my exact wit recipe. Blue Moon has never tasted ‘Belgian’ to me so you may want to consider a different yeast unless you think that she would enjoy more of a traditional wit flavor.
I have never had an issue with wheat causing stuck sparges although I don’t think I have ever gone more than 50%. You may not need rice hulls at all but they obviously can’t hurt…
Agreed. It’s been a long time since I’ve had Blue Moon, but I’d be tempted to go with WY1010 instead of a traditional Belgian Wit strain. I’d also lean towards domestic 2-row instead of Pils if you want a closer Blue Moon clone.
Traditionally a wit will have a large amount of unmalted grains. I have no idea if blue moon is the case, but I know hoegarden is somewhere around 30% flaked wheat.
Flaked wheat will help guarantee cloudiness like the real Blue Moon has.
I’d drop the sweet orange peel. It will only add bitterness. The zest is a good idea though as it will add actual flavor and aroma, especially if you reserved it for bottling time instead of the boil.
That’s all I’d change. Looks like a great recipe as-is. You can play with the yeast or malt origin a little based on others’ feedback, optional in my book, as you’re pretty much there. Good luck.
Thanks for the advice everyone and after hearing what you guys have to say I think I will make a few little changes. After looking more into the sweet orange peel I think I am going to drop that. That being said do you think the orange flavor/aroma will come through enough with just the zest added to the boil? Would anyone add more zest to the secondary?
Alright so I plan on moving the coriander seeds and zest to the secondary fermentation stage. I want to use the typical wit yeast to get a general feel for the beer it produces. I don’t plan on nailing this beer first try. after this first attempt I can tweak and adjust to her desire
WLP400 is great stuff. Tastes like pear, maybe just the slightest hint of black pepper, very slight. If fermented too warm it might go towards bubblegum, so keep it in the 60s.
I have finalized my recipe… for now haha. I seem to change my mind so often when I am designing a recipe because of other’s feedback and experiences.
Grain bill:
5lbs Castle Pilsner Malt 1.6L
4lbs Rahr White Wheat malt 2L
1lb Flaked Oats
8oz Rice hulls
Hops/Boil Additions:
.5oz German Brewer’s Gold @ 60min
Zest of 1 Orange, 1/2 Lemon @ 5min
WLP400 as stated before
I will add more zest to the secondary if it feels like it needs more but I wanted to try it in the boil first.
I switched to brewer’s gold because I have them on hand and I think they will work well with the yeast. What temp does anyone recommend fermenting at? I was thinking 66F would keep the bubblegum flavors in check.
I made a very similar beer (50% wheat, 43% 2 row and 7% honey malt [which was too much, I’d use 3% and up the 2 row when I do this again]). I really liked the honey malt and enhanced the sweetness.
I single hopped using German Mandarina hops (mostly at 5 and 0). I definitely got a hint of the orange but there could have been more.
Well the only reason I choose this amount is because I have never used zest or anything similar in a beer before. I might end up increasing the zest next time but for now I am being conservative.
Just an update on how this turned out… the final product was OK and very drinkable but not what I was looking for. I have never brewed a Belgian and have only had a few commercial examples but I did not favor this yeast. I kept it right around 64 to 66F and the yeast was dominated by like a sweet bubblegum flavor. It was alright to drink but I could not have more than a couple other than that everything else seemed on par. If I were to do again I would switch to a more neutral yeast and play with the spices and additions a bit.
I’m sorry to hear that the bubblegum overpowered. Did you make a yeast starter? Sometimes a small thing like that can make all the difference. I’d use a starter.
