True Brew-Belgian Ale

Trying my second beer kit: True Brew Belgian Ale. Anyone else brew this kit? If so, what did you think of it. Thanks for any input.
Cheers

Bueller....Bueller.....anyone......Bueller?

Just had our first after 3 weeks bottled. It came out well, I think it will come along with some more time. If I remember, we secondary'd for a week or two due to lack of time for bottling. We added grains of paradise too.

Hey thanks for the response. What do the grains of paradise impart to the brew?? I'll be doing only primary for 4 weeks, then bottling. What gravities did you hit?

I've never made that particular kit but I have made a few belgian style beers. The grains of paradise will add a bit of a spicy, peppery note to the beer. You will probably not be able to pick it out, but it will be there.

The higher the original gravity of the beer, the more good it will do to wait...spiced beers and strong (OG of 1.070 +) really need the time to mellow out (although the spice will start to fade if you let to go too long, like a year or so). I've made a belgian ale with OG around 1.050 and it didn't really come around until 3 months after brewing, my tripels needed about 6 months, and the Chimay Blue clone gets good at 6 months and really fine at a year.

Once you get the pipeline full, I would never ever plan to drink a beer sooner than 6 weeks from brew day if you're bottling. Even if you use mondo starters for a quick ferment, don't secondary, and force carb in a keg I gotta think that a month is a good idea. There are brewers here that I greatly respect that can turn their beers around faster than that (especially if you ferment under pressure) but I don't mind waiting a little longer. It just means I need to have more beer in inventory.

BTW, three weeks is a generally-accepted minimum time required for beers to carbonate. Longer is better.

FYI, I believe that kit uses Nottingham yeast.

Just brewed this last night. OG was 1.062 and it is fermenting like crazy. This is only my second batch of beer that I ever brewed. A few things I did different this time was 1. Aerated the wort with a paint mixer attached to cordless drill. 2. Proofed the yeast. This morning I awoke to a plugged airlock and a bulging lid. Needless to say I had to attach a blowoff tube....crisis averted. The yeast that came with the kit is Fermentis T-58. Side note... Just tried my first bottle of True Brew Brown Ale last night ( one week after bottling) damn if it tastes this good after 1 week I can't wait to see what it tastes like in a couple more. Next up is a batch of Apfelwein.

Just bottled a batch of True Brew Belgian Ale after 2 weeks in primary and almost another 2 in secondary. Tastes like Cherry cough syrup!

I am really hoping this flavor changes during its next couple weeks in the bottle!

jamesjensen1068 said:

Just brewed this last night. OG was 1.062 and it is fermenting like crazy. This is only my second batch of beer that I ever brewed. A few things I did different this time was 1. Aerated the wort with a paint mixer attached to cordless drill. 2. Proofed the yeast. This morning I awoke to a plugged airlock and a bulging lid. Needless to say I had to attach a blowoff tube....crisis averted. The yeast that came with the kit is Fermentis T-58. Side note... Just tried my first bottle of True Brew Brown Ale last night ( one week after bottling) damn if it tastes this good after 1 week I can't wait to see what it tastes like in a couple more. Next up is a batch of Apfelwein.

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My 2nd brew was a True Brew Belgian Ale. It's sitting in the fermenter right now and is at 2 weeks and 2 days. I just kegged a California Common by them last night and will start carbonating tonight when I get home from running errands and picking up my tank.

I started with a blow off since I started this one in the carboy and my batch was already in the bucket. It was pretty close to the top, so I figured that would happen. OG was at 1.062 ass well.

This is actually the first one for me. It has been sitting in the fermenter for 1 week as of last night. I hope it doesn't come out tasting like Cherry cough syrup! I did learn I do not like the directions in the kit.

Do yourself a favor and save some of this. I saved a bottle for 1 year to share with my cousin who helped me brew this kit. It was fantastic...one of the best belgian ales I've ever had.....and I'm not kidding.

Cheers