Debatable Brewers' Recipes: Wit

by Tofi & Barak.

(brewed April 21th, 1998; April 25, 2002; May 27, 2002)

Some or other opening comment goes here.

Ingredients:

5 lbs, Pilsner Malt (2-row; e.g. Belgian Pils)
5 lbs, Flaked Wheat (unmalted)
8 oz, Rolled Oats
Either:
- 3/4 oz, Orange Peel
or
- Fresh peel of 1 lemon and 1/2 navel orange.
3/4 oz, crushed Coriander
1/4 Tsp, Ground Mace
1/4 Tsp, Ground Nutmeg
3 to 5 Cloves.
1 oz, Hops (Kent Golding or Hallertau)
Yeast: Wyeast 3942 Belgian Wit

Crush the malt. Boil 9 qts. of water. Combine boiling water plus cold (out of the tap) water to make 10 qts. of water at 140 degrees F. Mix the crushed malt, flaked wheat, and rolled oats together, and then pour into the mash-lauter tun, stirring well. The result should be about the consistency of fresh concrete (i.e. quite stiff).

Boil another 5 quarts or so of water. Wait 10 minutes, and then add enough water to bring the temperature up to 153 - 156 degrees F.

Mash for 1 1/2 hour. Toward the end of the mash, start 5 1/2 gallons of water boiling.

Recirculate until (fairly) clear, and collect runnings, sparging with the 5 1/2 gallons of water. You should collect about 6 1/2 gallons of liquor.

Start the yeast packet according to its directions, if necessary. Boil the wart for about an hour total. Add 1/2 oz. of the hops after you reach hot break. (Be careful: this will be a large hot break because of all that wheat.) Add the other 1/2 oz. of hops, half of the citrus peel, and half the spices 10 minutes from the end of the boil. Add the rest of the citrus peel and the spices just before shutting off the heat.

Cool, strain, Aerate and pitch the yeast.

The 4/98 batch had a starting gravity of 1.046, the 4/02 had a starting gravity of 1.044, and the 5/02 had a starting gravity of 1.0??.

All of the batches worked out to about 4% alcohol by volume, with a nice spicy-citrusy taste - quite refreshing in hot weather.

Tofi Kerthjalfadsson, guildmaster, BMDL Brewers' Guild.
pwp+ (AT) cs dot cmu dot edu