I used the 3944 Belgian Witbier Yeast (Wyeast) in the second and noted a much more cloudy appearance in the beer, very similar to the real thing. In my first batch I simply used a dry yeast and it was crystal clear.
Both batches have had a slightly bitter (unpleasant) aftertaste. I am begining to wonder if this is to do with the Orange used. A lot of recipes I read call for dried orange peel, not fresh.
I'll be playing with this some more over the next couple of weeks. I'm goign to pick up a G&G frsh wort kit, some Curacao and Sweet (dried) orange peel and use the last packet of 3944.
Will let you know how I go
PS - Must say my second attempt was MUCH nicer, go the 3944 and watch that peel huh
"Beer makes you feel the way you ought to feel without beer"
I got some coriander seeds whole(masterfoods) from coles,
so i'm wondering do you have to use the whole jar 18grams
in the hoegarden clone? and if so can you just throw the whole lot straight
from the jar or do you have to crush up the coriander seeds first?
i will be adding 2 orange rinds and manderin rind, plus 25grams saaz hops
to the wheat dry malt in the brewpot.
i got my mate to buy some torrefied wheat from the local HBS, and it looks like rolled oats, except that they're wheat... I went to the same HBS on saturday ,and they had torrefied wheat there, but this time it was wheat that looked like unpopped pop corn (with the white stuff coming out of the husks). Has anyone used the ones that look like rolled oats or the unpopped popcorn? because I see that alot of people have used puffed wheat... do you think that there will be an overly big difference when it comes to steeping and removing the unmalted wheat? Should i chop the wheat up a little to make a greater surface area? or should i just leave it?
James
I freely admit that I was Very Very Drunk....
"They speak of my drinking, but never consider my thirst."
I'm going to use styrian goldings myself in the fresh wort kit I have.
The 250g dry wheat malt is extract.
With regards to the torrefied wheat, it's all much the much. I'd say they've just been puffed then rolled. I don't see there being much difference. I've used the ones that look like popcorn, they are just sanitarium wheaties.
With your steeping, use a spoon or tongs and move the wheat around to make sure it's all nice and wet and bob it up and down a few times to make sure. You'll find that they will absorb a considerable amount of water. I wouldn't bother chopping it up.
The thing with this recipe is I've done it twice now and each time I've changed it to try and get a bit closer. It's a good starting point but just see how you go.
I still think that adding the peel to the boil is just too much. I did it for too long the first time and it wasn't so good. Less the second time and it's better. This time I'm going to add them to just boiled water and cover/soak for 20mins as per the Grape and Grain advise. Will be interesting to see the difference.
"Beer makes you feel the way you ought to feel without beer"
Hi peoples. I've been offline for ages and will gradually come back into the forum.
On your colour, you can't replicate the white, lemony colour of the real Hoegaarden unless you're doing an all grain. Has something to do with the base malts - not sure exactly.
A note on coriander - do not hesitate to go for 30, even 40 grams. It won't make a huge difference but the Hoegaarden does have a strong coriander flavour and I'm finding that 14g is not getting me there.
A note on orange - using fresh oranges will give you an odd taste. You really do need to use either bitter orange (purchased from grain and grape) or mandarin peel. The dried bitter orange is not as strong and goes well in a 10-15 minute boil.
And yes, use the 3944 (or White Labs equivalent) if at all possible. Just make some starters as liquid yeast is expensive.
I'm suprised you guys use wheat malt in a Hoegaarden replica; there are none of this in Hoegaarden. Use 50/50 barley malt and unmalted wheat. Give the wheat a slight boil and a protein rest at 50 C for 20 mins before mashing toghether with the malt.
In order to create the white/lemon colour, there is no reason why you cant use extra light liquid malt and the unmalted wheat... If you use this with the rest of the ingredients, i reckon you'd end up with something pretty close to the real thing.
I'm going to make a little brew on the weekend to test this theory.
Tasted a version similar to this from the fermentor tonight after 5 days and it is excellent! I originally set out to brew a golden ale, but ended up with a hybrid which I think will come up quite nicel after a few weeks in the bottle.
Watch my website for tasting notes on this brew. I have called it "Brewiser Wheat #1" because it was a partial using the wheat kit and I have quite a few of them
Made the hoegaarden that i suggested a couple of posts ago, had a taste while bottling, and it tastes pretty darn close to the real thing. The colour is much much lighter. Its pretty much a cloudy lager... i think its about as good as i'm going to get using extract.
The orange and coriander are not overpowering...
I cant wait to have a bottle in a few weeks time..
I freely admit that I was Very Very Drunk....
"They speak of my drinking, but never consider my thirst."
i have this brewing now and have a lot of sediment. I don't have second vessal for racking. Will i be able to get away with bottling from the primary? The sediment is right up to the line of the tap.
collapoo wrote:i have this brewing now and have a lot of sediment. I don't have second vessal for racking. Will i be able to get away with bottling from the primary? The sediment is right up to the line of the tap.
500g, which i strained through a stocking. I bit the bullet and bought a second fermentor, yipee!!! So it has been racked which I am very glad I did because the sludge at the bottom of the primary did not look very attractive. So i'm very excited now I can rack, and up production of beer as well!!
