Witbier Made with Red Shed

September has come in with some beautiful weather for sitting on a patio or in the air-conditioned cab of a combine. If you’re on a patio, you’ll likely want a light and refreshing beer. A delicious Wit will fit the bill perfectly. Try the Shadown Mountain Belgian Wit at Dark Woods or Sarah’s (yeah the Sarah that writes our beer recipes!) Black Tea Wit at Red Hart.. We’ve provided a recipe for a Wit that has been modernized to lean into the big, juicy, orange flavours with Mandarina Bavaria hops.

Vital Statistics:

ABV: 5% SRM: 3 IBU: 12 OG: 1.046 FG: 1.013

Ingredients: 

Yeast: Escarpment Labs Classic Wit

Strike Water Temperature: 76°C

Water Profile: Balanced

Mash Rest Temperature: 68°C

Mash pH: 5.4-5.5

Brewing Process:

Mash:

• Heat strike water to 76c

• Add all malt and brewing salts to strike water

• Adjust mash ph with appropriate acid to reach desired brewing target

• Mash rest temp 68c for 1 hour. Confirm with iodine test

• Mash out at 78c, hold for 20 mins with vorlauf if possible

Sparge:

• Sparge the mash with water acidified to a pH between 5.2 and 5.5.
  

Boil:

• Boil target volume of wort. Length 70 min

• Add Mandarina Bavaria at 60min

• Add second addition of Mandarina Bavaria and Whirlfloc or Irish Moss at 10 mins

• Add Coriander and Bitter Orange Peel, secure in hop sock of nylons at 5 mins

• Pull hop sock or nylons and Whirlpool. 

Cooling:

• Rapidly cool the wort with an ice bath or through a heat exchanger

• Add lightly diluted Yeast Lightening

Fermentation:

• Collect cooled wort into fermentation vessel

• Add oxygen through carb stone or by rapidly shaking volume

• Pitch Classic Wit at 18c

• After 2 days up fermentation temp to 22c

• Allow beer to ferment until 3 days of same gravity reading

• Proceed to packaging in either canning, bottling or kegging

• Enjoy this beer at 2.6 volumes of CO2