Belgian Blond Ale Revvy's Belgian Blonde (Leffe Clone)

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Revvy's correct. There was a secondary fermentation triggered by the introductiomn of fructose in the strawberries. However, the tertiary is primarily for aging purposes, as I didn't want to sit on the strawberries for too long.

BTW, what color is it? Did the strawberries affect the color in anyway?
 
Generally speaking, strawberries don't bleed color into beer. Not sure on the science behind it, but I've never seen a strawberry beer that was red. For example, Strawberry Harvest Lager by Abita is the same color as Budweiser.
 
Drop the word fermentation. The purpose of a tertiary or secondary vessel is to clear the beer. Since he added fruit in the secondary, he moved it to a third vessel, to let the beer clear.

For info on secondary fermentation which most of the time is a minsomer, go here.

Make sense! thanks for the clarification and the link.
 
if I were to let this ferment in the upper 70s lower 80s what would happen? would I get the banana flavors that I like using Belgian Abbey II 1762?
 
If that's the flavor profiles you're getting from that yeast in other brews, I don't see anything in this ingredient list that would cancel that flavor out, IMO.
 
i agree, it shouldn't change if that's what's happening with that particular yeast for you in other brews. personally, i would venture to guess you'll get some sulfur, but it will probably fade quickly.
 
brewed 2.5 gallons last night! forgot about the 90 min boil & missed my target gravity. OG= 1.055 who cares....hydro sample tasted amazing.
also.... used wlp550 because that's all LHBS had. see you in two months!
 
Had a bit of a incident with the fermentation vessel. It seems that I put to much in the vessel and it is now coming out of the airlock.
Does this means that the brew is lost? It is safe to replace the airlock with another one without further damaging the brew? should i add more yeast to replace the one I lost ?
Thanks

IMG_1016.jpg
 
No your beer is fine, you just had an active fermentation. Just clean off the mess, then get a tune that can fit in the bung hole and stick it in there, and the other end into a jar of sanitizer.
 
That is very reassuring, Emptied the bucket a bit and could not believe the taste had changed in four days, this beer will be great once ready.

How long did you keep it in bottle or keg before drinking it?
 
No worries. Happened to me a lot before I eventually switch to blow off tubes for peace of mind. If it spilled outside, that means you have positive pressure from the inside, so that much lessens the chance of something nasty getting in. And anyway, by now fermentation is very active so risk of infections are low. Don't worry about yeast neither. There is a HUGE amount left, probably 99.9% of it.
That beer will be awesome.
 
No worries. Happened to me a lot before I eventually switch to blow off tubes for peace of mind. If it spilled outside, that means you have positive pressure from the inside, so that much lessens the chance of something nasty getting in. And anyway, by now fermentation is very active so risk of infections are low. Don't worry about yeast neither. There is a HUGE amount left, probably 99.9% of it.
That beer will be awesome.

Thanks I like to read that. This is only my second brew so everything is new and bewildering. I appreciate your feedback and assistance.
Cheers
 
Just put the leffe in the bottles, thanks revvy for the great recipe. It is very close to the real thing. Now off to the pub for a real one. Will brew another one of leffe tomorrow.
 
Akavango said:
Just put the leffe in the bottles, thanks revvy for the great recipe. It is very close to the real thing. Now off to the pub for a real one. Will brew another one of leffe tomorrow.

What yeast did you use? Mine still needs another 2 weeks in the fermenter before I can bottle it. I'm glad to hear that it tastes very close to the real thing. Keep us updated.

Sent from my SGH-T959 using Home Brew Talk
 
What yeast did you use? Mine still needs another 2 weeks in the fermenter before I can bottle it. I'm glad to hear that it tastes very close to the real thing. Keep us updated.

Sent from my SGH-T959 using Home Brew Talk

I used WLP 530, it was very active for 3 weeks. Enjoy your beer.
 
Revvy said:
I'm brewing a slightly modified version of this tomorrow. I basically just rounded up my grainbill.

I was supposed to bottle mine last monday but I've been very busy at work. Probably won't bottle it until next weekend. I'm going to wash the yeast too (first time attempt) just in case it comes out great. I can pitch the exact strain again. Extra time in the fermenter shouldn't harm it, right?

Sent from my SGH-T959 using Home Brew Talk
 
I was supposed to bottle mine last monday but I've been very busy at work. Probably won't bottle it until next weekend. I'm going to wash the yeast too (first time attempt) just in case it comes out great. I can pitch the exact strain again. Extra time in the fermenter shouldn't harm it, right?

Sent from my SGH-T959 using Home Brew Talk

It'll be fine.

I actually think I have enough actual Leffe bottles now to bottle mine in them. I think they're cool bottles. I've been on a leffe kick lately, probably because of you guys all brewing this. :mug:
 
Revvy. Have you ever tried making this with open fermentation? I would think it would be perfect for this style
 
Revvy. Have you ever tried making this with open fermentation? I would think it would be perfect for this style

No I am a chicken**** where wild fermentations are concerned. Lambics, all that stuff, I'm just way afraid of something taking hold in my gear and never getting it out.

I'm kinda fascinated by it, but in that drive by and look at an accident sort of way.

It'd be interesting if someone does it with this recipe, though.

But, I may be resorting to that today if my abbey ale starter doesn't take off. My lhbs was out of whitelabs, so I had to get Wyeast. I'm not a big fan of those things. I made a starter yesterday morning and it doesn't look at all like anything's happened, nor does the wort smell like it either. It probably won't get pitched til 3 or 4 so hopefully it will wake up.
 
