MY First BSDA this Weekend

JBStith · 11-14-2008, 03:20 PM

After a bit of research and deciding what I want out of my BSDA, I have put together this recipe. I have never used Super Styrians, so I'll be interested in what they add to the profile.

Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications:
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Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 8.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.106 SG
Estimated Color: 23.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 31.1 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
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Amount Item
12 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM)
2 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)
1 lbs Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM)
1 lbs Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM)
1 lbs Special B Malt (180.0 SRM)
1 lbs Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM)
1.50 oz Super Stryrian [7.00 %] (90 min)
0.50 oz Super Stryrian [7.00 %] (15 min)
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min)
1 lbs 8.0 oz Dememera Sugar (2.0 SRM)
1 Pkgs Abbey Ale (White Labs #WLP530, 1/2 gal starter)

Mash Profile:
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Single Infusion Mash, Extra-Light Body
60 min Mash In 144.0 F
10 min Mash Out 170.0 F
45 min Fly-Sparge 170.0 F

**Saccharomyces** · 11-14-2008, 04:59 PM

You need at least 90 minutes at 144*F for conversion. I would go with 146*F and allow at least 90, maybe even 120 just to be sure it's converted. Or do an iodine test to check for conversion every 15 minutes after 60.

With that big of a grainbill if you really want to hit 80%, you'll need to fly sparge slowly (an hour is about right), and I highly recommend a step mash. Dough in 0.9 qt/lb for 131*F, rest for 30 minutes, and then infuse with boiling water to your 146*F sacc rest. I did a 1.090 tripel this way and got a whopping 86% efficiency!

Most of that high yield I attribute to the short protein rest.

JBStith · 11-14-2008, 05:11 PM

Sacch,
Thanks for the tips. I will definitely take your advice on the 90 min mash. As for efficiency, I get very consistent 85% - 87% extract efficiency with my MLT with single infusion, 45 min fly sparges. However, I will collect a larger amount of runnings for this batch and will probably take me an hour to sparge anyhow (I usually pull about 7.5 gal for a "normal" gravity batch and will pull about 8.25 - 8.5 for this one).

I'll also look into a step mash. I typically don't do step mashes because I get such good results without them. But this grain bill may warrant one to keep my efficiency up where I expect it.