I'm brewing an extract based Belgian Wit tomorrow and need some advice - I've not put this in the extract category though because I'm planning a small mash to supplement it and I thought I'd get better advice here.
I have 2 1.5kg cans of muntons wheat malt extract which I bought before I got bitten by the all-grain bug, and a vial of white labs belgian wit yeast which needs using up. I intend to do a 5 gal batch and I havn't done the calculations yet but I think 3kg extract will give a fairly low gravity in a batch that size. I have some torrefied wheat and pale malt and was thinking of doing a small mash with 50:50 to boost the grav and give it a fresh grain taste. I think I've heard that torrefied wheat can be used in this way - I dont need malted wheat do I?
The recipe I've been looking at includes curacao orange peel and I've been unable to find this - I've tried health food shops and brewing suppliers, and the only place I've found it was through easybrew - ordered some but it never turned up (still waiting for a refund on that order but thats for another thread...). I've heard people say they've just used ordinary orange peel - how much in a 5gal batch? All of the peel or just the orange bit on the outside?
Cheers in advance, and look out for pics in the brewdays section tomorrow
Witbier Advice - brewing tomorrow
Dried Curacao Orange peel £1.91 + P&P from The Home Brew Shop in Farnborough. You might find the odd item there to get your order up to free postage 
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mysterio
I've used orange zest in a wit, worked nicely. I used around 20 grams I think, you'll barely taste it at that level, you could probably double that.
By the way, I think the wheat extract on its own, the proper yeast, and a little spicing will make a great witbier, I wouldnt bother with the torrified. Ray Daniels in his book Designing Great Beers mentions many extract-only wheat beers do very well in competitions - it's really the yeast that's the key. I would make a small starter with the yeast and ferment it on the warm side... 22C ish.
By the way, I think the wheat extract on its own, the proper yeast, and a little spicing will make a great witbier, I wouldnt bother with the torrified. Ray Daniels in his book Designing Great Beers mentions many extract-only wheat beers do very well in competitions - it's really the yeast that's the key. I would make a small starter with the yeast and ferment it on the warm side... 22C ish.