Wheat Beer - Corriander & Orange Peel

[Charles Stanley-Grey]

Hello all,

After my failure to achieve a nice wheat beer first time round I have kicked off again with a new and improved recipe.

Grain Bill
2.5kg German Wheat Malt
2.0kg UK Pale
.25kg German CaraMunich I
.10kg Rolled Oats

Hops
70min Tettnanger

OG of .046 with 22L going into my FV.

Okay, so far so good. One thing that I have now seen creeping up is people talking about coriander and orange peel and it just so happens I tried a wheat beer from M&S on the weekend with both these in and it was very nice! What I really like is a strong flavour from my wheat beer, more of a Paulina than an Erdinger. Would the addition of some coriander and orange peel during the ferment help me achieve a superior and stronger flavour or is that pretty much set now from my grain bill?

Any thoughts or tips on wheat beer in general would also be appreciated.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Add 20g of each for last 10 minutes of the boil.

 

[Slid]

I've done 10g crushed coriander seeds in the past.
Also collected and frozen every small citrus fruit peel for 2-3 weeks and added all of it.

Neither makes a huge difference, but perceptible.
I would say, you may as well, especially as if it gets boiled, no nasties will survive.

 

[prog99]

Then you’ll have a mixup of German weizen and a Belgium wit.

 

[Rodcx500z]

I did one with 15g crushed coriander and 30g of orange peel last 15 mins of boil, I wouldn't say it was a proper wheat beer but it was very good and tasty

 

[Drunkula]

I've added peel to a fermenter. It's a big mistake. This was for a chocolate orange stout that was nice but I wanted more orange. It ended up tasting like bubble bath. Truly ruined.

If I had to tinker and try adding it later again I'd crush some coriander and peel and boil in in some water and then taste it - maybe draw off a bit of beer or use some I already had and add a bit to see if it works.

Tail end of the boil as said above is the usual way so my suggestion could be a disaster.

 

[steveinUS]

Go easy especially with coriander, you can always add more but you can’t take it out once it’s in there. Adding after primary is safe, the alcohol will retard growth of any unwanted microbes. Here, we are able to get dried orange peel from supply shops, either sweet or bitter, to add to beers. They make it more consistent to add a measured amount, and don’t spoil or require refrigeration.

 

[foxy]

This is the recipe I used, as steveinUS says use the coriander sparingly. Also when doing this recipe it is advisable to use the base malt suggested, otherwise you will not hit the target OG.
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/homebrew-recipe/brunchmaster-2000-witbier/

 

[Sandimas]

I use Curacao orange peel, available from homebrew suppliers: 25g together with 25g coriander, both into the boil last 10mins.

Can't really detect the coriander but the orange comes through nicely, my last one was bloomin brilliant: I pushed the ABV up to 5.3% and added a bit of crystal to give it a deeper colour, 7.7 SRM. Fermented with MJ21 Belgian Wit yeast. I shall be making that again soon.

 

[Harbey]

I have a really lovely wheat beer recipe which I have evolved over time. Plenty of toasted and crushed coriander seed into the boil for last 10mins along with plenty of orange peel - the bitter, dried stuff is great if you can get it. I also use lots of Amarillo hops for their orange flavour.

You then need a high fermentation temperature with a wheat beer yeast of course. I'm now fermenting my wheat beer at around 25C using Cross My Loof yeast, but I'd suggest you experiment with each brew. Oh, and make sure you make provision for a very lively fermentation - not a little airlock.

 

[chesters-mild]

Most of the flavour in Weiss Beer is from the yeast, malts & water used, not from any additions. Orange peel and coriander are found in Belgian Whit beers. I've brewed both, with a fair measure of success. My only problem is that, given time, they all drop crystal clear! even when in the fridge for a few days.

 

[MickDundee]

You have a recipe for a German wheat bier (hefeweizen) rather than a Belgian wheat beer (witbier) which is where coriander and orange peel are common.

