So how cloudy is a wit supposed to be?

It is on its second week and active fermentation is over. It is in a 6
gallon carboy and all I see is a nice straw colored liquid. Can not see
my hand or any shadow through the carboy.

Recipe was 5 pounds of 2 row, 4.5 pounds of raw wheat, 1 pound of oats.
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Reply |William J herrick to Central
show details 7:00 PM (20 hours ago) Reply
My last wit was as clear as a blond ale and only clouded up when exposed to
the fridge as chill haze. Tasted like a wit, smelt like a wit but never
took on the visual characteristics of one. Everyone liked it and I thought
it tasted great...but I just couldn't get over the visual image of what it
should have looked like. I have a few left...I'll bring some to the next
meeting so you can try it. Funny, but in the carboy it was quite cloudy; it
settled in the bottle conditioning.

I have a Wit Bock ready to bottle tomorrow night, hopefully it will cloud up
a little.

Reply |brett thomas to COHO
show details 7:24 PM (19 hours ago) Reply
A Belgian wit should be quite cloudy, assuming that you used a Belgian wit strain of yeast. This beer, just like a hefe, gets it's haze from the lack of flocculence with that type of yeast.

Also, wits are best when consumed fresh. Any lengthy bottle conditioning will, in time, drop most of the yeast out of suspension. I'd be willing to bet Bill's bottles had an excellent layer of sedimentary yeast at the bottom of the bottles.

BT

Reply |Tom Katzke to Central
show details 8:02 PM (19 hours ago) Reply
Hate to take on the master but I thought the cloudiness was from the
wheat and not from the yeast. An extended protein rest is said to kill
the wit character of the starches.

I used US-05 because I wanted a clean American wheat. Don't care much
for some of the fruity yeasts but after looking at the BJCP 16A info I
guess it is not supposed to have much of a yeast flavor profile.

I am wondering how long I should leave it in the fermentor. I have
started to leave beers for a few weeks or longer and have liked the
results. This style is said to be best when fresh but I have no idea
what time that is. I am planning on entering it at both fairs later
this month.

In all it was an experiment and a way to get rid of a bag of wheat
Sheryl does not want to use for flour. I have about 4 more beers to
play with so may even make a black white (or wit).

I am also playing with the idea of dry hopping one of them with some of
the fruity hops. Not one of the citrusy ones but maybe one of the NZ
hops. Any suggestions for a non citrus fruity hop?

Tom

Reply |Tom Brohamer to Central
show details 8:07 PM (18 hours ago) Reply
Hate to tell you but the yeast have even more influence on how cloudy the
beer winds up being, than the wheat. Wheat is a major contributor, but if
you make the same recipe, but use Calif Common yeast instead, it'll be
rather clear in the end.

Regards,
BBQ Tom

Reply |Tom Katzke to Central
show details 9:10 PM (17 hours ago) Reply
Well from the looks of it I have hit on the description well.

*Appearance:* Very pale straw to very light gold in color. The beer will
be very cloudy from starch haze and/or yeast, which gives it a milky,
whitish-yellow appearance. Dense, white, moussy head. Head retention
should be quite good.

Guess I will count back from the meeting and keg it up so I can bring a
sample (that is if it is drinkable).

I did some searching and people that do not get the haze from the wheat
find that the yeast can drop out after prolonged cooling. They add
wheat flour to get the haze back. I think the way I brewed this there
should be enough wheat haze to even take the chilling.

With out using gutter descriptions I would say it looks like watered
down yellow split pea soup now. Definitely a straw color.

BBQ Tom:
Most beer can really stand to wait a month after carbonation, some even
more, before consumption.

A beer such as yours would do very well anytime after carbonation levels
have been achieved. That one month thing just doesn't apply with this
style.

Now, you can make a wheat beer that will benefit from longer wait times, but
not a Belgian wit. "Wit" is short for "Witbier", which tanslates to "White
Beer". Hard to have a clear white beer.

If you're looking for a clear wheat, try a Kristall Weizen, or American
Wheat Ale (not American Hefe).

Regards,

Tom

Reply |Tom Katzke to Central
show details 9:34 PM (17 hours ago) Reply
Well I hope I am not confusing people.

I wanted to get a wit or white beer. With the raw wheat I had and not
wheat malt like would be used in a hefe.

I guess if a brewer wanted to use raw wheat the mash could be adjusted
to get rid of most of the haze and something like a hefe or like you
suggest an American wheat could be brewed.

I guess I am in a non-category of American white with my concoction. If
I go with NZ hops next brew for the fruit flavor then I guess it would
be a NZ white. I may even try with S-04 next time to see what it is
like with a British Ale yeast. Can you tell I am not much of a classic
styles guy?

So is this like an Ordinary Bitter and after about 2 weeks in the
fermentor carb it up and drink it? OB's are supposed to be drank fresh
also.

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Bret is correct, mine did have a layer of sediment on the bottom that was thick and rather hard. The clearing was very quickly after bottling, maybe a week? My yeast was Trappist Wyeast #3787, second generation. I used the same yeast (4th generation) in my current Weisen Bock. That really isn’t a yeast that encourages cloudiness.

That’s the fun of brewing, even when you’ve done everything by the book in anticipation of a specific result…bamm, ya get blind sided by something you didn’t expect. And, our results are still OK enough (most of the time) to share with our Coors and Bud friends who wouldn’t know the difference anyway!

Bill

It (the Wit beer) was from a second running from my Weisenbock which had 5
lb's malted wheat and 1lb flaked. I refreshed the 2nd running with another
pound of wheat flake plus some specialty malts and two row in a "tea bag" to
bring it back up to a 1.051. I'm having more fun with the second runnings
then the primary brew I target.

Bill