I'd like to embark on a Belgian Wit in an upcoming brew session and I've got some questions. Does anyone know what yeast is used in Troublette? I'm planning on doing a single decoction. I want to do this traditionally and would like to use raw wheat. What I don't know is how do I know when I've decocted enough? OR how important is the timing of a decoction? If I decoct, stir and take the temp and need to do it again to get up to 150F, how does that impact things? Presumably I'd just be hitting other stages by accident, but I'm just checking. Finally, I'm thinking about splitting this batch and pitching a Hefe yeast in half - thoughts on that? 50/50 Belg Pils with 1 lb rice hulls 20 IBUs from Saaz Yeast(s) TBD Bitter Orange Peel/Coriander amounts TBD Thanks!
There's probably no living brewer who knows all this. Here's a pretty good source for decoction details: http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Decoction_Mashing I've only decoct'ed a couple of times, if you have three hands it is only moderately difficult. You want to be constantly stirring, measuring the temp, and adjusting the flame all at the same time. If you miss a temperature target you want to use that third hand to crank up (or down) the temp for optimum level. I believe most decoct'ers recommend stabilizing the mash at ~156 before bringing it to a boil. By all means pull a larger decoct than you think you'll need (my Beersmith undershot the quantity by a lot). Add this back to the mash tun and measure, if you reach the target with some super-hot decoct left over that's good . . . just let it cool and add later. The reverse type error is a problem. We have a decoction expert on the Forum: @inchrisin posts about this a lot. When I asked some basic questions he told me that decoction is overall a dumb idea . . . he may be right . . . Regarding the recipe: I assume your 50/50 is pils/raw wheat. You'll need at least two steps (protein/sacch rest) although why not do a third step (mash-out decoction) for style points?
You'll want to pull MOST of the grains out of the mash tun within about 10 minutes of stabilizing your mash temp. Too much is better than not enough. Stir like crazy while you bring your decoction up to 155. Make sure you're scraping the bottom of the pot, or else. Let it rest at 155 for 10 minutes. You? Don't rest. Keep stirring! Bring your decoction up to boiling temp and stir like crazy. Add your decoction back into your mash tun and be amazed that your mash temp didn't go up as much as you thought it should. If, by some miracle, you hit your next step temp and you have decoction left over, let me know how you did that. Let the rest of the decoction cool to your new resting temp and add when they are the same temp. Good luck and don't let me discourage you. I believe raw wheat will need a cereal mash. It's more of the same, just make sure all of your wheat is in your decoction and you should be good.
As a reference guide, here are the BJCP stats listed for Weizens/Weissbiers: OG: 1.044 - 1.052 FG: 1.010 - 1.014 IBU: 8 - 15 SRM: 2.0 - 8.0 ABV: 4.3 - 5.6 And Witbiers: OG: 1.044 - 1.052 FG: 1.008 - 1.012 IBU: 10 - 20 SRM: 2.0 - 4.0 ABV: 4.5 - 5.5 Very, very similar, however the IBUs and SRMs differ the most. If I were doing this (and I actually will be in a few weeks, minus the decoction), I would keep these on the lower end of the spectrum to satisfy both styles.
Thanks! So, just to be sure I'm understanding. Mash-in. Get to 120F for the protein rest. Wait 20 minutes. Decoction begins. Pull most of the grain out into the kettle. Flame on. Stirstirstirstirstir. Scrapescrapescrapescrapescrape. Hit 155. Flame off. Stirring/scraping continues for 10 minutes. Flame on. More of the stirring and scraping. Add back to mash. Stir, rest, check temp. If low, start over. If high, add ice. If on target, celebratory morphine? Aside from draining the wort and dumping all of the grains into the kettle, how does one do that?
I over-pull decoctions compared to what a calculator suggests (mostly grain) then add a little water to reduce the scorching risk. A trick I got from Kai. A nice thick-bottomed pot helps too (clad ideally). When it is time to return the decoction I reserve some of it. If my temperature is on, I’ll wait a few minutes for the rest of the decoction to cool before adding it back (if I’m low I’ll add the rest). Nice to avoid yo-yoing. Cereal mashes involve boiling all of the unmalted grain before adding it to the main mash (usually with a small amount of the base malt). This gelatinizes the starches, making them available for enzymatic conversion in the main mash. This is only necessary for truly raw grains, other grains (flaked, torrefied, and “instant”) come pre-gelatinized. The only time I use truly raw grains is for lambic turbid mashes where you want to pull starches into the kettle. For wits et al. I’m happy using flaked wheat. 50% unmalted will be pushing the conversion power of the base malt (Belgian traditionally don’t go over 40%), especially with a decoction. I’d suggest doing 30-40% unmalted, with 10-20% malted wheat to make sure you’ve got enough amylase.
Awesome. Thank you! I'd been leaning more towards flaked and/or torrefied wheat since I posted last night. I think I'm going to go slightly less than traditional and work with pre-gelatinized wheat. I may be misunderstanding, but by going this route, decoction is no longer necessary, right?
Correct, with flaked or torrefied grains a single infusion mash is totally fine. Decoction isn’t the traditional way to deal with unmalted grains anyway (it is more for undermodified malts). German breweries did not traditionally (and still only rarely) use unmalted grains. Hefeweizens are usually 50%+ wheat malt, with no unmalted wheat. This is thanks to the Reinheitsgebot. On the other hand the way Belgian beer taxes were implemented (on mash volume) encouraged the use of raw grains in a cereal cooker.
Wits are incredibly easy and fast to make...I've found the coriander and citrus amounts/process to be the nuanced part
I suspect that even if you used raw (ungelatinized) wheat, you'd still be okay, at least from a conversion perspective, without a cereal mash. That's because the minimum gelatinization temperature of wheat is well below sacch rest temps.
If you're adding pure wheat starch I'd agree, maybe even flour, but the large pieces of wheat plus protein would prevent full gelatinization. My standard example is thickening a sauce with starch. Corn starch will thicken well below a boil while wheat flour needs to be boiled for a few minutes. Gelatinization temperatures overlap for the two.
You got it. Most the info I've read says to hold the decoction at a boil for 10-15 minutes. This darkens the grains, adds melanoidin/millard reaction. As for the wheat, just start by putting all of your raw wheat in your pot that you're going to decoct in. Pull your decoction when ready and make sure you hit that 155 temp. Wheat gelatinized around 125-130F. It should convert with your sac temp.
