Apr 2019 - Blanche - BeerCo Brewing News...🍻 📡📻 📺

Apr 2019 - Blanche - BeerCo Brewing News...🍻 📡📻 📺

Dermott Dowling

Time to Brew Your Witbier

Hop this finds all you well and looking forward to a long Hoppy Easter brewing and/or distilling weekend later in the month.  Why are we talking about Belgian Witbier in April? Well as our Indian Summer and Autumn rolls on...we thought why not have one last drop of sunshine before we turn our brewing kettles and mash tuns and fermenters over to Porters and Stouts! Yum!

What defines at Belgian Style Witbier? Three things - Wheat up to 50% of the grist and Spices and let's not forget that classic Belgian Witbier Yeast...read on for more on the style and an All Grain Recipe Kit for you to get your brewing bière blanche de blanche on!

Where were we, oh yes, the real news ... the BeerCo Brewing News...

Malt of the Month - Crisp Chevallier Malt - Hop of the Month - Hort Research NEW! Varietal 04-99-09 NZ Hops - Yeast of the Month - GY028 Belgian Wit GigaYeast - Adjunct of the Month - Crisp Flaked Torrefied Oats - Equipment of the Month - Tilt™ Hydrometer and Thermometer - but wait! there's more...BeerCo All Grain Recipe of the Month - Blanche | Witbier and lest we forget another great How to Brew like a Pro! video from our great mate Andrew at Stass Brewing on Water Chemistry in Beersmith and phew...that will do it for now...go and brew and/or distill happy!

How to Brew Like a Pro! Water Chemistry in BeerSmith

Crisp Chevallier Malt
Crisp Chevallier Malt
$25.80/5Kg - $96.25/25Kg (SAVE 25%) - $2,500/MT + GST (SAVE 45%)

We first used Chevallier malt in the fall of 2017 for our annual SMaSH, "6:45 to Raleigh". It had a great story behind it, and I was really excited to use a malt with some interesting history. The beer turned out to be one of my favorites that we've made. The biscuit/cracker flavors it contributed to the beer was outstanding, and also provided some earthiness as well. The lovibond is slightly darker than most English pale malts and it gave "6:45 to Raleigh" a really cool light amber hue.  I would absolutely recommend other brewers to use Crisp base malts such as Marris Otter and Chevallier. When making a malt forward beer or an IPA that needs some malt backbone to stand up to hops, Crisp malts can't be beat. The uniformity of the kernels and consistency of the malt is really amazing.” – Galen Smith - Lone Rider Brewing Company, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

Crisp Chevallier Malt is a heritage barley variety. It was the first true malting barley and was selected by the Reverend John Chevallier of Suffolk, England in 1824. Chevallier rapidly became the dominant barley variety and by the last decades of the 19th century it was being grown throughout Europe, California, Chile, Australia and New Zealand. In the UK, it was at peak utilisation in the late Victorian era covering some 80-90% of the barley area. After 100 years of brewing success new varieties began to supersede it and production finally ended in the 1930’s.

Working with the John Innes Institute in Norwich, Crisp Malting Group has brought this legendary variety has been brought back into commercial production.

Crisp Chevallier is characterised by warm cracker and biscuit aroma with a full flavor. Compared to many modern barley's its aroma and flavor are quite pronounced. Suitable for any malt-forward ale, or where increased malt character is needed to balance a high hop load.

In addition to Crisp Chevallier Ale Malt you might also like to try...

Insist on Crisp Chevallier Ale Malt - Get Some NOW!
Hort Research NEW! Varietal 04-99-09 NZ Hops
Hort Research NEW! Varietal 04-99-09 NZ Hops
AU$10.95 - AU$383.25
Hort Research NEW! Varietal 04-99-09 NZ Hops are the latest Hort Research experimental hops from New Zealand.  With noble hop lineage and new world flair Varietal 04-99-09 NZ Hop presents a bold citrus character of lemon and lime complimented by notes of sweet hay and spices.  True to pedigree early brewing trials in new world lagers and pilsners have revealed a strong, clean bitterness.

Technical Data:

  • Crop 2018
  • Batch: 8084-01
  • Alpha 6.9%

You might also like to try some other GR Hops available in 100g, 250g, 500g, and 1Kg sizes:

Try a NEW! NZ Hop Varietal 04-99-09 in Your next Brew!
GY028 Belgian Wit GigaYeast
GY028 Belgian Wit GigaYeast
Was A$14.95 NOW! $9.95 SAVE 33% OFF RRP

GY028 is a traditional Belgian Wit Gigayeast from one of the classic producers of the style. GY028 GigaYeast creates a delicious spicy nose and a somewhat tart beer. Belgian Wit GY028 GigaYeast attenuates dry and leaves a slightly cloudy beer— very low flocculation.

