AG No 5 & 6. Belgian wit and raspberry version.

[Greenhorn]

This is a recap of my last brew, which I acttually did last month but have been way too busy at work to write up.

The idea was to do a 15L belgian wit, bottle half of it and then secondary the rest with some raspberries.

15L batch

1.76kg Bohemian pils
1.09kg munich base
1.6kg wheat
0.375kg oats
0.2kg oat hulls

30g Hallertau Mittelfrueh 3% @ 60min
40g orange zest @ 5min
8g crushed coriander @ 5min

wyeast 3944

strike water 10.5L @ 55°c, hit the initial mash temp of 50°c right on the button. Held for 15 min.

Added 6.7L @100°c, again hit mash temp of 67°c bang on (felt gooood).

Left for 90 min. Total mash time 1H45.

Sparged with 15L @ 78°c and got 18L @OG of 1.03.

Boiled for 90 min adding hops and additions as required. 40g of orange zest required 4 good size oranges, just so you know.

Cooled with my immersion chiller to 20°c in 25 min.

Pitched my yeast at 20°c into 15L and with a measured gravity of 1.045.

collected 8L 11 days later with an FG of 1.008, giving an ABV of 4.9% and bottled with 140g of DME.

Racked the rest over 700g of defrosted raspberries and left for another week or so.

Bottled the other 8L (extra L of beer from the raspberries and priming mixture.) and left for a couple of weeks to condition.


oh my gosh, these are some nice beers.



The standard wit is pretty close to a Hoegaarden and the raspberry one is just epic. The sourness of the raspberries really compliment the wheat.

Very easy to make as well, apart from the long mash.

Definitely to be done again.

 

[DamsideBrew]

These look excellent! Did you do anything with the raspberries in terms of sterilisation or did you chuck your cool wort straight over them in the FV??

Edit: Just re-read. Same question though, just a different stage. Did you need to do anything with the raspberries?

Cheers!

 

[chuffer]

They look great....not a mad fan of Hoegaarden anymore but reckon the raspberry one could be lovely to try

 

[Halfacrem]

They both look great. I like a sour beer. I'd really like to get into souring, but it seems a step too far for me at the moment. However that raspberry whit seems a simple way of getting some sourness.

:thumb:

 

[strange-steve]

They both look great. I like a sour beer. I'd really like to get into souring, but it seems a step too far for me at the moment. However that raspberry whit seems a simple way of getting some sourness.

:thumb:

What about kettle souring, it's nice and easy, doesn't require the long aging of lambics and you don't need to worry about contaminating your equipment.

 

[Halfacrem]

What about kettle souring, it's nice and easy, doesn't require the long aging of lambics and you don't need to worry about contaminating your equipment.

Yes, that would be the route I'd go down, but you need to be able to maintain a steady temperature for the time it takes for the bacteria to do it's thing (a day or two, it seems). Ideally I'd get a Brewtech Infussion Mash Tun and a heater pack, but at �£400, it's a bit of a costly route!

 

[strange-steve]

Do you have a brew fridge? I sparged into my boiler, let it cool a bit, chucked in a handful of malt, and put it in the fridge set at 40°c. It only took 24 hours to get a nice amount of citrusy sourness. I only use a 100w light bulb as a heater and it maintained the temperature nicely.

 

[Halfacrem]

Do you have a brew fridge? I sparged into my boiler, let it cool a bit, chucked in a handful of malt, and put it in the fridge set at 40°c. It only took 24 hours to get a nice amount of citrusy sourness. I only use a 100w light bulb as a heater and it maintained the temperature nicely.

Interesting! Yes, I do (the fridge on it's first run out as we speak). I'd never have thought you could maintain a temp that high with a light bulb!! I've got a 45 watt bar heater. Mmm, that's interesting as I'd love to give souring a go!

 

[strange-steve]

Interesting! Yes, I do (the fridge on it's first run out as we speak). I'd never have thought you could maintain a temp that high with a light bulb!! I've got a 45 watt bar heater. Mmm, that's interesting as I'd love to give souring a go!

Lol nor did I! Though water (wort technically) has a high specific heat capacity so it doesn't need a lot of energy to maintain the temperature.

 

[YeastFace]

They both look very tasty.

 

[Greenhorn]

These look excellent! Did you do anything with the raspberries in terms of sterilisation or did you chuck your cool wort straight over them in the FV??

Edit: Just re-read. Same question though, just a different stage. Did you need to do anything with the raspberries?

Cheers!

Nope. They're sterile when they're frozen apparently. So all you need is a sanitised pot and masher to squish them up.

I used 700g in 8L and it's very raspberryish.

I think I also might have bottled slightly early as the raspberry one is a bit feisty.

Another good thing about wheat beer is that it needs virtually no conditioning. Bottle it and a week later you're drinking it.

 

[BeerCat]

This is a recap of my last brew, which I acttually did last month but have been way too busy at work to write up.

The idea was to do a 15L belgian wit, bottle half of it and then secondary the rest with some raspberries.

15L batch

1.76kg Bohemian pils
1.09kg munich base
1.6kg wheat
0.375kg oats
0.2kg oat hulls

30g Hallertau Mittelfrueh 3% @ 60min
40g orange zest @ 5min
8g crushed coriander @ 5min

wyeast 3944

strike water 10.5L @ 55°c, hit the initial mash temp of 50°c right on the button. Held for 15 min.

Added 6.7L @100°c, again hit mash temp of 67°c bang on (felt gooood).

Left for 90 min. Total mash time 1H45.

Sparged with 15L @ 78°c and got 18L @OG of 1.03.

Boiled for 90 min adding hops and additions as required. 40g of orange zest required 4 good size oranges, just so you know.

Cooled with my immersion chiller to 20°c in 25 min.

Pitched my yeast at 20°c into 15L and with a measured gravity of 1.045.

collected 8L 11 days later with an FG of 1.008, giving an ABV of 4.9% and bottled with 140g of DME.

Racked the rest over 700g of defrosted raspberries and left for another week or so.

Bottled the other 8L (extra L of beer from the raspberries and priming mixture.) and left for a couple of weeks to condition.


oh my gosh, these are some nice beers.

View attachment 6007

The standard wit is pretty close to a Hoegaarden and the raspberry one is just epic. The sourness of the raspberries really compliment the wheat.

Very easy to make as well, apart from the long mash.

Definitely to be done again.

My that looks fantastic. Gonna be doing some wheat beer soon and will have to try the raspberries in some and a stepped mash. You may enjoy this podcast. Cheers [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDqxrhD5Ozo[/ame]

 

[DamsideBrew]

Nope. They're sterile when they're frozen apparently. So all you need is a sanitised pot and masher to squish them up.

I used 700g in 8L and it's very raspberryish.

I think I also might have bottled slightly early as the raspberry one is a bit feisty.

Another good thing about wheat beer is that it needs virtually no conditioning. Bottle it and a week later you're drinking it.

Thanks Greenhorn, might try get some of this brewed up before the "summer" ends!

 

[YeastFace]

The freezing process will denature any bugs, but not necessarily kill them. I tend to pasteurise any fruit before adding, but the alcohol probably inhibits any growth anyway.