Ginger Wit

Classification: wit, wheat beer, Belgian ale, ginger wit, all-grain, spiced ale

Source: Jeff Renner (nerenner@umich.edu), HBD Issue #1789, July 24, 1995

My ginger wit is bottled and tastes great. It is a wonderfully refreshing summer cooler that even non-beer drinkers seem to like. The ginger is present but not "in your face," and the orangey coriander makes it recognizably a wit. The cardamom and grain of paradise are at present subliminal, as are the flavor and aroma hops. I expect it to evolve further.

I substituted ginger for the more traditional bitter orange peal, but I feel that this is a variable style where "traditional" is hard to pin down, and this kind of recipe is in keeping with the spirit of tradition. The subtle ginger "bite" seems to substitute nicely for the omitted lactic acidity. At 19 days from mash to mouth, there's still time to brew and enjoy this summer!

Ingredients: (for 7-1/2 gallons)

6 lb. American 6-row malt (for its higher enzyme levels) (50%), roller milled
5 lb, 6oz. soft, white, winter, Michigan wheat (45%), double ground in Corona to a coarse meal
11 oz. rolled oats (5%)
1 oz. Liberty plugs @ 5.9% alpha acid, 80 minutes boil
1 oz. ditto, 12 minutes boil
1 oz. ditto, at strike out, plus 30 minute steep during water bath cooling before counter current cooling
3.2 oz peeled fresh ginger, pureed
1 oz. freshly ground coriander
5 g. freshly ground cardamom
3 g. freshly ground grain of paradise
YeastLab W52 Wit (Bruges), sediment from 1 liter starter

Procedure:

The water was boiled and decanted (to soften) well water plus 2 tsp. CaCl2*2H2O in 12 gal.

The hops were intended to hit a target IBU of 18.

The spices were all boiled 7 minutes plus a 30 minute steep during water bath cooling before counter current cooling (with hops).

Mash 30 minutes each at 50, 60 and 70^C, mashout at 76^C.

Fermented at 69^F ambient, 71^F beer temp (this yeast gets sleepy below ~65^F) 12 days, racked to secondary for 4 days, bottled with 7.4 oz. dextrose.

Specifics:

OG: 1047