Belgian Wit Redux, Brew Day

Trying again with the Belgian Wit. This time, I got a bigger kettle (7.5 gal thanks to Elizabeth's Christmas gift!). I've also mashed the grains at 160F (instead of 170F). I also used a yeast starter too. Let's see how it turns out!

Sweet wort after mashing: 1.04 SG. Not bad!

Color is looking good so far!

Sanitizing the wort chiller by submersing in wort during the last 20 minutes of the boil.

In the fermentation bucket. Color looks dark (again). We'll see how the yeast handles it.

OG at 1.06. Nailed it! Hopefully temperature stays around 70F this next couple weeks.

Belgian Wit: First Tasting After 1 Week in the Bottle

• 12/20/14: 1 week after bottling, 3 weeks after brew day
• Color is a golden amber, not too clear (but that's ok for a Wit)
• Very little head
• Smells like hops, sugary
• Missing carbonation
• Young beer -- flavor is there, but almost no carbonation
• Smell some coriander, no orange

Belgian Wit: First Tasting After Bottling for 1 Week and 5 Days

• 1 week 5 days after bottling (3 weeks 5 days of fermenting since brew day)
• Carbonation is better (than 1 week bottling)
• Color is a dark amber, malty
• Head holding better
• Smells malt, wheat
• Tastes like hops (bitterness)
• Under carbonated
• A taste of sweetness
• A hint of coriander, not much taste of the orange

Belgian Wit: Bottle Day

Took another reading on 12/13 and the specific gravity settled to 1.028. 

Belgian Wit: Brew Day

Sorry for the late post, but it was brew day on 11/29/14.

Last tasting of the German Hefeweizen

• 12/24/14 (8 weeks after brew day)
• Color remains a dark amber
• Medium to low head retainment
• Bubbles are a bit big
• Carbonation looks good
• Smell: slight scent of bananas
• Taste
• Clove taste
• Hint of banana
• Phenol flavor characteristic of a German Hefeweizen
• Light and refreshing

After 1 week of bottle fermentation

After one week of bottle fermentation on 11/10/14...


Some notes:

• Visual
• Little bit of head and bubbles are a bit big
• Color is more of a hazy caramel, not the hazy yellow of a hefeweizen. Perhaps due to caramelization during the hot boil? It would also explain the high original gravity (1.056).
• Aroma
• Hint of bananas.
• Couldn't detect any hint of cloves in the smell.
• Taste
• Minor carbonation.
• Tastes like a "young" beer, flavors aren't as pronounced. Doesn't taste "full bodied".
• Has yeasty taste of a hefeweizen.
• Slight after taste of alcohol or phenol.