First Witbier.

[Sozzled Sab]

Planning on brewing a Belgian-style wheat beer. I have found a couple of simple recipes, one is from GH the other a Hoegaarden clone from GW.
The GH recipe suggests 25g each of dried Curaçao orange peel and 25g of Corriander seeds but the GW one suggests 3g of each.
That seems like a heck of a difference to me.
I don't want the spices to be too overwhelming, just subtle. Any advice would be welcome.
Brew length will be 23l.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

The last Hoegaarden I made I forgot the coriander and orange peel and still turned out well. 3g will have no impact so if you want those additions add 25g.

 

[MickDundee]

My “usual” witbier recipe uses 25g orange peel and 10g crushed coriander seeds, just to put a spanner in the works but it’s down to personal preference really.

I sent @Broken Toe a bottle of my last one (which was actually the worst of the 4 wits I’ve brewed) because we both entered a witbier comp that Maltmiller were organising and he said the coriander shone through and was the “star of the show”.

I’d also like to add, because I’m a PITA, that GH uses wheat malt in his recipe but if you really want it to turn out like a traditional Belgian witbier you should use Torrified wheat instead.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

In 20 litres I use 12g of freshly ground coriander in my saison and it adds a light spicy pepper flavour and a hint of lemon.

I think 25g would be very obvious and quite spicy but if you’re looking for full on flavour and like food with lots of coriander, go for it. The coriander will fade over time so if it’s too much you can always wait for it to back off

I would also say 3g would be pretty pointless, you’ll be disappointed. If you’re not feeling brave the middle ground is safe and you can adjust from there.

 

[YeastFace]

In 21l (into keg) my recipe is 15g each of sweet and bitter orange and 16g of cracked, toasted coriander seed.

 

[YeastFace]

I’d also like to add, because I’m a PITA, that GH uses wheat malt in his recipe but if you really want it to turn out like a traditional Belgian witbier you should use Torrified wheat instead.

Surely the traditional would be raw wheat?

 

[Broken Toe]

Personally I prefer the floral notes you get from Indian coriander it just blends a bit better with the citrus elements of the beer.

My version I went with 23g of fresh peel and 13g of the coriander gently crushed.

As said previously I think it's all down to personal preference.

 

[MickDundee]

Surely the traditional would be raw wheat?

Yeah you are probably right there, but I was trying to make the malted v unmalted point. Also, good luck finding raw wheat on Geterbrewed or MaltMiller.

Funnily enough one of my favourite witbier brews was one that I added a 750g box of shredded wheat Bitesize to.

 

[YeastFace]

Funnily enough one of my favourite witbier brews was one that I added a 750g box of shredded wheat Bitesize to.

Excellent!

 

[Richard_H]

I threw 25g of crushed coriander seeds in my witbier and I thought that was the perfect amount IMO, I also added some dark candi sugar which helped give it that distinctive Belgian flavour.

 

[Sozzled Sab]

Thanks for the advice, think I will go for the middle ground.
Should I be using flaked wheat or whole wheat.

 

[Richard_H]

From memory flaked wheat is for head retention, mouthfeel and flavour. I guess it depends just how big do you want you wheat beer to be on a wheat beer scale?

For me I like mine big, thick and hazy so 45% whole wheat and 5% flaked. Maybe even 40% & 10%!

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Use malted wheat works a treat, go 50/50 with Pilsner. Big clone book recipes for Wit and also GH call for wheat malt.

 

[Agentgonzo]

I have a hoegaarden clone in the fermenter as it happens! It's my first use of m21 and I might have a stuck ferment... Anyway

My standard recipe uses the peel off one orange (which is roughly 25-35g) and 15g of coriander. I don't think you'll be able to taste 3g in 5 gallons.

I think a lot of internet recipes overdo the spices and use it to make up for the lack of natural flavour that Hoegaarden get. 25g is a bit high imo.

 

[YeastFace]

Not sure I'll use M21 again. I like the flavour and it gets there eventually but far too finnicky. Certainly don't recall Brewferm Blanche taking anywhere as long to finish.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Not sure I'll use M21 again. I like the flavour and it gets there eventually but far too finnicky. Certainly don't recall Brewferm Blanche taking anywhere as long to finish.

Sorry for the thread hijack - how long did it take to finish and did you do anything to speed it along? Mine went like a rocket for 36 hours, then fell off a cliff. It's at just under 1.020 now and going at about 1 bubble per minute through the airlock (brewed 6 days ago)

 

[MickDundee]

Not sure I'll use M21 again. I like the flavour and it gets there eventually but far too finnicky. Certainly don't recall Brewferm Blanche taking anywhere as long to finish.

I’ve never had any issues with it - I don’t usually take any reading at all until it’s been in the FV for 2 weeks though so it could be slow and I just haven’t realised.

 

[YeastFace]

I left it for 3 weeks in the end. Checking notes it finished at 1.014 which is 2 gravity points higher than predicted

 

[Agentgonzo]

Mines only been in the fermenter for 6 days. Normally I ferment at 20° for 10 days. I guess I'm just leave this one in longer and take a trip to the supermarket to make up for my gap in production

 

[Sandimas]

I always use MJ M21 in my wheat beers and it always takes a long time to fully ferment out, 3 weeks or more, much longer than any other yeast. I've used it 4 or 5 times and every time the same.