A few summers back I had some friends who were just getting into the beer drinking scene, breaking in with Blue Moon Brewing Company's Belgian White Beer. They loved the stuff, and wanting to them to delve deeper into beer, I decided I set about the task of brewing my own Witbier. After a couple of weeks of research, talking to other homebrewers and looking for clones on the internets, I came up with a recipe. I brewed it a few times, once with the traditional Bitter Orange Peel and Coriander spices, and another time with a Dried Tropical Fruit White Tea mix. Don't get me wrong, both times the beer came out amazing, but I wanted to experiment with a fruit that wasn't used that often in the world of brewing. Well, it just so happened that the farmer's market down the street had recieved a large shipment of watermelons, and they were pretty cheap. Figuring, "why the hell not?" I went for it and bought a few, adding the pureed meat and juice into the secondary fermenter. Then two weeks later I bottled with some wildflower honey and two weeks after that I had a delicious Witbier with mild hints of melon in the finish. It was such a hit that within a week I was out, and haven't brewed it since. Well, with my two good friends getting married in a month I figured why not brew it and have some on tap for the reception. So this batch is the tester, with another batch to come in a weeks as the final version. Lets see where this gets us....Racked: Wednesday, July 14, 2010 (Transferred onto 15lbs. of pureed Watermelon)
Bottled/Kegged: Sunday, July 18, 2010
Batch Size (Gal): 6.00
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70%
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Original Gravity: 1.052
Final Gravity: 1.011
SRM: 4.70
IBU: 20.40
ABV: 5.40%
Grains/Sugars (Total Grain Bill (Lbs.): 12.89)
5.00 lb. Wheat Malt
3.40 lb. Pilsner Malt
1.75 lb. Flaked Wheat
1.00 lb. Flaked Oats
0.75 lb. American Pale Malt (2~Row)
0.50 lb. Munich Malt
0.30 lb. Aromatic Malt
.19 lb. Acidulated Malt
Hops
0.50 oz. Saaz, 6.80%, pellet, 60min
0.30 oz. Cascade, 7.40%, pellet, 25min
0.30 oz. Saaz, 6.80%, pellet, 10min
0.30 oz. Cascade, 7.40%, pellet, 5min
Yeast
WLP400: Belgian Wit Ale Yeast 1500ml. starter
Additives & Spices
0.43 oz. Coriander, crushed, 5min
0.21 oz. Candied Ginger, chopped, 5min
0.05 oz. White Pepper, crushed, 5min
15.00 lbs. Watermelon Meat, pureed, secondary (4 days)
Mash/Boil/Fermentation
H2O/Grain Ratio: 1.33 qt/lb
Protein Rest Temp/Time: 122*F/15min
Sacch. Rest Temp/Time: 152*F/60min
Mash Out Temp/Time: 168*F/15min
Sparge Temp/Time: 170*F/30min
Pre-Boil Vol: 8.00
Post-Boil Vol: 6.50
Evaporation Rate(per hour): 10%
Ferment Temp: 72°F - Primary / 70*F - Secondary
Primary Fermentation (Days): 10
Secondary Fermentation (Days): 4
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