Belgian Dark Strong Ale Westvleteren 12 clone

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Displaced MassHole

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 12, 2008
Messages
1,120
Reaction score
10
Location
San Diego
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
WLP 530
Yeast Starter
2-3L
Batch Size (Gallons)
5.5
Original Gravity
1.071
Final Gravity
1.015
Boiling Time (Minutes)
60
IBU
?
Color
?
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
14 days at 68
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
14 days at 68
Additional Fermentation
Bottle condition for 3 weeks
Tasting Notes
See below
Grain:

17.5 lb Dingemans Belgian Pilsner
1 lb Caramunich (belg)
.44 lb Biscuit
.31 lb Aromatic
.25 lb Special B
.19 lb Chocolate

Candi Sugar:
1 bottle of the Dark Candi Syrup(this is key, use the syrup)
.25 Amber Rock Candi
Added with 15 mins left in the boil

Hops:
1.25 oz. Styrian Golding (60 min)
.25 oz. Styrian Goldings (15 min)
.25 oz. Haullertauer (15 min)
.25 oz. Styrian Goldings (1 min)
.25 oz. Haullertauer (1 min)

Yeast: WLP 530 (probably gonna want to make a 1 gallon starter)

Single infusion mash at 149 for 90 min. Mash out at 170 for 10-15 min. Sparge at 170. Boil for 60 minutes.

I did this one last november and its awesome! Lots of sweet, molasses and raisins a little heavy on the tounge with a suprisingly crisp finish.
 
Hey Displaced MassHole,

That sounds and looks like a great recipe. Where did you get it? Have you tried it again and did you change anything if you did?
 
Forget exactly where I found it, but when I do it again I'd make a bigger yeast starter and cut back on priming sugar when bottling. Mine came out a little sweet and over carbed. Other than that it was great.
 
Well it sounds delicious. Thanks for the prompt reply and good luck on future iterations of this recipe. I'll post another comment if I end up brewing it.
 
Somethings wrong here, when I put this recipe into Beersmith it says my OG is somewhere around 1.107
 
Beer Captured, by Tess and Mark Szamatulski, has a recipe for this too. It's similar to the one you posted, but there are some differences in the grain bill proportions. I plan to brew the version in Beer Captured sometime before the end of the year.
 
Somethings wrong here, when I put this recipe into Beersmith it says my OG is somewhere around 1.107

I'm sure thats a possibility, when I brewed it and measured SG with a hydro it was about 1.073. I didnt use the amber candi sugar like I should have though. I've got no idea how many gravity points that should add but I dont think it would take the SG all the way up to 1.107 This recipe isn't perfect yet but it will give you a pretty decent belgian brew. If you think I should change something let me know I'm always open to suggestions.
 
Candi Sugar has similar potential gravity as grain per lbs, which seems strange but that is what Beersmith says.
Maybe blitzk would like to share his recipe for Westvleteren 12 and we can compare?
I just got a Blichmann Boilermaker w/false bottom so I'm itching to break it in and this is the first recipe I want to do!
 
Actually, I've done some readings and found some other clone recipes, they all have an OG around 1.1 so this sounds like a winner unless blitzk has a significant change. Now I just need to get a bottle of Dark Candi Sugar syrup!
 
Candi Sugar has similar potential gravity as grain per lbs, which seems strange but that is what Beersmith says.
Maybe blitzk would like to share his recipe for Westvleteren 12 and we can compare?
I just got a Blichmann Boilermaker w/false bottom so I'm itching to break it in and this is the first recipe I want to do!

The Belgian Candi Syrups have a ppg of 1.032: dark candi, inc.. If it's different in BeerSmith I think you can adjust it manually or add a new item with the appropriate characteristics.
 
Yeah, Beersmith said 1.032 which is around the same as most grains (1.030 -> 1.035)
 
Negative, just got around to ordering the dark candi syrup. Its on the schedule for probably 2 weeks time.
 
I'm doing a Westvleteren clone and just racked to a secondary. I only have 6.5 gallon carboys so there's a bit of headspace at the top. is this going to present an oxidation problem or will enough new CO2 be created to force it out? I was in primary about 10 days. also, how long would you recommend keeping it at room temp in secondary before bottling and then how long for conditioning?

Thanks

Brandon
 
How does this compaire to the real deal? I've never found the 12 and I always look when I goto a new beer store?

It's on my list of "Try before Die" beers. :eek:
 
How does this compaire to the real deal? I've never found the 12 and I always look when I goto a new beer store?

