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berck · 08-03-2011, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hex23

The amount of banana ester makes me wonder about your starter. Is it possible you underpitched? How big of a starter did you make? I would say given that gravity I would expect it to be around 3L (assuming one activator pack). The temp played a role for sure, but I accidentally let mine get to 78F during the first 48 hours and I have very minimal banana flavor.

I made a 1.5L starter from an activator pack. It took off pretty quickly, but I suppose it's possible it wasn't enough. I can definitely try a bigger starter next time, seems like I'm certainly unlikely to overpitch.

BrewThruYou · 10-13-2011, 03:35 PM

I missed low on OG and got 1.072. Entered as a Dubbel in a local homebrew comp and got a 35.5, but didn't place (20 entries in Belgian Strong Ales).

Might try entering it again as it ages. It was only bottled for 24 days at competition time and I think it's really good right now.

I bottled into 17 750ml Belgian bottles with corks and cages, 2 375ml Belgians, and the rest into regular long necks. All bottle conditioned. The Belgians will be aged until Christmas and given out as gifts.

MagicLarry · 11-20-2011, 11:57 AM

BrewThruYou, don't be discouraged by the competition results. Although your OG was a little low I'm sure the end result was still good. Bottle conditioning the brew is a must, and with patients you will be rewarded with an outstanding ale. Re-enter a comp in six months from now with a couple of those bottles and I'm sure the result will be different. Good luck!

DeRoux's Broux · 12-29-2011, 05:38 PM

ok, after my visit to Rochefort in October, i HAVE to tackle this clone of 8!!!!

Gomer (the brewer with glasses on, second from left), Pere Jacques our tour guide of the abbey & host (with which we ate cookies and drank beer with!) and me sitting on the right. Awesome day....

markcurling · 03-22-2012, 10:55 AM

Everyone is talking about bottling this beer - do you think that the priming and bottle conditioning process adds anything to the flavour profile?

I brewed this a couple of months ago and it's sitting in a cool garage, I was going to keg it but do you think I'll be missing a trick by not bottling?

**Hex23** · 03-23-2012, 01:09 PM

I think this style is supposed to be bottle conditioned - the real one definitely is. And I think bottle conditioning adds to the character. This beer is high enough gravity that it certainly needs some conditioning time. If it's been sitting in your cool garage for a couple of months that should have helped. Has it been on a yeast cake that whole time? If you keg, you'll probably still get a good tasting beer, but probably not like a bottle. The ones I brewed over a year ago now seem to just keep getting better. Certainly a beer worthy of cellaring.

markcurling · 03-23-2012, 01:25 PM

Hm, maybe I will make the effort to bottle it then.
If I've counted correctly, I think it had about 3 weeks in primary (rising from 66 to 73 degrees) then 6 weeks in the garage (varying from 32 to 55), still on the yeast cake. I guess it's ready to put in the bottle?

**Hex23** · 03-24-2012, 01:47 AM

That should be plenty of time bulk conditioning, especially if it was on the primary cake that whole time. For mine I planned on a 4 week primary, but got the flu and waited till 5 weeks.

ultravista · 07-02-2012, 04:50 PM

A few questions ...

Has anyone done a single infusion mash instead of the step? If so, what mash temp?

Has anyone kegged this vs. bottling? If so, what were the results?

ultravista · 07-03-2012, 01:29 PM

Has anyone made their own dark candi syrup? How many pounds of sugar will I need to make 3 pounds of candi? Am I better off buying the stuff or making it?