Getting Witbier pale

[brewbrew]

I have just done a witbier and it has come out very brown.

The grain bill was 4.6kg malt consisting of 4 EBC pilsner malt and 4 EBC wheat malt 50:50 with 150g of rolled oats on top of this - for a 23l batch. It is decidedly Manilla envelope coloured. It was mashed at 65 deg C for 1hr.

Any ideas on how to get that whiter shade like Hoegaarden or those draught wit beers you get in London pubs?

I have looked around and some recipes just use torrified wheat instead of the wheat malt and some of the USA guys rave about putting lots of oats in.

I'm thinking of my next one being based on just half the pilsner malt (1.15kg), replacing the other half with rolled oats (so 1.15kg of oats) and 2.3kg of torrified wheat. By my logic, I will have a approx a quarter of the pigment level and lots of white haziness from the oats. Will it mash OK with only 25% of the grain bill having mash enzyme capability?

Any ideas?

BB

[IPA]

I have just done a witbier and it has come out very brown.

The grain bill was 4.6kg malt consisting of 4 EBC pilsner malt and 4 EBC wheat malt 50:50 with 150g of rolled oats on top of this - for a 23l batch. It is decidedly Manilla envelope coloured. It was mashed at 65 deg C for 1hr.

Any ideas on how to get that whiter shade like Hoegaarden or those draught wit beers you get in London pubs?

I have looked around and some recipes just use torrified wheat instead of the wheat malt and some of the USA guys rave about putting lots of oats in.

I'm thinking of my next one being based on just half the pilsner malt (1.15kg), replacing the other half with rolled oats (so 1.15kg of oats) and 2.3kg of torrified wheat. By my logic, I will have a approx a quarter of the pigment level and lots of white haziness from the oats. Will it mash OK with only 25% of
the grain bill having mash enzyme capability?

Any ideas?

BB

There's nothing wrong with your grain bill. Are you sure the colour of the wheat malt is correct? Or have you been sold dark wheat malt?

[brewbrew]

Thanks for the question about the wheat malt. In dry form, it was slightly darker than the pilsner malt and was labelled as 4 EBC just like the pilsner. It definitely was not brown or like crystal malt. I have some amber wheat malt in the cupboard and it was definitely much paler than that - so I think it was OK.

[IPA]

Thanks for the question about the wheat malt. In dry form, it was slightly darker than the pilsner malt and was labelled as 4 EBC just like the pilsner. It definitely was not brown or like crystal malt. I have some amber wheat malt in the cupboard and it was definitely much paler than that - so I think it was OK.

Here is the Wit that was voted the best in the world. How does your colour compare to it.
[URL=http://s1272.photobucket.com/user/Lastf ... 6.jpg.html][EURO

If you are hell bent on a really light colour substitute wheat flakes for the wheat malt but beware it is not as easy as wheat malt to mash.

[brewbrew]

mine is as brown as that - so maybe I should just close my eyes and enjoy!

[IPA]

mine is as brown as that - so maybe I should just close my eyes and enjoy!

Even better buy a bottle of it and use the yeast deposit for your next brew. I did that nearly two years ago and the yeast is still going strong. If you are really interested I will post on how to save yeast without any fuss and it will keep in your fridge for at least a year. No washing, slanting or freezing involved!

Edit. How much coriander and bitter orange peel did you use?

[andyCo]

mine is as brown as that - so maybe I should just close my eyes and enjoy!

Even better buy a bottle of it and use the yeast deposit for your next brew. I did that nearly two years ago and the yeast is still going strong. If you are really interested I will post on how to save yeast without any fuss and it will keep in your fridge for at least a year. No washing, slanting or freezing involved!

Edit. How much coriander and bitter orange peel did you use?

IPA, do you mean yeast from a bottle of blanche de namur ?

I've tried it twice recently and had no luck.

Brewbrew, lidl sells blanche de namur at £1.29 a bottle , its a nice wit

Andy

[IPA]

IPA, do you mean yeast from a bottle of blanche de namur ?

I've tried it twice recently and had no luck.