Attenuation Medium Gravity*

  • 76% – 79%

Attenuation High Gravity*

  • 74% – 77% (9.0% – 10.0% ABV)

Temperature Range†:

  • 18˚C – 27˚C (64˚F – 80˚F)

Flocculation:

  • Very Low

Recommended Styles:

  • Belgian Witbier
  • Saison
  • Belgian Ales
Get Your Giga On with GY028 Belgian Wit GigaYeast!
Tilt™ Hydrometer and Thermometer
Tilt™ Hydrometer and Thermometer
$199.95

Tony  Verified Reviewer 4 star rating 04/02/19
Super happy with the Tilt
Just wanted to say that I am 31% (I know that because the Tilt tells me so) into my first brew using the Tilt to monitor gravity and temperature and I couldn't be happier with the results. 
I am running the app on an iPad that I have permanently set up in my brew house, and it is then feeding the data (every 15 minutes) into the Brewfather app that I use to design recipes and keep track of my batches. The combination is awesome. 
From the graph produced I can easily see the progress of the fermentation, as well as hints that I might need to look at some of the settings I have on my FTS controller as there is a bit more fluctuation in temperature than I would like. 
Without something like the Tilt, I'm not sure how I could get this data without taking samples all the time, or keeping a close eye on the FTS controller itself. Awesome! 


Need we say more, Tony's excellent review says it all. If you want to geek out on your fermentation and brewing there has never been a better time to be a brewer as tech meets beer meets measurement to the 10th degree! The TILT is here and it has been a super popular core piece of brewing labware for our hard core customers.

Designed for home brewing, the Tilt hydrometer lets you instantly read your brew's specific gravity and temperature on your compatible Apple iPhone/iPad or Android smartphone/tablet or Tilt Pi. Most Bluetooth 4.0+ devices will work with the Tilt. You can then optionally save the data automatically to the cloud using our free Google Sheets template or other 3rd party cloud platforms. 

The Tilt hydrometer allows you to check the specific gravity and temperature of your beer while it's fermenting, without ever having to open your fermenter or pour out any of your precious brew. This makes brewing more consistent and easy to track. 

Other essential pieces of brewing monitoring equipment you might be interested in:
Measure like a Pro! Buy Your TILT NOW!
Crisp Flaked Torrefied Oats
Crisp Flaked Torrefied Oats
$5.95/1Kg - $23.80/5Kg (SAVE 20%) - $89.25/25Kg (SAVE 40%) - $1,500/MT+GST

“We use a healthy dose of Crisp Flaked Torrefied Oats in our Lupuloid IPA. When building this recipe we trialled a variety of adjuncts with the aim of maintaining a full bodied beer, whilst also having a low final gravity and dry finish. Torrefied Oats proved to be a winner, helping us hit that target sensory profile, whilst also not impeding lautering times on the kit. They now make up a significant portion of the specialty grains we use in each batch.” – Cosmo Sutherland, Lead Brewer Beavertown Brewery – Tottenham Hale, London, UK 

Crisp Flaked Torrefied Oats consist of husked oat grains that have been cooked at high temperature, resulting in gelatinisation of the starchy endosperm, and then flaked. Flaked Torrefied Oats will give a smooth, creamy mouthfeel to finished beers. The presence of oat husk can assist with wort separation, especially if the grist contains naked grains such as malted rye.

Flaked Torrefied Oats does not require milling before being added to the mash.

This product is fresh-smelling, free from any extraneous material and manufactured from non-GM certified raw materials in a plant that does not process any material that is of GM origin.

Pack Sizes:

  • 1 Kg Bag
  • 5 Kg Bag (SAVE 20% on 1Kg Price)
  • 25 Kg Sack (SAVE 40% on 1Kg Price)
  • 1 MT Pallet (SAVE 67% on 1Kg Price) AU Craft Brewers and Distillers and Home Brew Retailers email us your wholesale orders@BeerCo.com.au

Usage and benefits:

  • up to 15% of grist added direct to tun
  • improves mouthfeel and head retention
  • increases body
  • imparts a smoothness to the beer
  • has a pleasant oaty flavour
  • husks can improve wort run-off
Insist on Crisp Flaked Torrefied Oats in Your next Brew Happy!
Blanche - Witbier - BeerCo All-Grain Recipe Kit
Blanche - Witbier - BeerCo All-Grain Recipe Kit
AU$49.95 - AU$54.95

Blanche | Witbier is our take on a classic Belgian Witbier also known as bière blanche (French), witbiers (Flemish) are aromatic, rustic, spicy and complex.  Witbiers are a beautifully complex sensory experience and the perfect summer beer but we think you can Brew Happy and Drink Happier Blanche | Witbier all year round! Cheers! Santé #brewhappy #enjoyresponsibly

Brew Your Own Blanche Witbier! BUY ONE NOW!!!

Refer your friends to BeerCo.com.au, and get 10% off Your next order with us!