Adnams Belgian style Witbier
Brewed with a Belgian white beer yeast, wheat, oats and malted barley. Gently hopped with Hallertau and flavoured with Indian Coriander and bitter orange peel. This will be a cloudy pale beer with lots of bitter orange aroma and flavour.
Typical examples: Hoegaarden, St. Bernardus Witbier, Kira Wit.
“It might sound odd, but in brewing terms at least, Belgium is often seen as exotic.
None more so than their Witbiers.
Witbiers break all the rules that modern brewing has thrown up around itself. They use raw wheat, they add things other than hops, like coriander and orange peel to the kettle and they serve the beer cloudy.
This might sound like they are pushing the boundaries, but actually they are the most traditional of beers. They are essentially farmhouse beers from medieval Brussels that have made it into the 21st century and are flourishing. Their recent success is mainly down to Pierre Celis, who opened a brewery in the little town of Hoegaarden in east Belgium in 1966 and resurrected a style that was once synonymous with his town. It might not be for most people but I think that was probably the most important thing to happen that year.”
6 Comments
Hi Clive
It’s not an obvious question at all. When we put the booklet together we didn’t know how long it would take for the beer to drop bright or if they would drop bright at all.
We have found out from experience that the beer will stay cloudy for a week or so but if they are left in place much longer than this they will drop bright. We also now know that putting the yeast back into suspension by shaking it is quite common for keg wheat beers.
Everyone who has had the beers should know that it should be served cloudy, it’s on the pumpclip and in the booklet but it is quite an alien concept in the UK and judging how cloudy is cloudy is not as straight forward as it sounds.
‘Asking for the cask to be given a shake’ is probably a bit flippant and while it is the right thing to do, it is completely contrary to what anyone working in a cellar would have been taught.
I have tried to pass this advice on where I can but certainly there will be some people who would not know to shake the cask to get the yeast back in suspension.
this feels an obvious question, so apologies if the answer is an obviously, yes, but do you pass on extra advice to landlords on how to store/serve this line of beers, as in this case, its meant to be cloudy, so leaving it to settle for too long wont be doing it any favours, or in fact leaving any of them to settle for too long might not be good.
I know youve said just ask for the cask to be given a shake (which feels a bit like teaching Gordon Ramsey how to cook eggs) but equally then I have to know that its meant to be cloudy, and so on
Hi David,
The haze will settle out as it is really only the yeast in suspension, most people assume that the haze is protein from the wheat but it mainly comes from the yeast. The cask should be disturbed to make sure the yeast stays in suspension.
As you rightly say a lot of the flavours are in that sediment but also a lot of the flavour comes from the aroma, however this is volatile so when a cask has been on air and vented those flavours will start to dissipate.
Wheat beers are really designed to be drunk fresh, this is also true of cask beer in general. Glad you enjoyed it, just make sure you ask for your cask to be shaken, probably not stirred though, when you taste it again.
I liked the first pint I had, cloudy and full of interesting flavours, but it seems as though the haze eventually settles out, leaving a (relatively) clear beer after standing for a few days, and somehow it seems as though the interesting flavours settle out with it.
Just my impression, and that of one or two fellow drinkers, but it seems to become more bland the longer the cask sits.
Thanks Nev, nothing wrong with being picky. I do agree with you on the body and if I was to make one change it would be to increase the fullness and texture of the beer. Glad you enjoyed it anyway.
The Belgian Style Witbier was also on at the Chelmsford Winter Beer Festival,
So i had an early chance to taste it.
What a very pleasant aroma of Coriander and Orange,
On tasting the Witbier it has a lovely fullness of flavour.
I was expecting there to be a bit more body in the beer with it being a witbier,
Perhaps i am being picky but overall i still liked this beer.
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