Belgian Mild

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Shawn Hargreaves

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I want to grow up some WLP500 so I can pitch a Dubbel onto the yeast cake. I'm thinking of brewing an English style Mild as my starter beer, but using the Belgian yeast:

OG: 1.035
FG: 1.008
3.43% ABV
14.7 IBU
19.4 SRM

5 lb Maris Otter (74%)
1 lb Crystal 60L (15%)
0.5 lb Crystal 120L (7%)
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (4%)
1 oz Fuggles (45 min)
WLP500 (Trappist Ale)

I'm also thinking this could be my first foray from partial mashing into the wonderful world of AG brewing, since there is so little malt I reckon I can fit it all in my limited equipment.

My main doubt is that the Trappist yeast has much higher attenuation than what I would normally use for a Mild. I figure I can compensate for that by mashing high (45 min @158 degrees) and including such a high proportion of crystal malt.

Opinions?
 
Sounds pretty good, but I'd probably belgian it up a bit more. Replace the 120L with some Special B, take down the crystal 60L a bit and throw in some biscuit, and see if you can find some Belgian Chocolate malt. Maybe replace the Fuggles with some Styran Goldings if you can find 'em.

5# Marris Otter [I'll keep this here I suspose]
.5# Crystal 60L
.5# Special B
.25# Biscuit
.25# Belgian Chocolate Malt

1oz Styrian Goldings @60
.5oz Styrian Goldings @5

Mash at 162F for 60, don't be afraid to go above 158.

IMHO, YMMV, HAND
 
Thanks for the input. I did think about using some Belgian malts, but I kind of like the idea of sticking with a typical English Mild recipe, except for the Belgian yeast. But on the other hand I do seriously love me some Special-B. Oh the dilemma!
 
I've been toying with this idea off and on for a while now, not as a way to build up some yeast, but just as a beer to brew.

I've been thinking of it in terms of taking a dubbel recipe and scaling it back to mild levels, looking at how mild recipes related to english brown ale recipes. I haven't formulated a real recipe yet, or actually brewed it, but that's the approach I'm leaning towards.

I would definitely mash high, something tells me those belgian yeasts will go crazy if exposed to a piddly little 1.030 wort, and it'll go even lower than you expect.
 
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