Brewbrew, lidl sells blanche de namur at £1.29 a bottle , its a nice wit

Andy[/quote]

It is really easy to culture the yeast from a bottle of Blanche de Namur. Just leave it to settle for a few days then carefully pour about three quarters into a glass and drink it. Swirl the last quarter until the yeast is in suspension and add it to 500ml of malt extract solution. If you do not have a stir plate shake the whole mixture to get some oxygen into it cover with silver foil or use an airlock. Place it somewhere with stable temperature between 18-22 degrees and allow it to ferment. When fermentation is over use the same procedure to step it up to 1 litre. When this is finished use the yeast sediment to start your brew.The malt extract solution is made up boiling 50gr of dry light malt extract with 500ml of water or 100gr per litre of water. The saving yeast procedure that I spoke of starts once your brew is 36 hours into the high krausen. If you want me to post more on the yeast saving I will.

[andyCo]

IPA, do you mean yeast from a bottle of blanche de namur ?

I've tried it twice recently and had no luck.

Brewbrew, lidl sells blanche de namur at £1.29 a bottle , its a nice wit

Andy

It is really easy to culture the yeast from a bottle of Blanche de Namur. Just leave it to settle for a few days then carefully pour about three quarters into a glass and drink it. Swirl the last quarter until the yeast is in suspension and add it to 500ml of malt extract solution. If you do not have a stir plate shake the whole mixture to get some oxygen into it cover with silver foil or use an airlock. Place it somewhere with stable temperature between 18-22 degrees and allow it to ferment. When fermentation is over use the same procedure to step it up to 1 litre. When this is finished use the yeast sediment to start your brew.The malt extract solution is made up boiling 50gr of dry light malt extract with 500ml of water or 100gr per litre of water. The saving yeast procedure that I spoke of starts once your brew is 36 hours into the high krausen. If you want me to post more on the yeast saving I will.

IPA, I've managed to culture up a few different strains from bottles but have had no luck with the blance de Namar, was just checking if it was possible, the only difference is I do 10g malt extract to 100ml, 100g in a 1 litre starter.
You've just gave me a excuse to nip to lidl's on my way home and have another go tonight

Andy

[brewbrew]

Reference IPA's question about orange peel and corriander; I used 25g of each for 23l. The peel was Brewferm brand dried stuff (looked bland and tastes bland when chewed from dry form). Is this enough. Corriander was whole seeds that I crushed (fairly well in pestle and mortar). Both added for last 10 mins of boil.

[Pinto]

cant say that I got much in the way of flavour from my bitter orange peel either (did the same chew test) - what i did get was a very strong bitter sensation. I think most of the potent orangeness is driven off in the drying process.

[Hanglow]

seville oranges are in season at the moment if you want fresh ones, they'll be out of season very soon though. freezing them might retain more orangyness in the zest should you want to use them later in the year

[IPA]

Reference IPA's question about orange peel and corriander; I used 25g of each for 23l. The peel was Brewferm brand dried stuff (looked bland and tastes bland when chewed from dry form). Is this enough. Corriander was whole seeds that I crushed (fairly well in pestle and mortar). Both added for last 10 mins of boil.

The dried orange peel that the Malt Miller sells is very good especially with regards to aroma. The quantities that you use are the same as mine the only difference is that I grind them in a spice mill.

[IPA]

IPA, do you mean yeast from a bottle of blanche de namur ?

I've tried it twice recently and had no luck.

Brewbrew, lidl sells blanche de namur at £1.29 a bottle , its a nice wit

Andy

It is really easy to culture the yeast from a bottle of Blanche de Namur. Just leave it to settle for a few days then carefully pour about three quarters into a glass and drink it. Swirl the last quarter until the yeast is in suspension and add it to 500ml of malt extract solution. If you do not have a stir plate shake the whole mixture to get some oxygen into it cover with silver foil or use an airlock. Place it somewhere with stable temperature between 18-22 degrees and allow it to ferment. When fermentation is over use the same procedure to step it up to 1 litre. When this is finished use the yeast sediment to start your brew.The malt extract solution is made up boiling 50gr of dry light malt extract with 500ml of water or 100gr per litre of water. The saving yeast procedure that I spoke of starts once your brew is 36 hours into the high krausen. If you want me to post more on the yeast saving I will.

IPA, I've managed to culture up a few different strains from bottles but have had no luck with the blance de Namar, was just checking if it was possible, the only difference is I do 10g malt extract to 100ml, 100g in a 1 litre starter.
You've just gave me a excuse to nip to lidl's on my way home and have another go tonight

Andy

Good luck

[T1mjv]

A quick way to get the haze that the OP was trying to get is to put a good tablespoon of plain flour in the boil with the spices.