Belgian Blond Ale SWMBO Slayer - Belgian Blonde

Guys, I used the recipe for my first AG batch as well. Did the cooler batch sparge. Worked well, had a very unique taste, nothing like a Blue Moon, or the like. The longer it sat in the Kegerator, the better it got. Its a great beer for hot summer days, even if youre not the SWMBO. Keg is empty, on to the next batch!

One thing I did notice, is that as the keg emptied, the more head the beer had. Wasnt overcarbed, I even knocked the presure down to see if that was it.

Thanks for all the help.

Just brewed this up today, sadly as I was in a hurry to finish so I could get to softball failed to take a gravity reading...naturally softball ended up being canceled. As is life, looking forward to it.

I brewed this recipe last week. I missed the OG by a bit (1.045) since I only got 68% efficiency, but it was right in the middle of the blonde ale range so I guess it should be OK.

One comment about blowoff though. I know some people consider this heresy, but I have always found it extremely useful to use foam controller drops. I use it primarily for boilover control in the boil, but the drops also calm doing the blowoff in the fermentor.

I made a 1.5L starter that had a huge 4-5 inch krausen after 36 hours. I didn't think about swirling it back down into the starter, so when I pitched, it had already gotten hard and crusty (and based on BM's comments about yeast getting stuck in the krausen makes me wonder if I negated any effects of a starter by not catching that in time). So the yeast was super active. The beer has been in the fermentor for almost a week now and the foam controller works so well that I can use an airlock without any problems. The bubbling has been pretty intense, but the krausen is at most 2-3 inches in the carboy.

Again, I know not everyone is in tune with adding "magical drops" to their beer (and that argument has been repeated too many times on this forum), but it really helps eliminate the effects of super active beers - if you are interested in that kind of thing.

On a different note, with the hot summer temperatures I was using a cooler to lower the fermenting temperature. I originally set the temperature controller to about 64F, but there was very little activity in the airlock. So I looked up the optimum fermenting temps for the WLP400 and its 69-74F. So then I raised the temperature controller to 71F, and since then the airlock activity has really taken off.

Now I just have to wait.

I've been drinking this recipe for a couple of weeks. Everyone likes it a lot. It's a much more complex beer than I expected, since I'm not overly familiar with Belgian styles. It has a little bit of a fruity, spicy, and slightly tart taste. I over sparged a tad, so my ABV came out to only about 5.3%, but I'm very happy with the results. I'll probably make this one again.

masonsjax said:

I've been drinking this recipe for a couple of weeks. Everyone likes it a lot. It's a much more complex beer than I expected, since I'm not overly familiar with Belgian styles. It has a little bit of a fruity, spicy, and slightly tart taste. I over sparged a tad, so my ABV came out to only about 5.3%, but I'm very happy with the results. I'll probably make this one again.

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Man I miss this beer. Once I'm off my beer drinking hiatus...this one is first up I think.

I brewed this on July 1st for my entrance into AG brewing. I checked the gravity after 2 weeks and it was only 1.020 at 60 deg f. I checked it again last night (3 weeks in the primary) and it was still at 1.020 also at 60 deg. f, so I decided to rack to the secondary and leave it for another week before I bottle it.

The only yeast the LHBS had that seemed close, was a White Labs Belgian Wit II, Platinum Edition liquid yeast WLP410, they were out of the WLP400 so I used that. Any ideas on why the attenuation is not very good?

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to trying this one in about 5 weeks, sure do hate the waiting though.......

alapapa said:

I tapped my AG rendition of this a couple of days ago -- lowered pale malt by .5 lb, used slightly lower % williamette, & added an oz. of sweet orange peel to last 30 mins of boil

did a long secondary

you were right -- swmbo is a huge fan
thx for the inspiration

edit: included pic -- lighting sucks

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This looks delicious. I think I may try this for my next recipe.

So I went to brew this but mixed up the yeast with another batch I had planned and ended up pitching some Safbrew S-33. Real boneheaded mistake. I also ended up missing the gravity because I had some troubles with the mash and got 1.042. How do you think this will end up? Its been in the primary for 2 weeks and smells good at least.

BierMuncher said:

Man I miss this beer. Once I'm off my beer drinking hiatus...this one is first up I think.

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Biermuncher. Drinking hiatus. It troubles my heart to hear those at the same time. I can relate though, I've had to seriously cut back - I just can't run 26miles a day to burn those calories

LooyvilleLarry said:

Biermuncher. Drinking hiatus. It troubles my heart to hear those at the same time. I can relate though, I've had to seriously cut back - I just can't run 26miles a day to burn those calories

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Trust me. It's killing me. I just had to do it though. Absence making the heart grow fonder and all.

