Wit mashing

[imark]

I'm considering doing Jamil Z's Wit recipe from Brewing Classic Styles this weekend. I'm not sure about how to manage the large percentage of flaked wheat. Can I put all the pilsner in with the flaked wheat at 50C or do I need to do the cereal mash with a percentage of the pilsner malt first and then the remainder to MLT? My MLT is a poxy argos coolbox and doesn't hold heat well so mashing is the bane of my brewday and this looks like it could be a doozy.

Anybody tried this recipe? Or experience with flaked wheat?

This is the recipe I've loaded in:

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Wittebrew
Brewer: JZ
Asst Brewer:
Style: Witbier
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 29.94 l
Post Boil Volume: 26.87 l
Batch Size (fermenter): 23.00 l   
Bottling Volume: 21.49 l
Estimated OG: 1.055 SG
Estimated Color: 5.7 EBC
Estimated IBU: 12.7 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 80.9 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU         
3.00 kg               Pilsner (2 Row) UK (2.0 EBC)             Grain         1        51.1 %       
2.25 kg               Wheat, Flaked (3.2 EBC)                  Grain         2        38.3 %       
0.50 kg               Oats, Flaked (2.0 EBC)                   Grain         3        8.5 %         
0.12 kg               Munich Malt (17.7 EBC)                   Grain         4        2.1 %         
35.00 g               Hallertauer Hersbrucker [4.00 %] - Boil  Hop           5        12.7 IBUs     
45.00 g               Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 5.0 mins)       Spice         6        -             
11.00 g               Coriander Seed (Boil 5.0 mins)           Spice         7        -             
1.0 pkg               Belgian Wit Ale (White Labs #WLP400) [35 Yeast         8        -             
Mash Schedule: Double Infusion, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 5.87 kg
----------------------------
Name              Description                             Step Temperat Step Time     
Protein Rest      Add 11.03 l of water at 55.6 C          50.0 C        30 min       
Saccharification  Add 9.81 l of water at 89.2 C           66.7 C        30 min       
Mash Out          Add 8.58 l of water at 99.5 C           75.6 C        10 min       
Sparge: Fly sparge with 7.35 l water at 75.6 C
Notes:
------
Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[mabrungard]

Flaked wheat is already gelatinized, so you don't need to perform a cereal mash.  The same applies for the flaked oats. 

Wit is a purposely cloudy beer, so getting a good dose of protein into the wort is desirable.  The flaked wheat should provide that.  However, another technique is to mix up a small roux of wheat flour and cold water, and add that directly to the kettle so that you are assured of a high protein content in the wort.  I've used that technique several times for Wits.  In a 20L batch, I'm only using a small handful of flour in the roux.  Don't use too much since you will be left with a sludgy mess in the kettle.

Another important factor for a Wit is to use low alkalinity water for the brewing or add LACTIC acid to the brewing water to neutralize waters with high alkalinity.  This is one style where the flavor of lactic acid will compliment the beer flavor.  If you need to figure out how much acid to use to neutralize the excessive water alkalinity, I suggest using the Bru'n Water program to calculate the acid additions for mashing and sparging water.

Enjoy!

[mr hoppy]

I thought there was chamomille in Jamil's recipe? I think he had one in BYO that did. Acid malt is quite good in this in small quantities. Planning on doing a wit this weekend meself!

[imark]

I thought there was chamomille in Jamil's recipe?

Correct! My first wit and it's not a style I'm particularly partial to but I wanted to try it out for a bit of variety. Good luck with your brew. 

[mr hoppy]

I thought I'd done a cereal mash with this before but when I looked at, with flaked wheat and oats making up 50% of the grist, all the mash water would have gone in to the cereal mash so I thought I'd do a step mash instead. First time doing a step mash - thanks to Taf and the lads for explaining that an aluminum pot on gas would work for this! 50 degrees for thirty minutes, 65 for 30 and 78 for 30. Then sparged twice with 80 degree strike water, it was fairly painless and I got good efficiency and hoping for a decent brew as I've made a few wits but I've never been totally satisified with them so far.

[imark]

First time doing a step mash - thanks to Taf and the lads for explaining that an aluminum pot on gas would work for this!

Did you then just tip it all into your MLT to lauter?

Didn't get around to doing mine in the end. 

[mr hoppy]

I did a brew in the bag in the pot, then transferred the bag to the MLT leaving the first runnings behind.

[imark]

Anybody know where I can get my hands on half a dozen fresh unwaxed oranges in Dublin?

[Will_D]

Anybody know where I can get my hands on half a dozen fresh unwaxed oranges in Dublin?

If you were to "blanch" the oranges in boiling water for say 5 seconds, any wax would be removed, surface would be sanitised and probably no loss of oils and flavours.

Why do you want wax free oranges?

I detect an intersting project here!

[imark]

Good idea. I'll blanch the ones I have.

I want them for my wit. Ideally I'd like really fresh oranges but needs must  I suppose.