I brewed up a batch of my BelgianWit recipe. This time I was able to get the pale 6-row, instead of subbing the pale 2-row malt.
Brew-day started off well, I used my newly acquired hops, so a second difference in this recipe was the substitution of Chinook for Northern Brewer for bittering, and Saaz in place of Tettnang for flavor and aroma additions. I was able to source bitter oranges locally and I believe the bitter orange to be the one item absolutely necessary for Witbiers. Unfortunately could not get the whole Chamomile flowers like last time, so I used some 100% organic Chamomile Tea instead. So substitutions aside everything that needed to be in the brew made it in.
Here is what went wrong with brew-day...
1. Beersmith calculated strike-water temp at 163.5°F, my strike-water temp was actually about 167°F. In the past I have normally added my strike water about 10°F warmer, but I usually end up stirring the crap out of the mash for 10-15 minutes to reduce the temperature to the proper rest temp. So this time I tried to shave a few minutes off by starting a little cooler. We did have some colder weather here in AZ, and I used a bucket to transfer my water, so I'm sure I lost a degree or two there. I believe last time I emptied the strike water directly from the pot into the MLT, why I did it differently this time is any one's guess.
2. So my rest temperature for this brew was 148°F but after stirring in my grain and such and allowing 10 minutes for the MLT temp to equalize my rest temp was about 145°F, I added a gallon of 180°F water, which remedied the situation...
3. ...oh but wait a second I forgot the oats in the mash, and I noticed with 25 minutes left out of the 60 minute mash,so I stirred in the flaked oats as quickly as I could attempting to lose as little heat as possible, and reset the timer for 60 minutes, therefore my total sacharification rest lasted bout 95 minutes, not too bad, a little extra time for conversion, I've done it before, but the 6-row was added for the extra diastatic power it had to convert the oat starch...
4. So when I began to vorlauf, my mash temperature was about 145°F. I hope the wort did not become too fermentable.
5. Pre-boil gravity should have been 1.090, actually came out to 1.076, Original Gravity should have been 1.056, actually 1.050...
6. I ended up with about 7 gallons instead of 6, so I did not have the boil-off rate that I am accustomed too. Again, I'll chalk it up to the cooler temperatures we have had here.
What went right with brew-day you might ask?
1. I got my boil going quickly
2. All of my hop and spice additions were on schedule
3. I hate the chilling process, and instead of the 40lbs of ice i go through in the summer, I was able to get my wort chilled to about 67°F in about 30 minutes with only 20lbs of ice...that is actually really impressive with my setup.
4. I made a nice size starter, and my wort was fermenting within a couple hours
5. For some reason, clean-up didn't seem too bad this brew-day, maybe because it is cooler, and the last time I brewed it was in the 100's!
This beer will probably be fermented out within 4-5 days, but I will allow it 14 days in the primary. I am an advocate of the extended primary, most beers I would let sit for at least 3 weeks, usually 4, but Wits are meant to be drank young (one of the reasons I chose this beer to be my first to brew out of the 4 I plan to produce over the winter school break), I'll rack to a keg after the two week primary, and let it carb up for an additional two weeks, and then it will be ready to drink!
I thank those of you who stopped by for brew day, and shun those of you who didn't...asses!
Well that's about it for this update, oh I did want to add, be on the lookout for my next project which will be mini-fridge fermentation chamber build, I hope to get that done early in the NewYear, so if you are following keep your eyes peeled!
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