While I should have been outside enjoying the sun last Saturday, I was instead holed up in the kitchen all afternoon brewing a Witbier. This was only my second all-grain attempt, the first being the pale ale that I helped Jesse brew last week. The efficiency of our brew last week ended up around 61%, but we figured that a few simple tweaks to our process could push us into the low 70’s.
Keeping temperature during the fly sparge was our biggest issue last week, so we converted to a simpler batch sparge process for the Wit. To solve the temperature issue, we employed a second beverage cooler to hold the heated sparge water, freeing up the brew kettle to collect the first runnings from the mash tun. I also purchased a cylindrical sparge bag at the homebrew shop to line the mash tun, keeping grain from sneaking through the false bottom and into the spout. Using the batch sparge method, we were able to up our efficiency to nearly 70%, falling just .001 short of our target OG.
The recipe we used was:
5.5 lbs German Pilsen
2.5 lbs Flaked Wheat
1.0 lbs Flaked Oats
1.0 lbs White Wheat
0.5 lbs Rice Hulls
.50 oz Mt. Hood @ 60 min
.50 oz Mt Hood @ 20 min
.75 oz Crushed Coriander @ 5
.50 oz Orange Peel Granules @ 5
.07 oz Chamomile (two 1 gram tea bags) @ 5
Zest of two medium oranges @ 5
Fermentis Safbrew T-58 Yeast
Estimated Efficiency: 70%
Estimated OG: 1.049
Estimated FG: 1.012
Estimated ABV: 4.8%
Estimated IBU: 14
Estimated SRM: 3
I was originally set on using Wyeast’s Belgian Wit strain, but a few days before our brew session, a post started on Home Brew Talk about Safbrew T-58; purportedly the strain used by Chimay. Many people were commenting that it produced both peppery phenols and light fruity esters, just about what I was looking for in my Wit. I pitched the yeast at 68ºF, then slowly ramped up the temperature. Right now I’m about 72 hours in and the Wit is churning away in my pantry at 74ºF.
Don’t worry; no leopards were harmed in the making of this beer. After pitching the yeast, I pulled a sample to use for gravity checks. Right now the sample is giving off a hot, pineapple aroma, not far off from MacTarnahan’s Lipstinger. If the beer ends up tasting close to how it currently smells, I’ll be using T-58 again for my next brew, a Farmhouse Ale.
Cheers!
Kevin