Wednesday 14 September 2011

Blanche de St. Oswald

Grist
2.043kg (39.3%) German Premier pilsner malt (Weyermann)
2.043kg (39.3%) Wheat malt
424g (8.2%) Oat malt
340g (6.6%) Flaked Oats
243g (4.7%) German spelt malt
102g (2%) German acid malt

Hops & Additions
20g German Tettnang (4.5 %) Whole hops FWH
30g Czech Saaz (3.0%) Whole hops 15 mins

7g fresh orange zest 15min
7g coriander seed (ground) 15min
1 tbsp. Seville marmalade 15mins
4g pure camomile flowers at flame out

Yeast
Safbrew T-58

Water
Adjusted to ‘general purpose’ as per http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/water/water.html

Method
Mash at 68 degrees for 60 minutes
Boil for 60 minutes with additions as above.
Cool to 20 degrees and pitch yeast



Target Specifications
OG: 1.052
FG: 1.012
ABV: 5.3% ABV
IBU: 14.5 (Tinseth)
SRM: 3.5
Mash efficiency: 80%
Batch Size: 20L

Comments
After visiting Bruges in May I was fascinated by how varied this
style can be. I wanted to try and emulate the fine balance of flavours that good Belgian wit beers such as ‘Blanche de Namur’ and ‘St. Bernardus Wit’ demonstrate.
I chose to include camomile in the spices as I hope it will add a herbal note without being overpowering the other additions, or the fermentation characteristics.
I’m hoping to get another version of this beer brewed with WLP410 (Belgian Wit II) and with more flaked, unmalted grist additions before the Leeds HB meet for a comparison.


Contributor
Neil Gardner (Leedsbrew)

5 comments:

  1. nice looking recipe Neil! Have you brewed a witbier before?

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  2. I've had a few lovely wits recently, a nice change from a British Pale Ale.

    I'm interesting in suing different yeasts but get rather nervous during fermentation.
    How to you insure that you maintain temperature?

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  3. @Zak Thanks, yeah I've brewed a couple but they were very basic recipes with WAY too much coriander etc. I wanted this one to be a lot more subtle! I'm hoping for a little lactic tang from the acid malt.

    @rob Wit is one of my favourite styles. Very refreshing to drink and a lot of fun to brew. Regarding temperature I did have a temp controlled fridge but the compressor went so I'm on the look out for another. My dining room has patio doors which seems to maintain a pretty constant 18-20 deg C at the moment. To be honest with moderate OG beers and a well prepared starter most beers will ferment out in a couple of days so it's easier to maintain temps. I have little digital fridge thermometers all over the house so if needs be I can move the FV. Crude but it's worked so far!

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  4. Very interesting recipe, I'd love to try it!

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  5. Cheers Dean! I found Stan Hieronymus' book 'brewing with wheat' a great reference text for coming up with the recipe! I'm bringing it along for all to try! Out of the FV it is tasting promising! Not sure the camomille is coming through as much as I'd like though!

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