Citadelle White

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

Source: Phillip Seitz (0004531571@mcimail.com), Issue #1094, 3/10/93

The arrival of Celis has spurred an interest in brewing white beers, and in addition some HBDers have expressed a desire for more recipes on the net. The following recipe and comments should provide a good start for people who want to get ready for their summer white beer drinking.
Lemon/gold color with a substantial haze and white head. Slightly orangey aroma. Light to medium body with full, almost moussy carbonation. Light to moderate tartness with subtle but pleasant coriander flavor, some orange present but faint. Aftertaste mostly tart and coriander-ish. I wouldn't go head to head with Celis White, but this is unmistakably a white beer and will make for excellent hot-weather drinking.

Grain bill--The basic bill is 60% barley malt, 30% wheat malt, and 10% raw wheat. The latter was purchased at my local food coop for $0.55/lb. I would increase the gravity to 1.046 next time but think these proportions provide good results with little trouble. The raw wheat was absolute hell to grind, but there were no problems with the mash and sparge. Thanks to Jim Busch, the sultan of wheat beer, for help with the grain proportions.

Ingredients:

5 pounds 2-row pale malt
3 pounds Belgian wheat malt
3/4 pound hard red winter wheat
1/2 ounce Styrian Goldings (6.8% AA), boiled for 60 minutes
10 grams ground coriander (boiled 10 minutes)
zest of 4 oranges and one lime (added after end of boil)
12.5 ml 88% lactic acid (added at bottling)
110 grams corn sugar in 4.75 gallons for priming
Hoegaarden white yeast cultured from brewery sample

Procedure:

Strike with 8 quarts @ 135F for 20 minute protein rest at 122- 124F; Add 1 gallon boiling water to raise to 145F, then heat to 158F for 30 minute saccrification; add 2 gallons boiling water for 10-minute mashout at 170F; transfer to lauter tun and let sit 20 mins, then sparge with 6 gallons water @ 180F. I stopped sparging at 1.008, collecting 6.25 gallons at 1.037. Boiled for 90 minutes and cooled with immersion chiller.

Specifics:

O.G.: 1.042
F.G.: 1.012