Homebrewed Belgian Wit

I've been on the road a lot lately, but with a little help from friends, was able to get my Belgian Wit kegged and carbonated. It was my first stab at the style and while it's fairly tasty, and I've only gotten positive feedback (it's hard to get people to complain about free beer), I think I fermented it too hot. It's been a sweaty summer and I'll stick to Belgian saisons again next August since they can take 80F days without any off-flavors. There's a very slight, but burnt sulfur note I could do without. I also think it came off a little too bitter for the style, but I can always live with extra hops.

Here's the recipe. Next batch I'll try a little coriander, vanilla, and citrus. I wanted to try a clean beer this round. This was also my first wheat beer with rice hulls. Based on previous lauterings, that half pound saved me 20-30 minutes by keeping the mash from sticking.

5 gal batch

5# Belgian Pils
4# Flaked wheat
1# Flaked oats
.25# Belgian Munich
.5# rice hulls

1 oz. Liberty (4.9% AA @ 60min)

Wyeast 3944 Belgian Wit yeasr

OG: 1.044
FG: 1.013
ABV: 4.5%

As always, thanks to everyone at ELF Gardens and the Jungle Room for your help.

Better Know a Beer Style: Belgian Wit

About a month from now, I'll be taking the SAT's of beer, the Beer Judge Certification Program exam. This involves learning maybe 70 styles of beer, along with a good share of brewing science. So in preparation for this test of beer geekery, I'm going to be focusing on a few styles and explaining the ideal and origins.

Belgian Wit
This 400 year old style had practically died out until it was revived in the 1950's by Pierre Celis (Celis White is quite tasty btw). This beer should smell somewhat sweet with light grains, spicy wheat, herbal hops, and be accompanied by spices like coriander, vanilla, or vanilla.

The appearance will be pale straw yellow, made hazy by the addition of the bottling yeast (intentionally not decanted). And the flavor will mirror the aroma with more spice and herbal flavors like orange zest and a low hop bitterness. There might also be a slightly tart and sour feel. But overall, this will be a light, crisp, and refreshing ale.

Wits are typically brewed with a 50/50 mix of unmalted wheat and a base malt like pilsner, but a 5-10% addition of oats isn't unheard of. Ground coriander and sweet orange peel are the most common spice additions, but chamomile, cumin, cinnamon, Grains of Paradise are also appropriate.

OG: 1.044 - 1.052
FG: 1.008 - 1.012
IBUs: 10 - 20
SRM: 2-4
ABV: 4.5-5.5%

Case Study: Blanche de Bruxelles

Best before date of "20081213" appear to indicate this has a 12 month shelf life. That's a little odd.

It starts out looking good with a cloudy, pale yellow body. The aroma, however, indicates this beer might have had some rough shipment with immediate skunk. That dissipated after 10 minutes to leave a sweet, bready aroma that carried over to the flavor. I'm surprised by this bready malt, because while it is Belgian by nature, it's not the normal light and crisp malt I'd expect from a wit. This beer comes off more like a light Belgian pale ale, and an unremarkable one at that.

Per style guidelines, we see this beer is really missing an obvious spice component. There was a fruity sweetness similar to orange peel, but nothing more. It also wasn't crisp or very refreshing.