Get Witty Wit It

It's a shame that working has to get in the way of the important things in life, such as writing about beer. Thus is the burden I bear.

No major news in HolzBrew land. On Monday I racked the Imperial Wit that I brewed a few weeks back into secondary. The sample I tasted was coming along nicely. Per the picture, I have been soaking 1 oz. of medium french oak cubes in Grand Marnier for last 3 - 4 weeks and I added those cubes as well as the rest of the bottle in the picture to the secondary fermenter. In short, I liquored up my brew and I'm hoping to score.

Dogfish's Red and White has served as inspiration for this interesting brew. Wit beer is generally a style that I hold in the realm of good. Tasty and refreshing, but not quite fully satisfying. If you don't believe me, pour up a glass of Allagash Wit and then do a side by side tasting with Allgash's Tripel (or better yet the Curieux), most likely you'll find the Wit to be somewhat bland when compared to something like a full flavored tripel. That's not to say that there isn't a time and place for Wit, just that the time and place is usually low on the HolzBrew list of thangs to brew. BUT after trying DFH Red and White for the first time a few months back I realized that a Wit pared with another libation might take the beer into the taste stratosphere. We're talking flavor country here folks (as opposed to flavor county) DFH brews their Wit with Pinot Noir and ages it in Pinot barrels. Additionally, their brew tips the scales around 10% ABV. My only knock on this near perfect brew is that it is a little too syrupy and sweet for most everyday consumption.

Now I realize that Grand Marnier isn't pinot noir, but in my usual style, I like making up a recipe that is truly my own. That being said, a traditional Belgian Wit is usually brewed with bitter orange peel, so my thought was the wonderful orange essence that is GM would naturally jive in a slightly larger than normal Belgian Wit. Success? I'll keep you posted.

Stay Witty,

HolzBrew