Dressing up a Belgian Strong Golden Ale

CornyKegs 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
WallyBrew

WallyBrew

Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2012
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Location
Seattle
Hey guys, I have a kit for Belgian Strong Golden Ale from Northern Brewer and I was hoping you could provide some ideas/tips on how to dress it up a little. The current ingredients are:

.25 lbs Belgian Caramel Pils
.25 lbs Belgian biscuit
3lbs Golden light DME (60 minutes)
4lbs Golden light DME (15 minutes)
2lbs Clear Belgian Candi sugar (15 minutes)
2oz Saaz Hops (60 minutes)
2oz Saaz Hops (15 minutes)
Wyeast 1388 Belgian Strong Ale

I'm not sure what to do with this style, any suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks!
 
this style is really a way to showcase the yeast IMO. What yeast are you using?
Also, the fermentables are really on the low end of the scale. Still to style, but you could get away with another couple lbs of light DME easily.
 
I wouldn't doctor it on your first batch. If you really want to play with something, split the wort and try 2 different yeasts instead. The hard part is that you need to give it months to really assess which you prefer. I made a similar one with honey in place of the candi syrup and grain bill of pilsner with a pound each of wheat and honey malt fermented with 3725 Biere de Garde. 3 months later it was ehhh ok; definitely not worth a rebrew. 6 months and some dark fruit flavors started coming out, really developed into a great beer, and I'll definitely do something similar again.
 
Sorry guys, forgot to add the yeast to the recipe. Its a Wyeast 1388 Belgian Strong Ale (gotta love the smack pack).

I was just curious if you had any ideas for variations. I'm fairly new to the hobby, this will be my 5th batch, and am looking to learn more.

Thanks guys!
 
Looks like a good recipe. I would add another pound of dme. Definitely plan on letting it condition in the bottle for about 6 months. Belgians are all about complex flavors and it takes time for all of that to come together. Good luck!
 
Sounds like the overall vote is that I should leave well enough alone. I'll probably start this batch early next week, I have to put my Bourbon Barrel Porter into secondary first ;)

Thanks for all of the help!
 
I would recommend making a starter with the yeast. I think Northern Brewer recommends this as well. This will be a big beer (1.081), and it needs a large population of healthy yeast.
 
WallyBrew said:
Sorry guys, forgot to add the yeast to the recipe. Its a Wyeast 1388 Belgian Strong Ale (gotta love the smack pack).

I was just curious if you had any ideas for variations. I'm fairly new to the hobby, this will be my 5th batch, and am looking to learn more.!
Click to expand...

That's the Duvel strain. Will give you a great beer if you treat it right. Start around 70 F, and raise the temperature up to 80 F over a few days, and it will give you some great flavors. Don't let the temperature drop, or it might stall on you.
 
love that yeast.. I did something similar to Calder last time I used it. Started at 68, held for two days, then stopped controlling temps and let it raise the temp on its own until it finished. It chugged down from 1.09ish down to 1.007 in less than a week and wasn't particularly "hot" tasting even at that point. Only drawback is that it's pretty slow to clear. I did a 3 week lager and even then I decided to use gelatin to get it truly clear.
 
I have a recipe for a Belgian Golden Strong Ale, but It varies in some ways.

I am using

12 lbs Pilsner Liquid Malt extract
1.0 lb Aromatic Malt
1.0 oz Kent Goldings (60 min) Hops
1.0 oz Kent Goldings (12 min) Hops
0.5 oz Williamette (3 min) hops
0.5 oz Sweet Orange Peel (12 min)
0.5 oz Sweet Orange Peel (3 min)
1.0 tsp Irish Moss (10 min)
1.0 lb Honey
2 pkgs Trappist High Gravity Yeast


I have not made it yes, but I'm excited to get started as soon as I rack the English Brown Ale that is in my Primary right now.

How did yours turn out? Did you make it yet?
 
michaelsnayd said:
I have a recipe for a Belgian Golden Strong Ale, but It varies in some ways.

12 lbs Pilsner Liquid Malt extract
1.0 lb Aromatic Malt
1.0 oz Kent Goldings (60 min) Hops
1.0 oz Kent Goldings (12 min) Hops
0.5 oz Williamette (3 min) hops
0.5 oz Sweet Orange Peel (12 min)
0.5 oz Sweet Orange Peel (3 min)
1.0 tsp Irish Moss (10 min)
1.0 lb Honey
2 pkgs Trappist High Gravity Yeast
Click to expand...

Aromatic should be mashed, otherwise it will do just about nothing. Fortunately it does have sufficient enzymes to self convert. Mashing is similar to steeping, except temperature and water quantity is more important. Mash (steep) 1 lb of grains in 1.5 quart of water (somewhere between 1 and 1.5 quarts), and keep the temperature about 150 F for 30 minutes. If you heat the water to 160 before adding, you should end up somewhere about 150 F after adding the grains. Just keep well insulated for the 30 minutes.

Your choice, but the beer doesn't need the orange peel. It might end up being too dominant. The yeast will add lots of flavors.

Try and ferment warm (about 75F). Maybe start about 70 and let the temperature rise.