It's on my list of "Try before Die" beers. :eek:

You will never see it at a regular beer store. You can buy it directly from the monks, on ebay and a couple places online. The only place that the monks condone sale is from them, they specifically ask for it not to be resold.
 
You will never see it at a regular beer store. You can buy it directly from the monks, on ebay and a couple places online. The only place that the monks condone sale is from them, they specifically ask for it not to be resold.

Yes, I know. There is a grey market for them and sometimes "my guy" can get interesting items. He's looking for 6, 8, and 12 but it's been a while.
 
How does this compaire to the real deal? I've never found the 12 and I always look when I goto a new beer store?

It's on my list of "Try before Die" beers. :eek:

I actually tried them side by side, mine was 13 months in the bottle at the time. I think it may have sat for too long though, as it had a coppery after taste. It was pretty close though. The real one had more of a sweet raisin/prune taste to it.


You will never see it at a regular beer store. You can buy it directly from the monks, on ebay and a couple places online. The only place that the monks condone sale is from them, they specifically ask for it not to be resold.

Buy Belgian beers, chocolates, waffles, cheeses, speculoos... online/The Belgian Shop from Belgium

This is where I bought the real ones. It cost about 150 bones for a six pack though. Not cheap! Could have gotten them cheaper on eBay but I really didnt trust any of the sellers there.
 
Anyone brewed this up lately? I'm going to do this as my 1 year anniversary brew and if it turns out well it will be a spin on it every year :)
Anyone tried the new amber candi syrup by the same guys as the dark candi syrup? I ordered both so we'll see.
 
There's another thread out there right now, where we are planning on doing a group brew and swap. Plus we're tweaking the recipe a little.
 
This sounds like a good beer. How did you create this recipe? Michael Jackson says that Westvleteren 12 is made from only 2-row pale, belgian candi, and northern brewer hops. Your recipe seems overly complex.
 
The two base recipes seem a little over-done, imao.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f73/pious-westvleteren-12-style-quad-multiple-147815/
Here are my two "house" recipes for cloning a Westvleteren 12. I brewed the New World (this recipe with specialty grains) once and the Traditional 3 times. I prefer the Traditional but as previously stated, in a blind tasting my New World scored 45 points avg and was unanimously chosen as being dead on for the real thing by the judges. I think with my most recent changes to my Traditional recipe (D2 syrup, decoctions) it will also be more or less dead on, and true to style as well.

If you didn't read all the way through the admittedly long Westvleteren 12 clone group brew thread, we discussed the aspects we did know about the authentic beer, and the many things we didn't. Suffice it to say, they are both REALLY close and make REALLY good beers.
 
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?
 
Any chance of reposting your New World recipe? The link does not seem to be working? Thanks!
 
If reading this thread you may be highly interested in this one too.
 
I was lucky enough to pick up one of the special six-packs today for Abbey St. Sixtus' special fundraising event. I first tried the 8 in Belgium at the monastery. We showed up having no idea about the reservation process, and the monk who answered the door gave us a bottle for free just to go away, haha! Anyways, the box on this six-pack says they are bottle conditioned. I wonder if they use the same yeast or if they have a bottling strain. I've always wanted to harvest... so maybe this will be a good opportunity. Thoughts?
 
Same yeast strain as WLP530 or WY3787. No real need to bother unless you just really want to.
 
This is pretty far off of Westy 12 IF we take Brew Like a Monk as being correct. Westy 12 only includes two malts (pils and 2-row2) and is closer to 1.091OG
 
I just fininshed reading Stan Heronymous's book 'How to Brew Like a Monk'. I thought that Belgian Gravity is specified by the following furmula:
(1-OG)x100
So an original gravity ready on a hydrometer of 1.070 would be expressed as 7... it's been 15 years since I had Westvletren 12. Pardon my unfamiliarity with the beer but shouldn't the OG be 1.120?
 
I'm planning on Brewing this recipe in a couple weeks, it's my first all grain beer but, I took the time to educate myself about all grain brewing. I know you will all think I aim high for a first all grain beer but, there is no point to aim lower than the best beer out there. I never had a Westy 12, but I had many St-Bernardus 12 and Rochefort 10, so I will not know if I did a perfect clone lol. I know a group of awesome brewers made a second and supposedly better version, but I saw it after buying all the grains... (my bad...) I will give you an update when I try my first bottle. Does anyone have any tips to give me? J-R from Canada
 
Back
Top