Belgian Wit brewday

[Ajhutch]

I brewed this in late July and served it up over August bank holiday weekend, I'd read and been advised here that Wits are best served fresh. I got 2 x 5l Mini Keg from the below:

1.5kg Belgian 2 Row Pale Malt
1.5kg Torrified Wheat
40g Saaz @ 60 mins (8 IBU)
500g dry wheat extract
15g coriander seed @ 5 mins
10g dried bitter orange peel @ 5 mins

My mash efficiency was an absolute shambles hence the rather panicked addition of dry malt extract. I was trying to stay "true to style" for Wit which is to use unmalted wheat but right from dough in I could tell I had a problem. I use a pot that is only just big enough for what I'm trying to do and I was sloshing and splashing over the side with all the extra stirring that was required to get the lumps out of the wheat, all the while conscious that temperature was dropping. I applied some very gentle heat to get the temp back up before leaving it. I gave it 75 mins of mash instead of 60 as I planned but still needed to boost my gravity, OG was 1.049 into the fermenter.

I used rehydrated Mangrove Jack M21 Wit yeast. August was very warm but packet instructions said this yeast is happy high. I was into my mini kegs after 10 days and probably could have been sooner.

It was a decent beer, it had a little hint of sourness which I enjoyed. It wasn't as light as some Wits I've tried but I guess my accidentally lower mash temperature and high proportion of torrified wheat contribute to this. The head was lovely and stuck around really well but pouring off the mini keg was a nightmare and the beer itself wasn't as highly carbonated as it should have been, this should definitely have been bottled instead.

 

[BeerCat]

I used to use a ballon whisk to dough in. Good way to remove any balls. Last one i used a step mash and got the most authentic so far. I have sokme old wheat beer in the garage and i cracked one open and couldnt even tell what it was. I doubled the amount of sugar i was using as well to get more fizz.