Since my first attempt at a Blue Moon clone using a partial mash procedure, I’ve been eager to to do a witbier using all grain. I decided to take an initial stab at the style back in July, and I was happy with the process and the results.

I brewed this beer at a group brew day at Rapp Brewing with other members of the PUBGuild Homebrew Club. At the meet-up I received some great feedback from Robert Hilferding (AHA’s 2014 Homebrewer of the Year) and Greg Rapp (owner of Rapp Brewing) about the recipe and the taste of the wort. This gave me a lot of confidence in the beer from the start.

Fermentation went well, also. I used the Wyeast Forbidden Fruit (#3463) strain, which I heard gives off great spicy phenolics. Highly recommended!

Suncoast Witbier

Brew date: 7/29/14
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5 gal
Actual OG: 1.052
Estimated Conversion Efficiency: 65%
Estimated FG: 1.0135
Estimated ABV: 5.04%

Fermentables (% of GUs contributed):

48% White Wheat (4.8 lb)
48% 2-Row (5.333 lb)
2% Crystal 10 (0.229 lb)
2% Carapills (0.229 lb)

Hops:

1 oz. – Hallertauer – whole, AA: 4.5% (60 min)

Finings:

None

Yeast:

Wyeast #3463 Forbidden Fruit

Directions

Mash at 158F for 60 minutes. Mash out, lauter, and batch sparge to collect about 6 gallons of wort. Boil for 60 minutes. Cool and pitch yeast and ferment at optimum temperature (72F) for two to four weeks.  Bottle or keg condition, and enjoy while fresh.

Taste Notes

I was quite happy with this beer!

Since it’s been a while since I last had one of these beers, how about I let the judges at Commander SAAZ Interplanetary Homebrew Blastoff tell you about it? Click here to view my scoresheets. I scored a 35/50 on this beer, which qualifies as “very good.”

Next time I brew this beer I want to add a bit more haze, and more orange character.