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mhot55 · 01-29-2011, 07:29 PM

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: WY1388- Strong Belgian
Yeast Starter: yes -Large!
Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter: yes- bottling
Batch Size (Gallons): 5
Original Gravity: 1.090
Final Gravity: 1.012
IBU: 23
Boiling Time (Minutes): 90
Color: 25
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 28 @ 68
Additional Fermentation: 200 @ 50-70
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 35 @ 63
Tasting Notes: Raisins, malty, sweet, yet finishes dry

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.84 gal
Estimated OG: 1.092 SG
Estimated Color: 25.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 22.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
13.25 lb Pilsner (Weyermann) (1.7 SRM) Grain 77.66 %
1.00 lb Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 5.86 %
0.50 lb Caramunich I (Weyermann) (51.0 SRM) Grain 2.93 %
0.38 lb Aromatic Malt (Briess) (20.0 SRM) Grain 2.20 %
0.25 lb Special B (Dingemans) (147.5 SRM) Grain 1.47 %
0.19 lb Chocolate Malt, Pale (Crisp) (350.0 SRM) Grain 1.10 %
0.50 oz Galena [13.00 %] (90 min) Hops 19.3 IBU
0.50 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] (15 min) Hops 3.3 IBU
0.25 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] (2 min) Hops 0.3 IBU
0.13 tsp Seeds of Paradise (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
0.13 tsp Seeds of Paradise (Boil 2.0 min) Misc
0.50 tsp Orange Peel, Bitter (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1.50 lb Candi Sugar, Amber (100.0 SRM) Sugar 8.79 %
1 Pkgs Belgian Strong Ale (Wyeast Labs #1388) Yeast-Ale

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 15.56 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
75 min Mash In Add 19.45 qt of water at 160.2 F 149.0 F

Notes:
------
place frsh yeast in secondary 3 days prior to bottling
minimum 4 months bottle condition (tertiary)

Minimum 4 months bottle conditioning! However, like posted at beginning try to hold out and bottle condition for 6 months, if not a year!!!! So if you want a high alcohol (but mellow) dark winter brew, make this in december/ january and don't expect to crack the bottles until october/ november.

This tasted awesome after 2+months of bottle conditioning!

Nateo · 01-30-2011, 01:43 AM

Via BLAM:
Chimay Blue - OG 1.077, Alcohol 9%, attenuation 89%, color 40 SRM, 35 IBU.

mhot55 · 01-30-2011, 04:05 AM

my apologies. I understand why everyone tries to be precise in making claims. Hence I edited my title to ".....(like Chimay Blue)

Sorta didn't want to title it as a clone because that would be presumptuous, and wrong. However, it tastes great. If i can actually hold on to this batch for another 6 or 7 months I would like to try this side by side to Chimay.

Forgive my ignorance, but what is BLAM? I looked all over the place and could not find a friggin thing aside from speculation about Chimay's OG/FG, IBU, SRM. And even this speculation varied a lot.

Still, THIS BATCH TASTES GREAT!

Nateo · 01-30-2011, 02:29 PM

Brew Like a Monk by Stan Hieronymus, he got it straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak. You should definitely read it.

Nateo · 01-31-2011, 12:32 AM

Belgian Dark Strong is my favorite beer category. The wonderful thing is that there are so many ways to make them, and you have such an opportunity to make it your own. It's sort of an "anti-category" in that the Trappist Belgians brew to taste, not to style.

The take-away from Brew Like a Monk is that pretty much every recipe the actual Belgians use is: Mostly Pils/Pale, a touch of some cara malt, and various types of sugars. Incredibly simple recipes make incredibly complex beers. That's one reason why the category is so interesting to me.

So I see a lot of "clone" recipe floating around that are totally off from what the "real" beer actually is. I'm sure they're all good beers, and I'm sure your beer was a good beer, but I thought you'd be interested in some info on the real deal.

mhot55 · 01-31-2011, 11:35 AM

I wish I got a hold of you 4 months ago. Was looking (and asking) for advice on Chimay. I remember research pointing to BLAM, and figured someone would've posted some particulars regarding it. But everyone posted something a little different- OG/FG, IBU, SRM, malts. I may be doing another batch real soon and will absolutely buy the bok now. Thanks again

SpanishCastleAle · 02-08-2011, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nateo

Via BLAM:
Chimay Blue - OG 1.077, Alcohol 9%, attenuation 89%, color 40 SRM, 35 IBU.

I'm making a Blue clone soon and bought a bottle and measured the gravity. I was wondering why all the recipes I found had such high OG/FGs. FWIW, I measured it at ~1.007-1.008 which at 9% ABV puts OG right at 1.077 and apparent attenuation at ~89%.

But no way Chimay Blue is 40 SRM. 40 is very black and opaque. Chimay Blue is closer to half that (I think it's closer to 18). Is BLAM using Lovibond?

mhot55 · 02-08-2011, 10:58 PM

I wasn't paying too much attention. Initially, just using beer smith's calculations to get to 9%= gave me FG of1.022 so needed 1.090+ SG to get 9% ABV with 70% efficiency.....finally realized beer smith doesn't figure in ur mash temp which would affect fermentability. So when i mashed low temp (149), i made a more fermentable wort and i guess yeast performed at higher end of attenuation, therefore i went down to a 1.012 (maybe even a little less).

Again, i say this was damn good after 4 months (only 2 in bottle) and has mellowed nicely and hopefully will be fantastic in a another 4months

SpanishCastleAle · 02-09-2011, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mhot55

I wasn't paying too much attention. Initially, just using beer smith's calculations to get to 9%= gave me FG of1.022 so needed 1.090+ SG to get 9% ABV with 70% efficiency.....finally realized beer smith doesn't figure in ur mash temp which would affect fermentability. So when i mashed low temp (149), i made a more fermentable wort and i guess yeast performed at higher end of attenuation, therefore i went down to a 1.012 (maybe even a little less).

Again, i say this was damn good after 4 months (only 2 in bottle) and has mellowed nicely and hopefully will be fantastic in a another 4months

The candi sugar is another big reason it attenuates so much. The Chimay strain doesn't seem to be as big of an attenuator as some other Belgian strains.

Nateo · 02-14-2011, 04:48 PM

castle: I think the 40 SRM was a typo in the book, and it was supposed to be EBC. That would put it at 15 SRM, which sounds about right.