Who’s in the Garden Grand Cru is a Belgian white style beer. I got the recipe from the Joy of Homebrewing. With the weather warming up, I wanted to brew up a light and refreshing beer, and white ale it is! The end product is supposed to resemble Hoegaarden, which is one of my favorite whites.

White ale is a very light beer, but often has a cloudier and more citrusy taste than regular ales and lagers. They are similar in color and complexion to a hefeweizen (wheat), but this particular style does not contain wheat. Malted barley is the only grain in this recipe.

Highlights of this recipe include Hallertauer (German) hops, honey, crushed whole coriander seed, and dried orange peel. The wort smelled great when I had all the ingredients in there.

I am a little concerned about the fermentation, though. For my first three batches I used the same type of dried yeast. This recipe called for a Belgian Wit beer-type yeast, which I got from the beer shop in liquid form. Being my first experience with liquid yeast, I was apprehensive, yet excited at the prospect of trying something new. I don’t know why, but liquids just seem more natural to me…

Anyway, after a few days, I’m still not seeing bubbles come up through the airlock. This morning I took a look inside and there was a lot of foam on top and a ring of sediment around the edge, both of which are signs of fermentation. My hope is that for whatever reason, the seal may not have been airtight, or perhaps the Belgian liquid yeast works a LOT slower than the dried stuff.

Either way, I’ll find out in about three weeks if it worked :)