So on to learn from my first batch mistakes and make new mistakes with this batch (it’s how you learn, right?).

Recipe: “Wit” Way is Up?

Malt Extract:

• 4 pounds Wheat LME
• 2 pounds Pale LME

Grains:

• 4 oz. Aromatic Malt
• 4 oz. Wheat Malt

Hops

• .75 oz Willamette [:60]
• .5 oz Willamette [:15]
• .5 oz Cascade [:01]

Other ingredients

• 1.25 oz Bitter Orange Peel
• 2 tsp Coriander

Yeast

• WLP400 Belgian Wit Yeast

Specs:

• Target OG: 1.053
• IBU: 16.5
• SRM: 3.8

A friend of mine, Erik Petermann, came over to assist.  He also brought over a bunch of bottles for me so I can bottle up that first batch.

We dove right in.  I used spring water this time instead of tap.  Usually our water is OK, but the night before it was giving off a very chlorine smell.  

Brought the water up to 150 and steeped the grains.  There is much less grain than in the pale ale batch.  MUCH less.  The aroma was great and the color was a light yellow to light brown.

I brought up the heat after 30 minutes of steeping.  As the water began to boil, I noticed some bubbles floating on top of the water.  Rainbow bubbles.  Uh-oh: soap residue?  I cleaned out my pot with oxyclean free and thoroughly rinsed.  Maybe not thoroughly enough.  There wasn’t a great deal of these bubbles but it does concern me.  Nothing I could do about it now!  I guess I’ll find out in about a month.

After the boil, I removed from the heat and added the malt extract.  Next step was the .75 oz of Williamette hops.  I’m hoping to learn more about the different kind of hops soon.  I picked up How to Brew a week or so ago.

Waited a 45 minutes, and added the second batch of Willamette and half of the orange peel and coriander.  

Looks earthy

After the final addition of the orange peel, coriander and hops, breathed in the aroma.  There was definitely a smell of hot tea in the air.  Hot tea mixed with beer (which I’ve heard is good in a brew).

Next step was to cool down the wort.  I decided not to add ice to cool the wort down like I did with the first batch.  Instead, I used the tried and true ice bath.

Since I was going to ferment in the carboy this time, I decided to first add the wort and water to the primary bucket I have to add the additional water and to aerate.  First batch, I don’t think I aerated enough.  I just used a plastic spoon before to try to stir up as much oxygen as I could.  I used the stir paddle instead.  It seemed to do the trick nicely.  I stirred for about 5-7 minutes.

I had JP’s old carboy sanitized with star san and ready to go.  The funnel didn’t fit how I expected it to.  Since Erik was long gone by now (it was around 11:45 pm), I was doing this by myself.  The funnel held, but I wonder if I shouldn’t have got a smaller one.

I decided not to leave the orange peel and coriander in the fermenter.  I tried to find a consensus about what the best practice is for having this stuff in your primary, but like all things in the brew world, it was a split.

The strainer in the funnel got clogged with hops.  I finally poked the screen loose and got the rest of the wort in.  I was able to keep most of the spices in the bucket.

I removed the funnel and shook up the yeast.  I poured it in the carboy, spilling a bit on the outside and having much of it run down the neck inside.  I’m not really sure why I didn’t use the funnel.  I rocked the carboy to get the yeast that was stuck up in the neck of the carboy.  It also helped to get rid of the star san bubbles.

Took my OG and I’m pretty much on target with the recipe from Homebrew: 1.051

Nothing nerdier than a picture of a hydrometer

I’m shooting for a FG of 1.014.  

So here’s what I learned with this batch:

• Rinse really, really well.  I think instead of rinsing in the kitchen sink, I’ll use the bathtub.
• Use the funnel for pitching the yeast into a carboy.

I hope the beer turns out.  The potential soap reside has me concerned.  We’ll have to wait and see!