I’ve never done a cereal mash (wheat + malt) and have not found it to be a problem.
I got my feed wheat. It looks good. Now, if Canada Post would get my damn yeast here I’d be brewing…
Oh, I also bought “Brewing with Wheat” yesterday and I’m half way through it. Not sure why that matters since I’ll be following Mdixon’s recipe (although it kills me a little inside to follow a recipe) but I’m really liking the idea of using wheat.
Using raw wheat for Wits and p-Lambics, I have always just done an infusion mash, and hit my OG. Pragmatic and easy (channeling Denny a little).
Boiling or a cereal mash would burst the small starch granuales, just like a decoction does for malted barley. Randy Mosher says that it gives a superior mouthfeel (Radical Brewing?). SInce I have been doing decoctions for Pilsners, and cereal mashes for CAPs, I might do a cereal mash if I ever do a Wit again.
If one looks through “Brewing With Wheat”, one will find step mashes used by the commercial brewers that use raw wheat. That might be due to equipment limitations, as many would not have invested in a cereal cooker.
Finally, yeast is here. I assume you need a decent starter with this? I’m going to make a starter regardless because I don’t know how long this yeast sat in the post office (things are still very slow thanks to a recent strike). It was pretty warm when it got here so I think I’ll do a 1.5L starter just to make sure it’s alive and healthy before I start fermenting.
I may have missed it but what is the recommended fermentation temps for this style. My air conditioner crapped out too today (not going to buy any lottery tickets this week) so it could get a bit warm in the basement (70-75F). It’s usually 65-68 down there all year when the AC is running.
Sorry, forgot to mention the yeast in question is WLP400 Belgian Wit Ale Yeast.
I just brewed this recipe using that yeast. I fermented at a temp-controlled 73 and it came out great.
I prefer 3944 at 68F. 400 was a bit tamer in my various incantations, YMMV
How sour should this yeast be? What I mean is that I have made a starter and during the “occasional shaking” process, some ran out and I tasted it and it is pretty sour. I do have a lot of fruit flies this time of year but it’s been tightly closed with tin foil. Not saying it’s gone bad but is the sourness normal? It’s a lot more sour than I would expect having drank commercial wits.
Also, I did find Indian coriander (at least it says it was grown in India). Gonna try to brew this on Thursday unless you say the yeast is contaminated (no evidence of anything floating). Not sure where that was suggested but I remember reading it somewhere.
I don’t know that I have ever tasted a witbier yeast starter so I’m no help with that one…
When would you measure the pH using Mdixon’s schedule? I used 5L of tap water to boil the grain and 15 L of distilled water and the pH is 6.4 after the 10 min rest at 104. I’m going to adjust them at the saccarification rest (153) but do I need to worry prior to that?
Nope. The sacc rest is where it really counts.
That was my first step mash. That sucked. Couldn’t get the temp to stabilize anywhere except 104 since that’s about the ambient temp outside here today. I need a new, quicker reading and probably more accurate thermometer. Everytime I got it to where I thought it would be good, I’d leave it for 5 mins, check again the temp would be way high or way low from what I was expecting.
But, I guess it went OK, not sure yet since it’s just boiling now. Did hit pH 5.3 for the sacc rest so I was happy there but my temp kept dropping so I was probably somewhere between 155 and 145 most of the time. Not that worried about it, it’ll be fine but I don’t know how you guys hit your temps. I did it on the flame and then after mash-out moved everything to my cooler to sparge. By the time I was done, it could have been a no-sparge beer since I got about 20L of first runnings. Only sparged with 8L to rinse the grain because I didn’t want to boil all afternoon.
Thanks for all the advice and I’ll let you know how it turns out.
I set the flame to barely kiss/lap at the bottom of the kettle as the temp is ramping up and stir, stir, stir for at least a few minutes after I reach my desired temp. I’m generally dead nuts on. I use a thermometer I got at WalMart which I have found is fairly accurate when tested against my lab quality Hanna ChecktempF
I forgot to add the 15 peppercorns. Can I add them later? Do they need to boil?
Just leave them out. See what you think. I like the complexity the small amount of pepper adds to the mix, but putting them in the fermenter would add something different.
Basically I made many incantations trying to get back to an extract kit I made which scored 42 at comp and was a darn nice Witbier. Getting the AG up to par I always thought it needed a little more spice and I decided to add just a few peppercorns and that seemed to make the difference in the end. I spin everything to dust in a spice grinder and add near the end of the boil. I guess you could boil them and add, but I wouldn’t bother. Decide if you like the outcome as is and then tweak to make it what your desired witbier would be…
This is now bottled and carbed and I’m fairly happy with the results. The Wit character is great but I used 1/2 oz of chamomile flowers in the brew and they are over-powering all of the other spices. The orange/coriander flavour that you’d expect is sort of not apparent. It’s good but next time I’m gonna switch out the LHBS dried orange peel for some fresh grated and cut the chamomile to 1/4 oz. If you really love chamomile tea, you’d love this beer.
Thanks for all the advice.
I don’t like Chamomile in a Wit and you’ll find that it takes a buttload of fresh peel/zest.
I’d suggest you head back to basics, no chamomile (unless you love it) and maybe boost the coriander and peels to your taste. The peels really add to the bitterness of the brew.
Should I stick with the dried peel from the LHBS? Some sources suggest that this gives more pithy bitterness than flavour and fresh zest would be better.
I agree, I’ll leave out the chamomile next time and see how it goes. I like it but it doesn’t fit the “traditional” flavour profile, that’s for sure.
The dried peel is traditional and I prefer it to fresh.
I prefer fresh zest. Like Mike said, you’re going to have to do it to your taste. If you really aren’t sure, start more basic and come up from there.
You would… ;D