help me put togather a Belgian Wit recipe

[jjsscram]

I like to think of the recipe in percentage becuase of the uncertein effecticty of my new system. Going to try and use wlp400 yeast. Going for a 5 gallon batch.

45% Pilsener malt
50% wheat malt
5% oats


Was thinking saaz for part of the hops, which other would you use. Plus any spices you would use. I am looking to get the tart/fruit to come out.

thanks

 

[Cheesefood]

I like to think of the recipe in percentage becuase of the uncertein effecticty of my new system. Going to try and use wlp400 yeast. Going for a 5 gallon batch.

45% Pilsener malt
50% wheat malt
5% oats


Was thinking saaz for part of the hops, which other would you use. Plus any spices you would use. I am looking to get the tart/fruit to come out.

thanks

I've tried twice and both failed, but it's because I wasn't patient.

You'll want to add some coriander and orange peel into the boil at the end.

 

[Walker]

You'll want to add some coriander and orange peel into the boil at the end.

I second that. It'll give it some ZING.

-walker

 

[Walker]

Was thinking saaz for part of the hops, which other would you use.

I'd suggest some Hallertauer for bittering hops.

-walker

 

[jjsscram]

recipe updated

mash

45% Pilsener malt
50% wheat malt
5% oats
mash at 152 deg f 60 mins
mash out 163 deg f 15 min
sparge 163 deg f 15 or until 5.75 gallons

boil

hallertauer .75 oz 60 mins boil 4%AA
saaz 1 oz 10 mins 4%AA
bitter orange peel .5 oz 5 mins
corriander seed 1 oz 5 mins

cool to 80 deg f
pitch
yeast wlp400

thanks for the input so far everyone

 

[Walker]

personal preference.... but I would up the hallertauer to 1.25 oz or so.

Looks good though! Best of luck!

-walker

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

What are your evaporative losses and what size batch are you going for? I generally need to collect 6.5-6.75g for a 60 minute boil to wind up with ~5.25g in my primary.

 

[jjsscram]

I usally loose about .75 to one gallon

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

I usally loose about .75 to one gallon

So in this case you would wind up with 5g in your brew kettle, and something less in your fermenter? Or is that what you're shooting for? I usually go for 5.25-5.5g in my primary (5.75-6g in the kettle) so that I can bottle right at 5g (losses from racking to secondary), although in reality 5g is just a number!

 

[jjsscram]

I usally go for 5 gallon into the fermenter.

 

[jjsscram]

This is in the primary.

 

[user 574]

EDIT - oops, see you already brewed. I'll keep this below for the heck of it.
---------------------------------------
Here's a cut/paste of a wit I did. It was a combo from what I found on a promash recipe and Sam. Turned out pretty good but took forever to finish. Might have just been that batch though: If hard to read through this click on the link below for the full promash session:

Grain/Extract/Sugar
% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
48.9 5.50 lbs. Pilsener Germany 1.038 2
33.3 3.75 lbs. Wheat Malt America 1.038 2
15.6 1.75 lbs. Flaked Soft White Wheat America 1.034 2
2.2 0.25 lbs. Aromatic Malt Belgium 1.036 25

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.

Hops
Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
0.75 oz. Willamette Pellet 4.90 16.3 60 min
0.25 oz. Willamette Pellet 4.90 1.4 15 min
0.25 oz. Cascade Pellet 6.90 1.3 5 min


Extras
Amount Name Type Time
2.00 Tsp Gypsum / Calcium Sulphate Other 0 Days(boil)
0.50 Lbs Oat/ Rice Hulls Other 90 Min.(mash)
1.00 Tsp Corriander Seed Spice 15 Min.(boil)
0.50 Oz Bitter Orange Peel Spice 15 Min.(boil)
1.00 Tsp Corriander Seed Spice 1 Min.(boil)
0.25 Oz Bitter Orange Peel Spice 1 Min.(boil)


Yeast
White Labs WLP400 Belgian Wit Ale

http://65.101.176.180/Beer/PromashSessions/08-19-2005_Celis_White_Clone.html

 

[jjsscram]

Wit turned out very good. fruit flavor is a bit lower then I wanted but the tart is there and taste good. thanks for all help and input everyone.

 

[rewster451]

The exactness and specicivity of this thread are exactly what scares me about AG.

I want to do it eventually, but holy christ!! You have to figure for evaporative losses? That's just too much for my feeble mind.

 

[DeRoux's Broux]

no you don't. you don't have to do half the stuff some AG brewers do. look at Janx. he just get's his recipe together, is familiar w/ his system, and let's it rip!
it just depends on how technical you want to get. it's like golf in a way. if you love analyzing the hell outta your swing ever time you go hit, then so be it. if you just like to go out, play a round and relax, have fun, and enjoy the activity, then so be it. both produce a good thing :~)

 

[jjsscram]

no you don't. you don't have to do half the stuff some AG brewers do. look at Janx. he just get's his recipe together, is familiar w/ his system, and let's it rip!
it just depends on how technical you want to get. it's like golf in a way. if you love analyzing the hell outta your swing ever time you go hit, then so be it. if you just like to go out, play a round and relax, have fun, and enjoy the activity, then so be it. both produce a good thing :~)

Exactly. I just like to get overly technical.

 

[Lost]

All you really need to do is use some sort of brewing program to guesstimate OG based lbs & type of malt and water volume. You'll probably be absolutely fine without calculating evaporation. I take the gravity before the boil to calculate efficiency and, if it's low, then I just boil it a bit more before I start the hop additions and I'll boil it more vigorously as well... almost always I end up with a SG as high or higher than the projected OG at this point because I set my efficiency a bit low in my calculations (76% usually). If the beer ends up being too concentrated then you can *gasps* boil some water and water it down. Of course I rarely do this because who cares if the OG is higher than expected?

What really matters with all grain is that you get the receipe right and don't screw up the mash (hit the right temp(s) and and mash long enough for full starch conversion) and don't rush the sparge. If you really want to start getting technical then we can start talking about decoction mashing and water chemistry... but for a basic ag batch you can do fine without thinking about any of that stuff.

edit: for my last ag batch (a wit BTW) I tried a decoction mash to raise the temp b/c the mash/lauter tun (cooler) was full and I didn't quite hit the next temp rest. Not really knowing about decoction mashing I did what I figured was right and ended up doing it exactly wrong.. no matter, the beer ended up just fine anyways - OG was right on the money. I'll be bottling it sometime next week.

For future readers using this thread to come up with a wit recipe here's what I did:
Malt: SRM 3 (though it sure looks a lot darker)
5 lbs pilsener
.4 lbs flaked oats
2 lbs flaked wheat
2 lbs malted wheat

added whirloc tab at 15, 2 grams (I think) coriander at 15, and bitter orange peel at 12 min mark. Consider adding more coriander in the secondary if necessary. I know cumin is something that's fairly popular but I elected against it. Souring with lactic acid is also popular but, again, I elected not to do it. I used east california ale yeast to avoid a highly phenolic taste.. I was going for a blue moon clone.

Hops: IBU's 17 (no, I'm not a hop head)
.75 oz kent golding (whole/leaf) 60
.25 saaz (whole/leaf) 15