The Leon Russell show at the State Theater was great! Leon came out, leaning on a cane, and then proceeded to play one song after another, with no break, for just under two hours. His voice is as clean as it was 30 years ago! My friend Brad had as good a time as I did. Of course, a pre-show dinner and ales, at P. Wexfords, with Steve and Maggie didn’t hurt either. 
On a side note, I had a Shock Top Belgian Wit at the show and was pleasantly surprised – but not as surprised as I was when I did a web search only to find out that it is made by Anheuser-Busch! Not a bad offering from AB at all!
The Blue Moons Belgian Wit is kegged up and carbonating. It had an original gravity of 1.058 and finished at a respectable final gravity of 1.008. This makes it a 6.6% ABV ale. I really like this batch the best of all the wits I’ve brewed. I scaled back on the corriander and it is a much more subdued flavor in this ale.
Wow! After eight days, the Belgian wit is still very actively fermenting. You can still see trub bopping around inside the carboys at high speed. It also still has a very creamy krausen head bubbling away. I’m really surprised.
The Two Hearted Ale is also still going well. It, too, has a large bubbly krausen head six days later. I don’t want to rush these ales, but the sumer drinking season is at it’s peak right now, so I need to get these in kegs and carbonated:)
Today’s Blue Moons Belgian Wit brew day was uneventful. When I brew alone, I tend to be on my game and as a rule, the brew sessions go well. 
Of course, it is much more fun brewing with others, but I enjoy solitary brewing, too. I got up early to try and beat the heat, but by the end of the day, 95 degree plus heat and propane burners make for a toasty afternoon:)
My mash efficiency was good today. My recipe called for an original gravity was 1.060 and I hit 1.058 – pretty good:) I really love the aroma of the wit wort both before and after the hop additions. It is one of the more aromatic boils I do. Once you add the fresh orange zest, it smells like fresh squeezed orange juice. I love sticking my head in the empty boil kettle when I’m cleaning up. The aroma is amazing!
Six hours later and the huge WLP 400 Belgian Wit Ale yeast starter is doing its job. The wit is happily fermenting away:)
The Blue Moons Wit I always have on tap blew a couple weeks back, so it is time to brew some more! This evening I measured and filtered my brewing water and milled the grains. I’ll be getting up kind of early tomorrow morning in hopes of beating the afternoon heat. This time I’ll be backing off on the coriander just a bit, for a more subdued spice note. Also, I can’t find any Saaz hops so the guy at MoreBeer suggested substituting Sterlings for bittering. I a whole hop kinda guy, but all they had was Sterling pellets, so they have to do. I’m sure it will turn out just fine. This ale always has such a nice citrusy orange aroma as it leaves the boil kettle. The fresh orange zest from two large oranges make the carboys smell like orange juice:) Here are the recipe particulars:
Blue Moons Wit
16-A Witbier
Size: 10.08 gal
Efficiency: 65.0%
Attenuation: 76.0%
Calories: 200.11 per 12.0 fl oz
Original Gravity: 1.060 (1.044 – 1.052)
Terminal Gravity: 1.014 (1.008 – 1.012)
Color: 5.8 (2.0 – 4.0)
Alcohol: 6.0% (4.5% – 5.5%)
Bitterness: 20.95 (10.0 – 20.0)
Ingredients:
2 tbsp 5.2 pH Stabilizer – added during mash
12.0 lbs Pilsner Malt
12.0 lbs White Wheat Malt
2.0 lbs Oats Flaked
1.0 lbs Rice Hulls
1.0 oz Sterling (7.5%) – added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
1.5 oz Hallertau (4.5%) – added during boil, boiled 20.0 min
2.0 oz Bitter Curacao/Bitter Orange (Peel) – added during boil, boiled 15 min
3.0 tsp Orange zest – added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
1.0 tsp Corriander crushed – added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
1.0 tsp Wyeast Nutrient – added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
1600.0 Starter mL White Labs WLP400 Belgian Wit Ale
