Tropical Flower Wit

[Andy]

Lately I've been tempted to give Graham Sanders famous Tropical Flower Wit recipe a try. It uses several kilos plain white wheat flour with a 2.5 decoction but I'm unsure as to whether it's really worth the extra trouble (though the awards it has won around the world would lead one to assume it is indeed worth the extra effort). Has anyone done this one and do you have an opinion on how it compares to Jamil's recipe?

Tropical Flower Wit Recipe
http://oz.craftbrewer.org/cgi-bin/DataM ... etail&id=6

[ziggy]

I would do Jamil's recipe. You don't need to do a decoction for a wit beer. If you can find it in the archives look for the wit beer show. In my opinion the yeast dominates the flavor of the beer so if you get that right you'll be right on. Other than that you want everything else to be balanced. You want a hint of hops, a hint of spice, and a hint of fruit.

[Andy]

I would do Jamil's recipe. You don't need to do a decoction for a wit beer. If you can find it in the archives look for the wit beer show. In my opinion the yeast dominates the flavor of the beer so if you get that right you'll be right on. Other than that you want everything else to be balanced. You want a hint of hops, a hint of spice, and a hint of fruit.

Thanks for the feedback ziggy. I have done Jamil's wit a few times now and listened to the show several times as well. Although Jamil's recipe is easier and very good, the Tropical Flower Wit recipe is so famous and different I can't help but wonder what the difference really is. That's why I'm hoping to hear from someone who has actually done it to see what they thought.

Has anyone out there actually given the Tropical Flower a try?

[Madtown Brew]

I've never tried brewing the TFW, but I have dabbled with whole wheat flour in a few recipes. My advice is to have plenty of rice hulls around (at least 1# per pound of flour), and make sure you follow Graham's mash temp steps carefully. Otherwise, you'll end up with a mash like glue.