Witbier Challenge

Soft, pillowy clouds of bliss

Look at that rocky head on Holy Mountain Brewing’s The White Lodge Witbier

A good friend of mine who enjoys my homebrew recently has been pushing for some beers that he can share with more folks that enjoy more mainstream styles. I really like focusing on funky, sour, dry beers as well as hoppy, juicy and dry IPAs.

His suggestion was to put together a Witbier. I wasn’t quite sure if I wanted to do that but decided that it was worth the effort to see if I could build a recipe that I enjoyed coming from the styles I prefer. In Brewing Like a Monk there is a chapter discussing Witbiers in which they interview Ron Jeffries from Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales. He describes his process where by he imagines how the beer should taste and then works backwards to arrive at a recipe that should deliver the experience.

I’m attempting to do the same here. I recently had a really fantastic Witbier while I was in Settle, WA, The White Lodge from Holy Mountain Brewing Company. When the glass arrived there was this rocky mountain of imperfect off-white head that looked to include some bits of yeast. The nose had a nice spicy, bready, citrus character that begged for me to take a sip. It had a super soft mouthfeel that was a wash of malt and bready flavors with just a bit of banana, lots of orange, and; surprise, surprise; a bit tart.  Maybe that’s what captured my attention.

All of that together in a beer was just amazing.  I’m attempting to capture much of that in this recipe. This beer will be compared to a local Witbier (which doesn’t look or taste like The White Lodge), however I’m interested in how it fares.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
15 gal 60 min 17.1 IBUs 3.6 SRM 1.051 1.012 5.2 %
Actuals 0 1.01 -75.8 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
Witbier 17 1 1.044 - 1.052 1.008 - 1.012 10 - 20 2 - 4 2.2 - 2.8 4.5 - 5.5 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pilsen (BestMälz) 14 lbs 47.11
Wheat, Flaked 7 lbs 23.55
Wheat (BestMälz) 6 lbs 20.19
Acid Malt 1.22 lbs 4.1
Oats, Flaked 1 lbs 3.36
Sugar, Table (Sucrose) 8 oz 1.68

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Saaz 3.7 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 2.9
Summer (Summer Saaz) 3 oz 7 days Dry Hop Pellet 5.5

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Phosphoric Acid 5.00 ml 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 4.90 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Calcium Chloride 4.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Lemon Grass 15.00 g 5 min Boil Flavor
Coriander Seed 30.00 g 5 min Boil Spice
Orange Peel, Bitter 3.00 g 5 min Boil Spice

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
Belgian Witbier (3944) Wyeast Labs 74% 62°F - 75°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Mash In 152°F 60 min
Mash Out 168°F 10 min

Notes

21.47 gallons *.85 = 18.25 gallons
Mash is 14.85 gallons *.85 = 12.62 gallons + 2.23
Spage is 6.62 gallons *.85 = 5.63 gallons + 1.0

Sour Wit, take 2

fermenting-with-lactobacillus-1024x768

Farmhouse Saison fermenting with lactobacillus

I attempted a sour-worted wit a while back.  The process had a few hiccups and created a tasty beer, but it wasn’t nearly sour enough.  There isn’t any magical formula since we’re at the mercy of the bacteria.  However, I have learned that since I can’t rush it I shouldn’t try to make it fit my schedule.

In the past, I started the souring during the week and then on brewnight, usually Friday night, I would do the boil and then ferment.  This put the bacteria under a timeline: get sour by friday or that’s it!  This time, however, I’ll just be preparing the wort for innoculation and then letting it ride until it smells and tastes right.

Recipe-wise, I’ve been scouring the web for details and discussions of Crooked Stave’s St. Bretta farmhouse wit.  This was my first Crooked Stave beer that I got to try out in San Francisco at the excellent Monk’s Kettle.  It is a really nice beer.  Sour enough in the finish, but not overly aggressive that non-sour beer drinkers would run away.  There are a couple of new items for me, namely using Golden Naked Oats.  Supposedly they have a nice rich and fruity flavor but can contribute enough proteins to enhance mouth feel.

For the yeast, I wasn’t sure what Brett to use.  Various boards have some details of what is used in St. Bretta.  I was tempted to try two Bretts, but I think this time I’ll pitch Brett C.  A number of threads on Homebrewtalk forums mentioned getting a tart, almost sour flavor in beers fermented with Brett C.  This is unique since it is generally accepted that Brett by itself does not produce souring acids, besides Acetic (think vinegar) in the presence of oxygen.  Several homebrewers asserted that their Brett C. beers did have a significant tart, sour note without being acetic.  That’s good enough for me to try.

