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Steve973 · 09-19-2005, 12:47 PM

My buddy and I racked our belgian dubbel to the secondary this weekend, and we had to taste a LITTLE bit of it. Well, whaddya know, we had banana esters already! I'll tell ya, there was WAY less trub on the bottom of this batch than on any other batch I've done before. It looked like it was pretty much only yeast. For such a young beer (two weeks) it was already kind of smooth. We're planning on letting it go in the second fermenter for three more weeks, and then we'll let it bottle condition until about Thanksgiving, which will be a total of about three months. And I'm not kidding when I say that we have some high hopes!

gibfried · 09-19-2005, 03:48 PM

You want the banana esters?

**Walker** · 09-19-2005, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gibfried

You want the banana esters?

In Belgian Dubbels an Tripels, yes. This is highly desired.

-walker

Steve973 · 09-19-2005, 04:37 PM

Yeah, Belgian beers are definitely not as interesting if they don't have some of the things that might seem "funky" in other styles. So far, we're quite pleased!

SwAMi75 · 09-19-2005, 11:14 PM

Sounds very nice! It's my experience that the "banana" esters from mainly during primary, and then mellow over time.

I'm stoked, too. I've got a trippel in secondary, and it's going to be there for a while. It started at 1.089, and took two weeks to get down to 1.025. I sampled it then, and MAN was it good. I intend to let it go for another month, then bottle. I'll probably let it sit for a couple more months, then sample. I intend to have a few bottles of it around this time next year.

**Dude** · 09-20-2005, 12:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sam75

I intend to have a few bottles of it around this time next year.

Right....

Cheesefood · 09-20-2005, 04:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve973

Yeah, Belgian beers are definitely not as interesting if they don't have some of the things that might seem "funky" in other styles. So far, we're quite pleased!

Maybe I'll make a Belgian Skittlebrau.

"Apu, do you have that beer that has candy in it...you know, Skittlebrau"
"Mr. Homer, such a thing does not exist. Surely you made it up."
"Well then, just give me a 6-pack and a bag of candy"

I'm honestly thinking of making Skittlebrau. Sure, it'll probably be in my arsenal of bad beers, but the fun would be in drinking it. I'm imagining about a 1 lb bag thrown into the boil.

Any takers?

Steve973 · 09-21-2005, 02:18 AM

Good luck cleaning the pot after that! Seriously, though, it's really hard to capture a lot of what makes a Belgian beer taste like a Belgian beer. Are there any really good books on that style? I don't even find many Belgian-style beers made outside of Belgium that even halfway measure up. What's the deal?

Cheesefood · 09-21-2005, 04:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve973

Good luck cleaning the pot after that! Seriously, though, it's really hard to capture a lot of what makes a Belgian beer taste like a Belgian beer. Are there any really good books on that style? I don't even find many Belgian-style beers made outside of Belgium that even halfway measure up. What's the deal?

this is why Pappazian calls Belgium "The Disneyworld of Beers". There are natural microbes in the air in belgium which make beer taste fantastic.

Steve973 · 09-21-2005, 12:09 PM

Yeah, maybe someday I'll try open fermenters! Yeah, I'm too paranoid to do that. But I did find a book that will be released in about a month that looks pretty promising:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/093738187X/qid=1127303805/sr=8-4/ref=pd_bbs_4/103-4843583-7702246?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Maybe there'll be some good tips in there for homebrewers to brew some more interesting stuff. If I get ahold of this book when it's released, maybe I'll post some highlights and stuff.