Scotto's Rapier-Like Wit

Classification: wheat beer, wit, Belgian ale

Source: Scott Bukofsky (sjb8052@minerva.cis.yale.edu), r.c.b., 4/8/94

My latest batch of beer seems to be taking an awful long time to ferment. It's been a total of 2 and 1/2 weeks now, and it has only fallen to half of its O.G. There is still some slow action in the airlock and bubbles rising, but it looks like I'm in for another two weeks perhaps. This seems really long.

Although this beer is labelled as a "wit", a true Belgian wit will be made with unmalted barley. Still, this is an interesting approach to making an extract version since I'm not sure how you'd handle unmalted wheat in this case. ---Ed.

Ingredients:

3 lb Dutch extra-light DME
12 oz N. Western light DME
1 lb clover honey
3.3 lb N. Western Weizen extract
1.5 oz Hallertauer leaf hops
2 oz coriander
0.5 oz orange peel
Wyeast Belgian white pitched from 32 oz of 1.050 starter

Procedure:

The yeast was pitched when VERY active, and visible signs of fermentation were ween within 6 hours. O.G. was 1.060. Racked to secondary after 8 days, gravity only 1.040. After a week in secondary, gravity is 1.032. Fermentation has taken place at an average temp of 65 degrees.

Specifics:

O.G.: 1.060