First beer recipe - Looking for input

The first thing that jumps out is that this isn't really going to be a Witbier with so little wheat. Normally, it would be around half of the grain bill or more.

Also, you shouldn't simply steep wheat malt. If you use it, it should be mashed so that its starches are converted to sugars and dextrins. And the oats should be mashed along with it, and not simply steeped.

One thing a lot of extract brewers use for wheats/wits is Wheat DME, which is a mix of extract from wheat and barley malts. It's not ideal in a Witbier, because Witbier normally uses unmalted wheat (not wheat malt). But it's really the only choice for a mostly extract batch.

Also, an ounce of corianders sound high for a 5 gallon batch. Maybe half of that or a bit less. And it should be crushed first.

 

Since you are using wit yeast, I'll lean that way. These are VERY easy base beers to make. The magic, more so than other styles, comes from the yeast and spices. A starting point all grain would be 1:1 Pilsner and flaked wheat along with a touch of Munich or aromatic or melanoiden malt to up the malt perception. That's it.

If you are going extract, I'd just use the Bavarian wheat extract and steep some melanoiden malt. Focus on the yeast and spices. No need for secondary in this beer IMO.

OR

Make the beer as you planned and enjoy it and establish data points and start building recipe expectations.

 

In that case, I would drop the pilsner LME and replace with more wheat LME. Wheat LME already contains pilsner (or some other pale) malt extract.

 

Truth. Wheat LME is generally 50% wheat and 50% pilsner. Just use wheat LME.

The grains need to be mashed. It's like steeping, only more precise. Hold the grains at 152F for 30-60 minutes with a pH of 5.2-5.6 in 1-2qt water/ lb of grain. Failure to do this may result in unfermentable starchy liquid.

 

Way too much corriander and orange peel in a 5 gallon batch!

It's an all-too-common mistake.

Commercial brewers of witbier use far less. In fact, some use about 1 oz PER BARREL. The equivalent of ~ 5 grams (1/6th of an ounce) of fresh-ground coriander and orange peel in 5 gal is more appropriate and will give you some spice character without obliterating the contributions from your yeast.

 

if you stick with using the oats (and I suggest you do) I would do this

1# quick oats
2# pilsner malt
1# flaked wheat

Mash/Steep at 152F for at least 30min, in 8qt of water

Adjust your hop schedule to eliminate the 40min addition (not really useful)

Toss your coriander (get indian, it looks like little footballs) and the orange peel (make your own and avoid the pith) when you turn off your boil. There is no reason to boil your spices. Also use less of both, too little and you can add more later, too much and the beer is nasty

one last bit, use a blow off

 

If you do that, you should remove the oats too because the oats won't convert without wheat in a proper mash. The carapils can be steeped alone and doesn't need to be mashed.

 

How much orange peel to use is a complicated question. The answer depends on several variables including how much flavor you want from the orange peel. One thing you should try is to use only the skin (zest) of the orange, not the white pith. The pith is unpleasantly bitter. Start with the zest from one orange. If that isn't enough, use more next time. Avoid dry orange peel unless you are using the traditional Wit ingredient bitter orange peel (curacao).

 

I've made a number of wits over the years. I really like ~1 oz coriander and ~2 oz citrus zest (minimize the pith, lemon is my favorite), both added at 5 minutes.

Cheers!

 

Depends upon how you transfer into your fermenter. I just dump the spices in, but I utilize a mesh filter between the kettle and fermenter. I recommend keeping the coriander and zest out of the fermenter.