Use honey if you want. I expect it will be lost. Might as well use a pound of table sugar instead; it is what the Belgians use.
 
Add some corn sugar a few days in to fermentation. 5 oz will do. It will dry it out some.
 
planetscott said:
Add some corn sugar a few days in to fermentation. 5 oz will do. It will dry it out some.
Click to expand...

5 ozs is not going to touch it. You want to be looking at 1 to 2 lbs of table sugar (cane/beet) depending on what you are looking for.

Belgians do not use corn sugar.
 
Calder said:
Aromatic should be mashed, otherwise it will do just about nothing. Fortunately it does have sufficient enzymes to self convert. Mashing is similar to steeping, except temperature and water quantity is more important. Mash (steep) 1 lb of grains in 1.5 quart of water (somewhere between 1 and 1.5 quarts), and keep the temperature about 150 F for 30 minutes. If you heat the water to 160 before adding, you should end up somewhere about 150 F after adding the grains. Just keep well insulated for the 30 minutes.

Your choice, but the beer doesn't need the orange peel. It might end up being too dominant. The yeast will add lots of flavors.

Try and ferment warm (about 75F). Maybe start about 70 and let the temperature rise.

Use honey if you want. I expect it will be lost. Might as well use a pound of table sugar instead; it is what the Belgians use.
Click to expand...

Good advice, thank you!
After the mash I would guess that steeping is not necessary? Would I at this point just add the mash water straight to a boil, or is there something else that needs to be done?

I like to taste the wart every step of the way to better understand how each thing I add effects the beer, that being said, I may end up using only half of the orange peel. I've never used it before, so it could be fun to give it a try.

I'll try the warmer ferment, do you think I will need a blow off system/tube for this one?

Thanks!
 
michaelsnayd said:
After the mash I would guess that steeping is not necessary? Would I at this point just add the mash water straight to a boil, or is there something else that needs to be done?

I'll try the warmer ferment, do you think I will need a blow off system/tube for this one?
Click to expand...

Once the mash is done, get it to a boil. Add more water after the mash to get the boil volume you want.

In my experience, most Belgian strains are very active fermenters. I use a blow-off every time, and find it is usually the Belgians that make me thankful that I do use it. If you have a blow-off tube, use it.


FiddleTilDeath said:
more hops!!!
Click to expand...

The hops are fine. It's a Belgian Strong. Yeast is the dominant flavor creator. If you want a hoppy beer, brew a Pale Ale.
 
I know where you're coming from with the 'to style' considerations, but I prefer a little more balance to my brews. In general I feel Belgians are underhopped, so mine balance the hops to the malt, to what you consider overhopped. Cheers!

Chess-
HopWeizen Belgique
6 lbs Wheat LME
1 lbs Wheat DME
3-4oz Tettnang Hops + wee bit o’saaz
Wyeast 3942 Belgian Wheat
 
I brewed that exact kit from NB in March. Didn't add anything, just followed their directions. I did make a massive yeast starter though. I followed their (NB's) directions for making (what they call) a 2L starter. Fermented it in my closet at room temp (which was around 70F the whole time). Let it sit in the primary for 6 weeks. Then I bottled (did not add more yeast, just the recommended amount of table sugar with the kit instructions). Let it bottle condition for 4 weeks. And it came out great! I don't think it needs any "dressing up." Very reminiscent of Duvel or Delerium Tremens. I was very pleased with the results especially considering it was only my 5th brew. So my suggestion it just follow their instructions (but omit the secondary) I think you'll be happy with out it comes out.
 
Calder said:
5 ozs is not going to touch it. You want to be looking at 1 to 2 lbs of table sugar (cane/beet) depending on what you are looking for.

Belgians do not use corn sugar.
Click to expand...

Sugar is sugar for the most part. I've used corn sugar many times in Belgian style beers with great results.
 
planetscott said:
Sugar is sugar for the most part.
Click to expand...

Are you trying to open Pandora's box with this. If you wanted to compare cane vs. beet, I would think you would get a lot of comments, but .... corn, that's something else all together.

I agree, cane vs corn, you really can't tell the difference in taste. The big difference is in the price. On top of that, 1 lb of cane sugar is equal to the fermentables in 1.25 lbs of corn sugar.
 
I switched from honey to sugar on this one. I am going with cane sugar, Florida crystals to be exact. I'm excited to brew this one and will get started as soon as my son arrives for summer break from fsu. He wants to learn something valuable while attending university!
 

Similar threads

H
Coors Banquet
Replies
0
Views
863
huckdavidson
H
B
Wlp550 Belgian golden strong ale
Replies
16
Views
1K
DuncB
D
Elmo Peach
Too Hugh (the OG not me)
Replies
5
Views
396
Elmo Peach
Elmo Peach
M
Safbrew WB-06 for a Belgian Golden Strong ale
2 3
Replies
103
Views
11K
AlcheMania
AlcheMania
Kelvin Soares
Yeast Combination - Belgian Golden Strong Ale
Replies
17
Views
1K
KeizerBrewr
KeizerBrewr

Latest posts

Back
Top