Belgian Wit

I have now made about eight beers using the recipes from Jamil Zainasheff's Brewing Classic Styles book, and I just love it. The recipes turn out fantastic and the book is full of excellent tips. Now, the stats:

Brewed: 4/19/2008

Kegged: 4/30/2008

Original Gravity: 1.056

Final Gravity: 1.011

Alcohol By Volume: 5.8%

Carbonation Volume: 2.7 (15 psi at 40 degrees F)

This was my first 1o-gallon batch, as mentioned in a previous post. I split the batch into two 5 gallon carboys, one of which I fermented normally and the other I racked onto pinot noir soaked oak chips to imitate the style of the Dogfish Head Red and White Ale. I will document the results of that experiment in another post. These tasting notes are for the batch that was fermented normally.

Belgian wits are supposed to be drunk fresh. They are yeasty and very tasty and I am happy with the results of my brewing. The beer appears cloudy and sort of glows a pale yellow-white color when held against a strong light. The wit has a thick pillowy white head that dissipates quickly, but leaves a nice lacing pattern on the glass. It smells strongly of yeast and orange citrus, which is no surprise given that the 10 gallon batch used the fresh zest of three navel oranges. In fact, the smell is one of the things I love most about this beer. The taste has an immediate zing from the coriander that settles into the orange. The carbonation leaves a trail on your tongue, but dissipates quickly. You next taste the yeast, which has a spicy aftertaste that finally settles on a firm smoothness. The beer finishes with a slight lingering sweetness.

I really like how this batch turned out. However, for the next batch I will back off on the coriander slightly, as it is a bit too strong. I also plan on increasing the carbonation a bit, as it could be a slightly stronger. Additionally, a member of our homebrew club recommended I add 1/4 tsp of lactic acid to the beer as I keg it to add a slight sour spritz to the flavor. The cloudy "white" color can also be pronounced by adding a tablespoon of flour wort when it is boiling in the kettle.

Overall, I am very pleased with this beer and how it tastes out of the keg.