Dark witbier - slight return

[thehorse]

A couple of months ago, I asked for advice here on brewing a dark witbier using extract; something akin to the Wylam brewery's satisfyingly botanical Haxan.

I eventually went with a recipe from Randy Moshe's book, although it didn't come out anywhere near the strength he suggested (5% rather than 6.5%). I also scaled it down to a 13-pint batch seeing as it was all slightly experimental.

It's half and half pale and wheat DME 500g each), plus a mini-mash of pilsner malt (190g), melanoidin mal (370g)t, oats and carafa II (100g each). A small amount of Northern Brewer hops (8g) were used for the whole boil, plus 5g ground coriander, 1g star anise and 3g of licorice root, with a Belgian ale yeast.

So, one month on, it's carbed up pretty well, pours a viscous but clear near black and tastes pretty good. The yeast takes some getting used to - its coconutty, banana esters are right in your face - and the next most dominant flavour is the licorice. It's overall well balanced, though I'd maybe like a slightly sweeter, more floral note, and more hops wouldn't hurt (perhaps dry hopping with Amarillo for aroma). I'd also be very interested in trying the same recipe with a less aggressive yeast, as I don't remember Haxan tasting quite so "Belgianny". It was more like alcoholic dandelion and burdock.

Has anyone else tried this style or got any comments on my effort?

 

[Covrich]

I think I read somewhere you have to be very careful with using punchy American hops in a witbeir as they do nto balance well.

This was a normal wit so it may not apply to a "dark" wit, a normal wit uses the hops more subtley while the yeast and the adjuncts come forward

 

[thehorse]

Yes, I wouldn't go overboard, I'm just not used to drinking something with so few hops

 

[Drunkula]

I think I read somewhere you have to be very careful with using punchy American hops in a witbeir as they do nto balance well.

Ooops, 3 hours ago I put 5g each of columbus and citra dry hop into a gallon of dark wheat that I'm doing. It tasted like wheat with a slight whiff of chocolate before it. Wonder if it'll be messed up. Only cheap ingredients so no big loss.

That beer up top looks great. I wanted to make a an alcoholic dandelion and burdock for real this year because I found a load of burdock. I'd like to find somebody else that's done it apart from John Wright.

 

[thehorse]

It was fairly good but in retrospect, that yeast was just s bit too aggressive for it to be truly sessionabke. Some more hops wouldn't have gone amiss, and the Christmassy fruits could just have been sharpened a notch. What does burdock taste like in its raw form? Recognisable from D&B? Any other tips for getting those kinds of flavours?

 

[Thumper]

Another beer style with an oxymoronic name :laugh2: however, "wheat with a slight whiff of chocolate" sounds lovely, I definitely wouldn't mind giving this a go.

 

[Drunkula]

Another beer style with an oxymoronic name :laugh2: however, "wheat with a slight whiff of chocolate" sounds lovely, I definitely wouldn't mind giving this a go.

I know! I read an article with a "Please Stop!" from commercial brewers. One said Black IPAs - just call them something else. Actually is it weissbier that means white beer? I'm too lazy to look it up.

Will bottle the dark wheat in a few days and let you know how it goes. If it's anything like as good as the beer I made out of flour it'll be wow. The flour beer is like slightly wheaty, banana-eee ice-cream with a mouthfeel like 3 minutes after you've eaten a victoria sponge.

 

[Thumper]

is it weissbier that means white beer? I'm too lazy to look it up.

Both. Weiss is German, and then I think whit is Belgian (Flemish?) and wit is Dutch, though those last two could be the other way round. All mean white, though.

Looking forward to a full report!

 

[thehorse]

Hey, don't blame me for its daft name. As I say, Wylam's excellent Haxan, my initial inspiration for this, is described as a dark witbier, as is the concoction in Randy Moshe's Mastering Homebrew.