If you are wanting a Belgian style wheat beer (witbier) with coriander and orange peel then you want to substitute your malted wheat for torrified wheat, and remove the caramunich (although I wouldn’t put catamunich in a hefe anyway), maybe up the oats as well. Coriander and orange peel in the last 10-15mins of the boil (I can’t remember what volumes I used)

You haven’t mentioned what yeast you are using, but again the Belgian wit uses a different yeast to a hefe - I’ve only used the Mangrove Jacks one but it turned out well.

 

[Rodcx500z]

I came up with this, going to brew next couple of days, yeast is MJ21
New Recipewit v3
Witbier

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 21.0
Total Grain (kg): 5.200
Total Hops (g): 40.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.046 (°P): 11.4
Final Gravity (FG): 1.012 (°P): 3.1
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.52 %
Colour (SRM): 3.6 (EBC): 7.1
Bitterness (IBU): 11.9 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 60
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

Grain Bill
----------------
4.000 kg Pilsner (76.92%)
1.000 kg Wheat Malt (19.23%)
0.200 kg Flaked Oats (3.85%)

Hop Bill
----------------
20.0 g Saaz Pellet (3.6% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (1 g/L)
20.0 g Saaz Pellet (3.6% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil) (1 g/L)

Misc Bill
----------------
20.0 g Coriander Seed @ 15 Minutes (Boil)
30.0 g Orange Peel @ 15 Minutes (Boil)

Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 20°C with WLP400 - Belgian Wit Ale

 

[Charles Stanley-Grey]

You have a recipe for a German wheat bier (hefeweizen) rather than a Belgian wheat beer (witbier) which is where coriander and orange peel are common.

You haven’t mentioned what yeast you are using, but again the Belgian wit uses a different yeast to a hefe - I’ve only used the Mangrove Jacks one but it turned out well.

Ah, very interesting I have not been making the distinction between the witbier and hefeweizen, that helps. I am absolutely aiming for a hefeweizen though, so I have not added anything to my current brew.

The yeast was Safale BE-134.

Any other tips of a strong Hefeweizen are welcome! Thanks for all the tips so far.

 

[Sandimas]

I just finished the last bottle of my Belgian Wit, with 25g of Curacao orange peel and 25g coriander in the boil last 10mins, and fermented with MJ21 Belgian Wit yeast. It was really nice and the orange came through nicely.

 

[jceg316]

What yeast are you using? That is quite important for the style as a lot of the flavours come from the yeast. Most wheat beers benefit from being fermented quite warm to get the most out of the yeast.

 

[user 18729]

Top tip, make sure you give the oranges a scrub with some warm water before grating the peel. One of the last wit’s I made had virtually no head and I’m sure it was due to a coating/wax that the shops put on the fruit

 

[DrGMc]

I came up with this, going to brew next couple of days, yeast is MJ21
New Recipewit v3
Witbier

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 21.0
Total Grain (kg): 5.200
Total Hops (g): 40.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.046 (°P): 11.4
Final Gravity (FG): 1.012 (°P): 3.1
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.52 %
Colour (SRM): 3.6 (EBC): 7.1
Bitterness (IBU): 11.9 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 60
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

Grain Bill
----------------
4.000 kg Pilsner (76.92%)
1.000 kg Wheat Malt (19.23%)
0.200 kg Flaked Oats (3.85%)

Hop Bill
----------------
20.0 g Saaz Pellet (3.6% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (1 g/L)
20.0 g Saaz Pellet (3.6% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil) (1 g/L)

Misc Bill
----------------
20.0 g Coriander Seed @ 15 Minutes (Boil)
30.0 g Orange Peel @ 15 Minutes (Boil)

Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 20°C with WLP400 - Belgian Wit Ale[/SIZE]

That sounds really interesting and I feel a wheat beer coming on this week

 

[dv12]

When brewing a Wheat Beer, what kind of water profile would you generally target? Brewers friend doesn't have anything with the word wheat in it. :)