Here is St. Woxford, version 1.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
5.3 gal 60 min 9.0 IBUs 4.7 SRM 1.052 1.010 5.5 %
Actuals 1.046 1.01 4.7 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
Witbier 16 A 1.044 - 1.052 1.008 - 1.012 10 - 20 2 - 4 2.4 - 2.9 4.5 - 5.5 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Brewer's Malt, 2-Row, Premium (Great Western) 6.5 lbs 59.63
Wheat Malt, Ger 1.5 lbs 13.76
Acidulated (Weyermann) 1 lbs 9.17
Munich Malt 1 lbs 9.17
Oats, Golden Naked (Simpsons) 8 oz 4.59
Barley, Flaked 6.4 oz 3.67

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Mt. Hood (20120604) 0.28 oz 60 min First Wort Pellet 6.1
Styrian Goldings 0.35 oz 10 min Boil Pellet 3
Ahtanum 0.35 oz 7 days Dry Hop Pellet 5.2

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Calcium Chloride 3.70 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 3.70 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Epsom Salt (MgSO4) 0.90 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Coriander Seed 0.17 oz 5 min Boil Spice
Orange Peel, Bitter 0.17 oz 5 min Boil Spice

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
Brettanomyces Bruxellensis (WLP650) White Labs 70% 65°F - 72°F
Brettanomyces Claussenii (WLP645) White Labs 70% 65°F - 72°F
Lactobacillus Bacteria (WLP677) White Labs 70% 65°F - 72°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Saccharification 147.9°F 90 min
Mash Out 168°F 10 min

Notes

Pitch lacto for up to 5 days to get level of sour needed.

Licensed Fool, Sour Mashed Belgian Wit

It was probably a few years ago when I first encountered Boulevard Brewing’s Two Jokers Double-Wit style beer. And in one or two sips, I was hooked along with a few of my fellow craft beer drinkers. My friends were aware that I had started brewing and so the obvious question of whether or not I could clone the beer was proposed. At the time, I had taken my hand at brewing a number of existing clones with great success, usually from the Brewing Network’s The Jamil Show (Can You Brew it) podcast show. One thing I had not yet done was to attempt to clone a beer myself.

Brewing with Wheat includes interviews with Boulevard’s head brewer and he discusses a number of the beers as well as a few details on Two Jokers. Using these tidbits along with a general ingredient list available on their website, I’ve taken a stab at what I think the recipe should look like.

One interesting aspect is that in the book, Boulevard says that they do short sour mash.  They dough-in at 95F, hold for 8 hours and target a pH of 4.8. I really liked this idea and re-used the sour mashing technique I used to create a Berliner Weiss, which I picked up from Jeff Young at Black Star Coop via the Sunday Show interview with them. I’m looking forward to seeing how this extra tartness goes with the Belgian Wit recipe.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
5.3 gal 60 min 16.3 IBUs 5.1 SRM 1.075 1.013 8.1 %
Actuals 1.046 1.01 4.7 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
Witbier 16 A 1.044 - 1.052 1.008 - 1.012 10 - 20 2 - 4 2.4 - 2.9 4.5 - 5.5 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Brewer's Malt, 2-Row, Premium (Great Western) 8.5 lbs 56.43
White Wheat Malt 3.314 lbs 22
Wheat, Flaked 2.937 lbs 19.5
Munich Malt 5 oz 2.07

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Magnum 0.18 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 13.5
Northern Brewer (AHS) 0.5 oz 15 min Boil Pellet 9
Lavender 0.5 oz 15 min Aroma Pellet 12.2

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Calcium Chloride 4.80 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 4.80 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Epsom Salt (MgSO4) 0.50 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Cardimom 2.00 g 30 min Boil Spice
Coriander Seed 0.50 oz 15 min Boil Spice
Orange Peel, Sweet 0.50 oz 15 min Boil Spice
Seeds of Paradise 0.70 g 5 min Boil Spice

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
Belgian Witbier (3944) Wyeast Labs 74% 62°F - 75°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Saccharification 148°F 90 min
Mash Out 168°F 10 min

Notes

Color (EBC) 15.8
Bitterness (IBUs) 15
Original Gravity (Plato) 17.5
Terminal Gravity (Plato) 3.8
Alcohol (ABV) 8%
CO2 - Bottles 3.5 vol. (7.0 g/L)
CO2 - Kegs N/A

Sour Mash
- purge mash tun with c02
- mash in at 95F, hold for 8 hours until pH at 4.8
- add lactic and citric for target pH

Not included in the pretty-print form of the recipe is the Spices … I’m actually working on a patch to the beerxml wordpress plugin to display Misc. items in the recipe.  But if you download the recipe directly, it’s all in the XML.  Also, You’ll note Lavender listed as a hop; this is purely because Beersmith doesn’t let me say Spices steep after the boil which is what the BYO Brewing with Spices article discusses.