Recipe for beer sampled in Chop & Brew – Episode 65: Homebrew Con Beer Tasting Notes. It was inspired by recipe for Belgian Wit as provided by Rob Tod of Allagash Brewing Company and included in the book Extreme Brewing by Sam Calagione. In this version of the beer, I made some changes to spice/herb additions and yeast. The first few times I brewed this beer, I used the Wyeast Forbidden Fruit strain. It has since been discontinued. At the advice of Michael Dawson, I used Omega Yeast’s Grand Cru strain for this version of the beer. In book’s recipe, it is suggested to add one pinch of a “secret spice” at the end of boil. For some reason, the first time I brewed this lavender sounded like a nice secret spice for a wit, and it turned out nice. At about a tablespoon for five gallons, the effect was a bit perfumey and floral without tasting or smelling quite as intense as potpourri or your grandma’s favorite soap. In other versions of the beer, I included rose hips; this added some tartness and tannic quality to the beer. The original recipe also calls for bitter orange peel. I was not able to source any “bitter” in a timely fashion, so I opted for sweet orange peel instead. I do believe it made a difference, as I felt this beer finished just a bit on the sweet/perfumey balance for me. I will work harder to plan better and find bitter orange peel next time.
Extreme Brewing is a great book for beginners and intermediate brewers. It includes a lot of extract recipes for beer from Dogfish Head and other craft breweries, as well as recipes exclusive to only this book. Plus, there are sections of use of fruit, spices and herbs. If you buy the book through any of the links on this page, you’ll also be helping to directly support Chop & Brew!
Pedal Pusher Lavender Wit
Extract Version
OG: 1.048
FG: 1.009
ABV: 5.1%
IBUs: 18 (according to Extreme Brewing)
Ingredients
- 3 lbs Pils Liquid Malt Extract
- 3 lbs Wheat Liquid Malt Extract
- 1 lb Wheat Dry Malt Extract
- 75 oz Tettnanger pellet hops @ 60 minutes
- 75 oz Saaz pellet hops @ 60 minutes
- 1 tablespoon dried lavender flowers @ 5 minutes
- 25 oz Saaz pellet hops @ end of boil
- 25 oz freshly crushed coriander @ end of boil
- 25 oz sweet orange peel @ end of boil
- Omega Yeast Grand Cru
Process
Bring six gallons of water to a near-boil, around 200F. Turn off flame or heating element.
Pour in all extract, stirring quickly to dissolve extract and keep it from collecting on the bottom of the kettle.
Once extract is complete dissolved, return to flame or heating element. Bring wort to a boil. Let boil 10 minutes.
Then add 60-minute hop additions.
Add other kettle additions as noted above.
Whirlpool wort and let sit for 15 minutes to steep the late- and end of boil additions.
Cool wort to yeast-pitching temperature of about 65°F if as quickly as possible.
Ferment between 65-70°F.