Now that the Oktoberfest duel has entered its slumber phase, it is time to start thinking about the next brew session and start up the next brew log.
This time it’s going to be a Belgian Witbier or White Beer.
I went with Midwest Supplies this time around. I have bought from them in the past and I have been happy with the service.
Lots of wheat and oats going into this one. More wheat than oats, but I am happy to be brewing with grains that I don’t use regularly. Plus, I have a ton of rice hulls sitting on my shelf that will be put to good use for the mash.
I also went with the Wyeast Belgian White Ale strain for this brew. I am changing things up! I am a White Labs guy usually…but I am going to use the smack pack this time.
Last year, the Saison was the summer brew. The witbier should taste really good in August.
It’s going to have some special ingredients too.
Biz
I have found with batch sparging my witbeers I have never had to use rice hulls, I used them once and then I decided what the hey I’ll try it without the rice hulls and then no problem, I haven’t noticed a drop in eff. except by maybe a point or two. I say try it without the hulls and if you get anything going with a stuck sparge I would add a little water mix the hulls in and then you now your setup needs them.
Anyway I guess what I’m trying to say is just because convention tells us we need the rice hulls doesn’t mean you will need them.
nick
Can’t wait to hear about your experience in brewing Witbier. I’ve been to Brussels some weeks ago and I enjoyed theire variety of styles… Let me know when it is ready for tasting 🙂
John
Biz – Good tips about the hulls. I bought them a year ago and they have been staring me in the face since then. I just want to use them so I don’t have to move them to get to the grain I really need.
Nick – Yeah, I am pretty pumped to brew it. It will be nice to turn around this ale before the summer’s end.
Sean Morrill
Found your site in Google Reader, I made a Witbier at the begining of summer, I did use rice hulls in mine and fly-sparged. Efficiency was not the best but did come out pretty well (and tasty). If you are going to add in corriander (traditional) make sure you get the right type, there is one type that add really strange off flavors, I think I found the info over at homebrewtalk.com somewhere. I found local sour oranges for mine, but there are other subs you can use.