Doing nothing else I've dropped 8 pounds in the last 6 weeks. This will be a nice set up to a brew-o-rama this Fall accompanied by a serious making up for lost time.

BioBeing said:

My first batch of this went down so easy, so I just brewed another. I added a little coriander and some bitter and sweet orange peel this time, just for fun. My first was 6.4% ABV, so I lowered my grain bill too this time.

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So this was a hit! Cracked the first bottle last night and SWMBO loved it. Best beer I have made so far quoth she. It has a nice tartness to it that I think will be very refreshing on hot days. She did say it looked like infected cow's urine though.

My SWMBO chugged my sample while i was checking the sg so I figured I'll just make these back to back to keep up lol. I was wondering if it would cause any problem if I just racked my cooled wort right over the old yeast cake... or should I pull out the yeast cake and sanatize my carboy first?

Westel said:

My SWMBO chugged my sample while i was checking the sg so I figured I'll just make these back to back to keep up lol. I was wondering if it would cause any problem if I just racked my cooled wort right over the old yeast cake... or should I pull out the yeast cake and sanatize my carboy first?

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Toss it on the cake...but DEFINITELY rig a blow off tube. You've been warned.

I used one on my last batch with simply pitching the vial onto the wort... I figured i'd need at least a 2 gallon bucket with starsan to contain this beast I'm about to create lol.

Tapped on a Saturday, Pulled two glasses on Sunday night, Monday two friends came over and stayed till 3:00 AM, I got two more pints on Wed then nothing but air.

A MUST brew!

I'm going to brew this one tonight probably. i have a question though. My lhbs didnt have any flaked wheat so I went to a health food store to see if they carried some. The only thing they had was wheat bran flakes. I went ahead and picked some up since it was only 50 cents. Will this work? Could I use oats instead?

BM-quick question, I am intrigued by a lot of your recipes, but when I go through and do the grain bill calculations on my own I end up coming up with WAY higher theoretical initial values (and yes, I do remember to account for efficiency). For example, with this one I end up with OG should = 1.068. I don't have beersmith at this point, because it costs 25 bucks and I'd rather spend that on a brew. I am however, fairly competent at excel and have read a fair amount on the subject. I guess I'm curious what your potential extract numbers look like to get that OG.

I hope that makes sense. I'm starting to worry that it doesn't.

Stinkonamonkey said:

Edit: I ended up using the White Labs Belgian Golden Ale for this since I couldnt find WLP-400. I made a 2 liter starter, pitched it last night around 7 pm, and it was bubbling through the blow off tube by ~10:30. I'll update the post with the results in a month.

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So this turned out pretty good. The yeast character of the beer was almost overwhelming though. I'll ferment it a little colder next time and use a different yeast. That being said, it was pretty good and my friends seemed to like it a lot.

BierMuncher said:

Toss it on the cake...but DEFINITELY rig a blow off tube. You've been warned.

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Definitely a blow off rig is required... mine starting bubbling within just a couple of hours. 5 days later it is still going like crazy. I made a starter. I think in the future i don't need to bother with a starter.

I only have room and equipment for extract recipes and I saw this recipe posted in a previous post.

3 lbs. Wheat DME
2 lbs. Extra Lght DME
8 oz. Caramel 10°L
8 oz. Flaked Wheat
4 oz. Caravienne malt

1 oz hops (looks like they changed to Glacier from Williamette)

1 oz hops (looks like they changed to Glacier from Williamette)

Has anyone used this and have any advice on a successful brew they would like to share? I am still a newbie and can use all the advice I can get.

1) I am not sure of which type of yeast to use and at what times the hops should be added to the boil.

2) Do I steep the 8 oz. Caramel, 8 oz flaked wheat and caravienne malt together prior to adding the DME? I have done a partial grain batch before where I steeped the grains for 20 minutes at 160-170 F prior to adding the extract and bringing to a full boil.

3) What does the "10°L" stand for with the Caramel? The closest LBHS store is 90+ miles away so I want to make sure I have everything down prior to making the trip.

thanks...

Mick

SWMBO pulled the last couple of pints of this from the keg a couple of weeks ago. Another one slain! Time to make another batch.

BM

how would this do with german wheat beer yeast-- Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan?

artbrewer said:

BM

how would this do with german wheat beer yeast-- Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan?

