Earl Grijs Wit

Hi All

I’ll be brewing this tomorrow (almost 3 year old twins permitting). I’ve made this wit a number of times and has always come out well, but this is the first time I’m using actual bergamots as a flavouring (in the form of bergamot marmalade, halving the usual lemon zest addition accordingly) and adding tiny bit of actual Earl Grey tea to primary (so little, in fact, I’m not sure it will make much difference, but at least I’ll know there’s actual tea in it). Hey, I like beer and I like Earl Grey tea. I’m also using EKG where I’ve used Pioneer in the past.

Will try and post some pics as I go.

Earl Grijs Wit
Witbier
23 litres
All Grain
1.046~OG → 1.011~FG → 4.6%ABV 13 IBU 3.0°L SRM

Yeast
Fermentis - Safbrew T-58
Fermentis (Ale) 1 pack

Fermentables
4.42 kilograms
Lager
35ppg, 1°L 2 kilograms
45.2%
Wheat (Flaked)
35ppg, 2°L 2 kilograms
45.2%
CaraPils
32ppg, 2°L 0.2 kilograms
4.5%
Oats (Flaked)
31ppg, 2°L 0.2 kilograms
4.5%
Bergamot Marmalade
24ppg, 1°L 24 grams
0.5%

Mash
1 step infusion
90 minutes, 37.82 litres
Strike
Target 55°C 13.77 litres at 60°C
30 minutes
Infusion 1
Target 66°C 5.05 litres at 100°C
1 hour
Sparge 18.99 litres at 77°C

Boil
1 hour, 31.84 litres
Goldings (Kent) hops
4.9%, Leaf 29 grams
60 minutes (+0)
Wort Chiller 15 minutes (+45)
Bergamot marmalade
Other 24 grams
5 minutes (+55)
Coriander
Spice 15 grams
5 minutes (+55)
Lemon Zest
Flavor 12 grams
5 minutes (+55)
Goldings (Kent) hops
4.9%, Pellet 23 grams
0 minutes (+60)

Ferment
14 days, single stage
Earl Grey Tea
Other 250 mlitres
14 days (+0 minutes)
Start fermentation
18°C
14 days (+0 days)

Notes
2 earl grey tea bags cold brewed in 250ml cooled boiled water for 10mins. Liquor added to primary. This is really just to say there’s actual tea in it, not sure it provides any flavour.

Slowly raise fermentation temperature to 22°C once fermentation has slowed.

Out of interest where do you get the bergamot marmalade from?

I tried adding some Earl Grey at bottling to half a batch I made a few months ago but unfortunately the entire batch went south on me so I never got to try it or compare with/without tea. The only other way I've heard of doing it (which comes from a Drew Beechum book) is to steep EG tea bags in vodka for a few days.

That sounds great, good luck with it

matt76 said:

Out of interest where do you get the bergamot marmalade from?

Click to expand...

I bought it from here:

https://www.vorrei.co.uk/Jam-Honey/Bergamot-Marmalade.Html?cPath=#.XcO9DSWnyEc

A little expensive for what it is (I think it was £4.50 + £2 postage) but I had a couple of quid in rewards vouchers from buying a food gift from Vorrei a couple of years ago. Also, with the amount I’m experimenting with using, that small jar should do about 10 brews. Bergamot marmalade is an Italian thing, so, if you live near any largish town, could also be worth checking if you have any Italian delis nearby that might have it.

I brewed this yesterday. Forgot to get pics but will update this thread with my thoughts later.

jx

Thanks for that. I'm not exactly doing this to save money so a few quid to try something new isn't an issue for me. As it happens we do have an Italian deli in the town - great tip! - so will try there first. Good luck with your brew

Just a few musings post brew day for now.

Grains. I was sure I had most of a bag of Carapils. Couldn’t find it. Subbed it for an additional 200g lager malt instead. Considering the way some feel about Carapils, this might be for the best. All that wheat and the oats should give the right mouthfeel anyway.

Gravity. Second brew in a row where I appear to hit pre-boil gravity and volume and then go on to hit post boil volume but not expected OG. Next brew I need to measure pre-boil sample once cooled rather than rely on a temperature adjustment. Also need to look at my boil off rate vs kettle/trub loss in a bit more detail.

Mash. I tried a stepped infusion mash with half hour cereal mash/protein rest at 55°C followed by an hour at 66°C, after following some tips I picked up elsewhere. I understand this wasn’t strictly necessary as I was using flaked wheat rather than raw, but, y’know, good to have the experience. It was the thinnest mash I’ve ever done - definitely more soupy (and thin soup at that) than porridgy. Honestly, it had me questioning my mash/sparge water volumes and I had to double check they all worked out! The runnings were a lovely creamy golden colour, nice and sweet. I seemed to hit pre-boil gravity and volume so I give myself a big fat tick.

Temperature control. I cooled and pitched at 18°C and was hoping to keep it there for the first few days in primary before ramping it up. Unfortunately it was quite late by that point and I didn’t provide adequate heating over night. So, after a night in the garage (ambient temperature 6-8°) it had fallen to 14°. Have spent the past two days ramping it back up again. That’s what I get for trying to brew a wit as we approach winter without any real temperature control (save a brew belt and a space heater).

General thoughts. I do still have high hopes for this brew. Couldn’t resist a sample today after only a couple of days in primary. It’s made it’s way down to 1.020ish so still a little way to go. Still a lot of activity. Lot of yeast still in suspension in sample obviously, but it’s tasting good - very fresh, citrusy, great wheaty mouthfeel. Not much in the way of phenols yet, quite clean tasting even with all that yeast in suspension, but definite earl grey flavours. Will continue to try and raise temperature to low 20s to try and bring out a little more yeast character from those last gravity points.

If the finished article is as good as the very early sample leads me to believe, this could be the best version of this that I’ve brewed :).

Jx