How does this Belgian Dark Strong (or Belgian Black?) look?

syd138 · 06-16-2009, 02:07 AM

I was just messing around with some grain I had on hand. I did a .75 gal test batch. This is what it would look like for a 5 gallon. Any thoughts?

Btw I think if I did this for a 5 gal, I would definitley use WLP570.. Im just using dry yeast cause its cheap.. and T-58 is as close as you can get for a dry Belgian style yeast.

6.00 lb Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 52.75 %
2.00 lb Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 17.58 %
1.00 lb Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 8.79 %
0.75 lb Wheat, Torrified (1.7 SRM) Grain 6.59 %
0.13 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 1.10 %
1.50 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] (60 min) Hops 20.1 IBU
1.50 lb Candi Sugar, Amber (75.0 SRM) Sugar 13.19 %
1 Pkgs SafBrew Specialty Ale (DCL Yeast #T-58) Yeast-Ale

Est Original Gravity: 1.084 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.021 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 8.19 %
Bitterness: 20.1 IBU
Est Color: 21.9 SRM

syd138 · 06-19-2009, 01:04 PM

So Im thinking of brewing up a 5 gall of this tomorrow.

The only thing that is questionable is the torrified wheat. What will this do to the beer.

I've seen it in a few other Belgian recipes.

Will it make it cloudy? Very wheaty?

**944play** · 06-19-2009, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by syd138

Will it make it cloudy?

No, the Munich should have enough surplus enzymes to convert it.

Do spend the extra bucks on the liquid yeast. Srsly.

If I brewed this recipe for 5 finished gallons at 72%, I'd get 1.073 OG.

Freezeblade · 06-19-2009, 02:32 PM

imho that's too much aromatic malt, I'd probably cut it in half if I were brewing it. That and I'd do a pound of dark candi syrup instead of the amber candi rocks. you can either make your own (it's on this site somewhere, or google it) or there is a great company called dark candi inc. that makes good syrups, sold in 1.5# jars.

syd138 · 06-19-2009, 03:04 PM

So what do you think the problem will be with having too much Aromatic? I've made a barley wine before using 3lbs of Belgian Aromatic.. it was very malty.. but I like that.

As far as the amber candi.. I made it myself, so thats all I have.. it actually is more on the dark end. Very caramelly.

Teacher · 06-19-2009, 03:07 PM

If you're going for an authentic Belgian, you might want to substitute in some Pilsner extract. If you like the maltiness (as I do), then keep it as is.

syd138 · 06-19-2009, 03:37 PM

Im not looking for anything too authentic.

Belgian Dark Strongs and Belgian Blacks (Darks) don't have as clear of guidelines as do Dubbels, Tripels etc.

1554, Trois Pistoles, Chambly Noire, Chimay Blue, etc. are all completely different from one another.

So Im prety much looking for a strong malty beer.. but with a good Unibroue-ish flavor. So Im thinking of going with Wyeast 1388 or WLP570

syd138 · 07-10-2009, 12:10 PM

So I just bottled this up.. tried a little bit.

Not bad. Pretty black.. looks kind of like 1554.

But even with all the Munich and Aromatic that should have given it a good malty taste, its still a little dry. Probably because of the yeast, but also because of the Chocolate.

I think Im going to completely cut that out and maybe at some Special B?

syd138 · 08-03-2009, 07:21 PM

Cracked open a bottle of this the other day. It's been bottled for about a month.

Not bad.

Tastes kind of like a darker tripel .. the t-58 is starting to really give a good belgian trappist-ish flavor to it.

Probably too much candi sugar.. it is very alcoholy tasting.

Not bad.

I will definitely be using 500 or 570 next though.

BeerPressure · 08-03-2009, 07:40 PM

Gonna age this beer for a long while? At the end of this summer I'm gonna do up a batch of dark strong that I hopefully can set aside for atleast a year.