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You'll get much closer to a German hefe with this yeast. A lot of banana and clove flavors.

Well, I've read this whole thread, and it this recipe is definitely going in the queue. But I do have a question about fermentation temperature. I've noticed that it was mentioned a handful of time that people are fermenting this for a good month at 60-65 deg. F. What would the consequences be if one were to ferment this in the low 70s? I'm not set up with a good cooling solution yet. But one thing I do know is that Wit is one of the (very) limited varieties that SWMBO actually like to drink.

Thanks,
Brad

methane said:

Well, I've read this whole thread, and it this recipe is definitely going in the queue. But I do have a question about fermentation temperature. I've noticed that it was mentioned a handful of time that people are fermenting this for a good month at 60-65 deg. F. What would the consequences be if one were to ferment this in the low 70s? I'm not set up with a good cooling solution yet. But one thing I do know is that Wit is one of the (very) limited varieties that SWMBO actually like to drink.

Thanks,
Brad

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I think you'll be fine if you keep it in the low 70's. It will have a bit more character, but certainly nothing that she would be likely to notice. Brew on. :rockin:

methane said:

I've noticed that it was mentioned a handful of time that people are fermenting this for a good month at 60-65 deg. F. What would the consequences be if one were to ferment this in the low 70s?

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http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/strains_wlp400.html

I was just noticing Optimum Fermentation Temperature is 67-74°F.

I just pulled my first pint of the sweet orange peel version. It is delicious. Probably the best beer I have made out of my past 10 batches or so.

I'm gonna make this again, but I think I'm gonna try with WLP550 Belgian Ale Yeast this time.

I'm thinking of another batch of this beer. I'm going to pull off 10-15% of the sweet wort and sour it and innoculate the remainder of the wort with wlp 400. Once fermentation is complete, I'll boil the soured portion and add it back to the beer. Has anyone tried this? I think a slight tartness from the soured portion would add another complexity.
Thoughts? Suggestions?

I think I am going to make this one next.
There has been several extract recipes mentioned in this thread.
Anyone know which would be best to try?

BM Thank you for sharing this recipe! I brewed it last week for my SWBMO, I can't wait to pour her a glass of it!!! She is really excited about it! (not so much for the Russian Imperial Stout I brewed last month) Brewing this for her has let me get away more brewing! Plus I got the ok to order bulk grain, and a couple more kegs this week!!! :rockin:

Oh yeah took your advice about a blow off tube!!!

Jud said:

BM Thank you for sharing this recipe! I brewed it last week for my SWBMO, I can't wait to pour her a glass of it!!! She is really excited about it! (not so much for the Russian Imperial Stout I brewed last month) Brewing this for her has let me get away more brewing! Plus I got the ok to order bulk grain, and a couple more kegs this week!!! :rockin:

Oh yeah took your advice about a blow off tube!!!

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Another marriage taken to the next (homebrewing) level.

What do you think a Belgian trappist yeast would do to the flavor?

JustDave said:

Make sure you find the happy medium between just enough to get her frisky and sleepy time ......

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catnip perhaps?

I'm getting ready to brew this tomorrow and was curious if I will need rice hulls? I see that it's a batch sparge, but just wanted to check people's experiences.

Thanks for the recipe, BierMuncher. Can't wait for this!

I made this one again, and I'm drinking it now. I used a little more caravienne in place of crystal 10, and upped the 2 row by .5 lbs. It came out at about 6.3% ABV. I fermented with WLP550 Belgian Ale yeast, and it came out very, very good. This yeast is nice and spicy, not tart or fruity at all. I love it!

Edit: WLP400 is excellent as well, just different. I tend to gravitate toward peppery, spicy foods and wine, so naturally I prefer the WLP550, but this beer is excellent both ways. Cheers!

Hey this looks like a real solid recipe, and I decided I am going to make it next. However I would like to add some zest to this recipe since you said it's a bit plain, so what fruits/spices would you suggest adding to the wort? I was thinking some orange and ginger would complement it nicely.

I'd go with coriander rather than ginger, this is turning into more of an imperial wit than a blonde though. BCS wit recipe calls for 1.5 oz fresh citrus zest, 0.4 oz crushed coriander seed, and 0.03 oz dry chamomile fllowers @ 5 mins.

Okay so forgive my noob question, but could someone enlighten me as to what is meant by single infusion and batch sparge?

When you feel the need to excuse yourself for asking a noob question, it's probably a good idea to search the forums before posting. Here's a book.