Recent content by Zzyzx

Belgian ales are suppose to be high in carbonation... In the range of 4 Volumes of CO2 Vs the average of 2.2 to 2.7 for most ales & lagers...

I'm a big fan of the Belgian 330ml bottles.. (the short one on the left)

I'd say it depends on the Ale yeast.... Personally I prefer the Belgian strains. Lots of interesting flavors come out of them.

I brew new things a lot as well and enjoy experimenting with brewing. However I take pride in being able to brew the exact beer over and over again. It may not feed the creative mind, but it takes a lot of skill to do. which is probably why my recipes are as exacting as they are. as...

Not recipies... but should point you on the right path for makeing something simmilar. Rochefort 10 OG: 1.096 (23 °P) IBU: 27 Pilsner & caramel malts + White sugar, Dark sugar and wheat starch. Coriander spice Styrian Goldings + Hallertau Pitch yeast at 68° allowed to rise to...

I would say simplify it. Most of the complex character of Belgian ales comes from the yeast rather then the malt. So I would simplify it down to Two maybe three malts. And yes, Pilsner malt is the primary ale in pretty much every Monastery brewed Ale. Aside from that, sugar is very...

Regardless, the Common white mold found on beer rarely influences the taste of the beer... so at most its a Visual detraction of the drink.

I use the Stubby 330 ml Belgian bottles to bottle all of my Big Belgian ales...

I would say Go with Better Bottles simply because of the Racking arm option... makes transferring brew a breeze. Things are nearly worth their weight in gold....

... Since it's appears you haven't been given ideas for a grain to impart red color... Roasted unmalted barley (AKA Black Roasted Barley). use a few Oz per 5 gallons. Otherwise a small amount of CaraRed or Chocolate malt should do the trick.

From reading a few books on brewing big Belgian ales... It appears that all of the Belgian Trappist ales repitch fresh yeast for bottle finishing their Big ales. So, I don't think it would be a bad idea to do so as well for a big barley wine.

If its only appeared in a few jugs, then I'd suspect that something was allready in the bottle. Did you sanitize the caps? Just back track and make sure your Racking arm is clean (make sure it doesn't have cracks in it) and pick up some new hoses. Bleach is a wonderful way to totally...

Couple things to remember... 1. Its not uncommon to have fermentation finish out in the secondary. Just be sure that before you bottle that the FG is stable over two to three days. and... 2. Did you compensate for temperature?

Sounds like an English Pale ale (Bitter) to me... or maybe a Belgian Pale Ale (both of which have more malt character then the traditional American Pale Ale) You are probably going to end up with a gravity lower then 1.020, unless of course you use a higher temp mash then usual. Which will...

White film on Beer is typically Mold. Double check your cleaning and sanitizing methods. But, on the upside. It usually does not impart any bad flavors in beer, so I'd suspect it would do the same for Cider. although it may look unappealing.