Revvy said:
No I am a chicken**** where wild fermentations are concerned. Lambics, all that stuff, I'm just way afraid of something taking hold in my gear and never getting it out.

I'm kinda fascinated by it, but in that drive by and look at an accident sort of way.

Thorough sanitation would rid of any potential bacteria?

Sent from my SGH-T959 using Home Brew Talk
 
Hi Revvy, thanks so much for posting the recipe. Leffe has been among my favorite belgians for years. My third batch ever (a few years ago) was a Leffe clone, which turned out "ok", but I've learned so much since then (thanks HBT!) that I'm excited to give it another shot with your recipe.

I did notice in your initial post that you've added frozen peaches to this recipe before. It just so happens that I have a bushel of fresh Colorado peaches in my possession, and have been looking for a way to get them into a good beer. Can you share some of the results of adding the peaches to this beer? How did it turn out? What ratio of peaches/gallon did you use? Skins/no skins? I saw this thread a few minutes ago and after reading your initial post I knew I had hit the jackpot...awesome beer/recipe and someone who has added peaches as well! Thanks again
 
I'm not having the greatest brew day. Had trouble hitting my temp (too high) and trying to mess with it may have made it too cool. I'm just going to rdwh several beers and get what I get in the finished product. It will still be beer.

I'm going to enjoy the lions, and the fact that I am brewing......
 
Hi Revvy, thanks so much for posting the recipe. Leffe has been among my favorite belgians for years. My third batch ever (a few years ago) was a Leffe clone, which turned out "ok", but I've learned so much since then (thanks HBT!) that I'm excited to give it another shot with your recipe.

I did notice in your initial post that you've added frozen peaches to this recipe before. It just so happens that I have a bushel of fresh Colorado peaches in my possession, and have been looking for a way to get them into a good beer. Can you share some of the results of adding the peaches to this beer? How did it turn out? What ratio of peaches/gallon did you use? Skins/no skins? I saw this thread a few minutes ago and after reading your initial post I knew I had hit the jackpot...awesome beer/recipe and someone who has added peaches as well! Thanks again


I used a couple packages of frozen peach slices that I ran through a sanitized food processor and added to secondary. It came out ok...not great. Like I said earlier on this thread there's several people on here who have been successful with adding fruit to this recipe, go with their recommendations.
 
Ok, thanks....from looking at earlier posts, I'm thinking 7-8# since peaches have a milder flavor.
 
I might have to make a 2.5 gallon batch to test this out, unless someone wants to beat me to it, but I'm sparging now and I have what appears to be a family of bees buzzing around, there's even a couple of babies trying to land on the tun.

But I was thinking about how this might make a nice "Honey Blonde" for all those folks who like honey beers.

I'm thinking about swapping out a pound to a pound and a half of the pilsner with the same amount of Gambrinous honey malt. That should give this a nice honey character.

What does anyone think? Anyone game for trying this?
 
The boys at NB are doing open fermentation quite a bit and not with wild yeasts for lambics. They said infections haven't been a problem. You just need a good top cropping yeast and you need to move it out of the primary in 2-3 days. The fermentation goes much quicker when the yeast is exposed to more O2 and less pressure
 
Here's what I'm thinking of for a 2.5 gallon batch of the honey blond experiment.


4 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Bel
8.0 oz Munich Malt
2.7 oz Biscuit Malt
1.8 oz Melanoiden Malt
12.0 oz Honey Malt
5.3 oz Honey (1.0 SRM)

0.38 oz Styrian Goldings- Boil 60.0 min
0.20 oz Saaz- Boil 30.0 min

0.5 pkg Abbey Ale (White Labs #WLP530) [35.00 ml]
 
Looking for more info on the table sugar. Just dump it in for the last 15min or does something have to be done to it first? And by table sugar you mean just regular C&H Pure Cane Sugar?
 
Thanks for the answer. I read post #5 but it was still unclear to me since I don't know what cadi sugar is or the difference in clear sugar. I didn't want to guess and screw this batch up.

Plain old granulated white cane sugar is what us mere mortals know it as.
 
Thanks for the answer. I read post #5 but it was still unclear to me since I don't know what cadi sugar is or the difference in clear sugar. I didn't want to guess and screw this batch up.

Plain old granulated white cane sugar is what us mere mortals know it as.

Yes for this puppy, plain sugar is fine. Though as I talked about yesterday and Sunday when I brewed this, I'm interested in honey and honey malt for a honey blonde.
 
Any updates on the honey blonde? Sounds interesting.

I'm looking forward to making this beer in a few months (it's 3-4th in line at this point). Besides being a solid beer in it's own right, I'm liking the idea of a good base brew for adding fruit. Not sure I'm going with peaches, though, after giving it some thought...just not sure they would be pronounced enough. Probably will look at raspberries, cherries or blueberries.
 
Do you typically skip gypsum & Irish moss on this one? I've had my starter going for a while but life keeps getting in the way of brew time. Also planning on saving some of the cake and trying the honey version after the first batch finishes in a month.

Thanks!
 
My batch will be going on tap this weekend. Brewed it back in July, and it's been in a keg for a month now under pressure. I've got a tap finally opening up, and this will be taking the spot. I'll report back next week on how my batch turned out.
 
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