Advice on Ingredient Portions for a Hoegaarden Clone

[Tippsy-Turvy]

I'm about to attempt my first Hoegaarden clone partial mash after having read and distilled many clone recipes here, on other forums and from online LHBS's.

My question is not on whether my recipe is "authentic" (as there are so many opinions out there and it would send this thread off on a tangent!). But, I would like to know if the proportions of the different ingredients in my recipe are appropriate and that nothing is way out of whack eg am i using way too much torrified wheat or way too little carapils etc.

Fermentables:
4lbs Pilsner
1lb wheat DME
1lb white wheat
1lb torrified wheat
8oz carapils
4oz flaked oats
10oz corn sugar

Adjuncts:
2oz coriander & orange peel "spice pack"@ 15mins to flame out
2g cumin @1min

Hops:
1oz saaz @10mins +1oz saaz @7mins
1oz domestic hallertau @5mins

Yeast:
Safbrew WB06

Thank you gurus!

 

[weirdboy]

2oz coriander + 2g cumin seems like an awful lot of spice to me. In these beers, especially if you follow the "traditional" recipes that one sees floating around the internet, I think there is always way too little citrus and way too much coriander. Sometimes the coriander can also add other "cooked vegetable" flavors which definitely aren't wanted in a witbier.

Way too much hops as aroma additions, so your witbier is going to smell more like hops rather than citrus and spice, which it should never do. Also, because you are expecting to get all of the bittering from those late addition hops, you are going to have a really tough time, practically speaking, of actually dialing in the bitterness where you want it IMO. It might turn out perfect this time, and then next time it's completely different.

8oz of carapils in a recipe that is already ~35% wheat is probably overkill.

I also am not sure what the purpose is behind the corn sugar. I would rather increase the pilsner than add raw sugar to the recipe. If you are worried about body, mash at a lower temperature and for a longer time.

 

[Jayslay]

Everything weird boy said is what Im saying.
Cut the coriander to 15g or less. Not sure about cumin, never used it in a Wit. Recipe is fine, but I would cut the carapils altogether. As for your hops, you are doing all late additions which will make your beer very hop forward. I would use a single early addition (60 min) of less then an ounce of Hallertauer or Tettnang. You want your Hoeegarden to be very subtle, and heavy late additions are going to change the way it is perceived. Now for your yeast... thats a Hefeweizen yeast. It will work, and I actually like it very much and use it myself, but I'm not sure why you wouldn't want to use a Witbier yeast for a Hoeegarden clone. Tell us more?!

 

[weirdboy]

Oh, good catch on the yeast. I didn't actually check to make sure it was the right strain...you want WLP400 IIRC.

 

[Tippsy-Turvy]

This is outstanding advice - you guys are fantastic!

Ok, cut the carapils, dial down the coriander seeds & cumin, up the orange zest, more early addition hallertau and less late addition anything.

The WB-06 is good for making Wits, no? I thought I read that somewhere. Unfortunately, I'm overseas and my LHBS only carries dry yeast.

As for the corn sugar, I read that replacing some of the malt with it will help achieve the lighter color. Sounded a more appetizing idea than adding flour.

Thanks again! :rockin:

 

[Jayslay]

Well WB-06 is definitely a Wheat beer yeast, and certainly not the typical American strain either, which gets you closer. But I've brewed lots of Hefe and lots of Wits and the WB-06 comes on with banana and clove flavours. I was drinking a few glasses of my Hefe last night that I brewed with the WB-06.. Now Wit yeast is generally bringing a more subtle flavour profile which has a touch of tartness to it, they use the coriander and orange to play along with that tartness.
If its all you have, give it a shot, just remember that if you ferment above around 64-66F then you will have the resulting banana flavors, and its not quite typical of Wits, but I bet it will taste great anyway.

 

[Tippsy-Turvy]

Thanks Jayslay. Of the lighter ale yeasts, I can get US-05, T58, S33 and WB-06. If subtlety is called for with Wits then what do you think about just using 05?