White Sox Wit

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

Source: Robert Bush (bush@shbf.se), HBD Issue #1916, 12/22/95

Surely you must be able to find Hoegaarden in the States? Too me that's the original Wit (which is the real (Flemish) name of the style) even though it's not. If I remember correctly it was revived by Pierre Celis before he moved to Texas from Belgium and started brewing Celis White and Grand Cru. It is now brewed by brewery De Kluis in Belgium and contains a live yeast strain that successfully can be used in your own batch. No need to hand out a lot of money, plus you get to drink a beer!

Here's a recipe I made a couple of years ago, I remember liking the end product then (sorry I only made 10 litres to try it, so it's a small batch).

Ingredients: (for 10 litres---about 2-1/2 gallons)

1000 grams Pilsner malt
900 grams Wheat malt
120 grams Flaked oats
13 grams Saaz @ 3.6% (90 min)
5 grams Saaz @ 3.6% (15 min)
8 grams dried Curacao orange peel (15 min)
12 grams ground Coriander
Hoegaarden culture

Procedure:

Step-infusion mash with rests at 52 degrees C (20 min), 63 degrees C (50 min) and 72 degrees C (30 min). Run-off att 78 degrees C.

Boil for 90 minutes. Cool and pitch with a culture of Hoegaarden White. Ferment at 18 degrees C. Drop to secondary at SG 1026 and bottle at SG 1015. Mature for a month. Drink.

Specifics:

OG 1052
FG 1011