Peach Wit Part I: Recipe Design

In my last post I covered the different factors that brewers consider when designing a beer.  Each of the five elements; water, barley, hops, yeast and adjuncts (that's the name for anything you add to your beer that isn't any of the first four ingredients) are taken and balanced to fit the profile and guidelines for the beer you wish to create.  That's right, guidelines.  Each style of beer has a distinct set of guidelines according to the BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program), in order for beers to be judged well in competitions they must meet the guidelines associated with the style category they are entered into.  These standards are held worldwide and dictate how a certain type of beer is to be.  Qualitative considerations include aroma, appearance, flavor, mouthfeel.  The quantitative considerations are known as vitals and include OG, FG, IBU, SRM and ABV.  All of these details are factored into recipe design.  I want to share with you the process of creating a beer, from start to finish, in depth,  This process begins here, at recipe design.

For me, recipe design starts with an idea; a concept or style I want to play with.  Summer screams fresh fruit in Ontario, and fruit incorporates well into a balanced beer.  My brewing timeline tells me that if I get started soon, peaches will be really ripe when I need them, so I have decided to use those.  Lambics are the most popular style to spike with fruit, but they are incredibly complex to brew.  Wheats are next in line: and those I can do.  Wheats come in many styles though: crisp American Wheats heavily hopped for flavor; German Weizens with their banana and clove phenols and a touch of sweetness; and Belgian Wits, cloudy and spicy.  In my mind, the fact that I am already about to cloud my beer with peach pulp makes me think that a Wit would be a good idea.  The spicy characteristics that Belgian yeasts lend, as well as the adjuncts commonly added to Wits would balance nicely with the peaches.  Think peach and ginger jam, or peach and bourbon cocktails.

Oddly enough, that's the hardest part.  Once the style is settled, I build the recipe around the BJCP style guidelines.  I like my beers to meet, or at least lie around the outskirts of these regulations.  I do some research into the style, its history and traditional brewing methods, and keep all of this information in mind while developing.  I use a free online calculator provided by Brewtoad in order to calculate vitals based off of ingredient selection and methodology.

A little bit of reading tells me that Wits traditionally contain very few kinds of malt, typically just Pilsner Malt and Raw Wheat in equal parts, sometimes with a bit of Oats added.  I don't really want to go too crazy with the malt bill here as I really want the peach flavor to be uncomplicated by a bunch of layering malt flavors.  I will stick with that as a simplified bill, the Oat addition is relatively minimal and will provide a nice starch haze to the beer, as well as a full mouth feel.  As far as quantity goes, Wits have an OG between 1.044 and 1.052.  In order to achieve an OG in that range on my system, I require four and a half pounds each of Wheat and Pilsner Malt, as well as a half pound of Oats.  This yields an OG of 1.050.  Assuming a very average attenuation (attenuation is the word used to describe how much of your sugar is eaten by your yeast) of 74%, this will put my FG at 1.013, and ABV at 4.9%: well within range.  That being said, I can usually eek a few extra points of attenuation out of yeast due to how I perform my mash and fermentation.  I presume when all is said and done I will achieve an attenuation closer to 77%.  This yields a FG of 1.012 and an ABV of 5.1%; still well within style.  The color of a Wit is traditionally very light, and the barely roasted malts I have selected put my product right in the center of the allowed range of 2 to 4 SRM. However, the addition of peaches makes that a pretty moot point, as they will darken and hue the beer. A few pounds of rice hulls will be added to make mashing easier, they provide no flavor but make my life simpler when it comes to procedure.

Hops in Wits are usually minimal, and only used for bittering.  The hop presence does not need to be forceful as the quantity of wheat used will create its own flavor profile, and the spices that are normally found in these beers have a similar effect to the hops anyway.  Old World varieties are the norm, but some mild American hops would work.  I initially wanted to use Willamette hops from Oregon for their slight spiciness and even bittering, but they were unavailable so I settled on a more traditional choice; German Spalt.  A full ounce of Spalt added at the very beginning of the boil will allow for 17 IBU.  Wits are allowed from 10 to 20 IBU, so I'm riding a little on the high side, but I love hops.  This gives an GU:BU ratio of .33, or a fairly 'sweet' beer.

Wit yeasts come in a few varieties, White Labs offers a few in both regular and seasonal formats, as does Wyeast.  I'm more familiar with Wyeast, and I read their product has spicier phenolics even when fermented cool, which is a plus.  I'll ferment this one at room temperature, but my rooms are cold. I'm hoping to have the internal fermentation temperature in the low to mid 70's.  This should generate a nice yeasty flavor profile; very desirable here.

As far as adjuncts go, the obvious choice here was peaches.  2 to 6 pounds of fruit is typically added for a noticeable flavor, an peaches are fairly mild once fermented, so I decide to go full bore and toss 6 pounds of pitted peaches in my recipe.  As I mentioned before, Wits are spiced.  They typically feature Curacao orange peel and coriander, but might contain ginger, nutmeg, grains of paradise, caraway or cinnamon.  One of my favorite Witbiers (Hitachino Nest White Ale) features nutmeg, so I decide to use it in addition to ginger which will play well with the peaches.  I will also include small amounts of the typical bitter orange peel and coriander.   I've toned down the usual quantities of spices used due to the variety of spices I'm adding.  I don't really want them to be noticeable, I just want them to accentuate the already existing spice flavors of the hops an yeast.  I will not be using Irish Moss, a fining agent, as I wish the beer to be cloudy.  I will be supplementing my yeast with Wyeast Yeast Nutrient.

All said and done the recipe looks like this:

"Just Peachy" Peach Witbier

OG: 1.050
FG: 1.012
IBU: 17
ABV: 5.1%

4.5 lbs Pilsner Malt
4.5 lbsRaw Wheat
.5 lbs Flaked Oats
2.2 lbs Rice Hulls

1 oz German Spalt Select Hops @ 60 Minutes
1 tsp Wyeast Yeast Nutrient @ 10 Minutes
.5 oz Ground Ginger @ Flameout
.5 oz Bitter Orange Peel @ Flameout
.25 oz Coriander Seed @ Flameout
.25 oz Nutmeg @ Flameout

1 pkg Wyeast 3944 Belgian Witbier

6 lbs Ontario Peaches in secondary

This should turn out to be a fruity, sessionable ale with spicy accents and a complex finish.  Keep your eyes peeled for brew day photos, fermentation notes and bottling day griping!

BJCP
bjcp.com

Brewtoad
brewtoad.com