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

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As robust as the Belgian strains all seem to be, definitely make starters for beers this big.

I did a side by side of my keg vs bottled at ~21 days. Both aren't there yet but unsurprisingly the keg that's been chilled and on gas has a lot farther to go. This batch isn't the best example due to blowing the mash temp and using 3787 at a higher ferm temp. It will be great, no question but I've decided to pull it out of my keggerator and let it condition longer at room temp.

Carbonation was almost there but not perfect so I'm considering priming to finish it up. Its hard to gusstimate a corn sugar addition but thinking 1.5-2 oz. This batch is a little thick due to the mash temp so overshooting the carbonation will probably be OK.
 
As a fan of Leffe, I've been eyeing this recipe for quite some time. I've looked high and low and based on what I can tell, this recipe seems to be quite close, with one exception: the yeast.

For my taste, the flavors that dominate Leffe are Leche (bubblegum) and clove with some malty graininess in the background. I think the yeast is the key to nailing the flavors, so I've spent some time looking into it.

I've never actually brewed with WLP530, but literally everything I can find about it says that it is mild in both the fruit and the spice. I can't find anyone ever describing the taste of 530 as leche or bubblegum and the spice rarely seems to be that of clove. The more I thought about it, I realized I can't remember ever tasting Leche in a belgian strain at all. (Some say that WLP400 can give off bubblegum; and I'm sure there's a commercial example, but I've never had it.)

In my search for the right yeast, I stumbled across a few postings which said that Leffe was actually brewed with a German Weizen strain and that it was confirmed by an employee at Leffe. My first reaction was that's crazy, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. If you could remove the banana from a weizen I think the flavor would be spot on.

From what I can tell, WLP 351 fits the bill perfectly. It's supposed to have little to no banana and have lots of leche and clove. I'm proud to say that I picked up the last vial of 351 at my LHBS today and I'm going to brew it up next weekend. The vial is past the expiration date, so I'll have to step up a few starters. But before I put grain to water I wanted to test my theory. My LHBS owner (who is quite knowledgeable) that it might be crazy enough to be true. What do y'all think?
 
FWIW I've heard Wyeast 3787 has a fair amount of bubble gum flavor if not done at cool temps. No first hand experience with it yet though.
 
Well, I think I'm wrong. I found a copy of Brew Like a Monk and there was (as expected) some info Belgian yeast and (to a lesser extent) info on Leffe.

Leffe is fermented for 5 days. Pitched at 64F and allowed to rise to 77F over 5 days. Lagered for two weeks and forced carbed. OG:1.064. I'm no expert, but I don't think temps that high would produce tasty results in a hefe. From my experience hefe yeast does much better <72F.

The book also had flavor profiles for various strains and it appears that 1214, 3522, 3787 & 3538 will all produce bubblegum (as well as other things) when fermented between 75-85. If Brew like a Monk is right it appears 3538 may be the closest choice. Unfortunately it has limited availability. 1214 may be the next best bet.

My 351 starter is kicking, but I think I should just use it on a hefe instead.
 
Well, at 4 weeks in the bottle and my second attempt at this recipe and a side by side I must say this batch turned out fantastic! Thanks for the recipe Revvy! This one is going to be a regular rotation for sure:)

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I've finally had the opportunity to brew this one. Leffe Blonde is one of my favourite beers so I can't wait to taste the finished result. It's bubbling away vigorously.

My finished volume was slightly low (16 litres instead of 19) and my OG was slightly high (1072 instead of 1068) but hopefully it'll still turn out ok, if slightly strong.
 
For the record, I just cracked open one of my last dozen or so bottles of this brew.

My "bottled on" date on the label is 4-28-2012, and I brewed it four weeks prior to bottling.

Age hasn't hurt this one a bit; if anything, it continues to subtly improve.

Pour gives me the same nice, fluffy head as always.

Aroma is a fruity bouqet with some slightly hoppy notes. Taste is fruity maltiness up front balanced with some nice spiciness and a subtly dry finish. Very nice brew, one that I will make a point to always have on hand.
 
Brewed this yesterday. Mashed for an hour, but otherwise hit all my numbers. Subbed in some Willamette for the 60 min and tettnang for the 30min. Used yeast from my last dubbel (WLP530). My 1L starter didnt have much of a white layer of yeast, so after crashing it, poured off and did another starter. Well, I had full krausen at 6 hours... Guess there was plenty of yeast.

Currently sitting at around 19C.

Should be a good one!
 
Sounds interesting with the hops, and the yeasts. Can't wait to hear how it turns out.

Hey, that begs a question for you guys. What yeasts have you used on this? Every time I do this I use a different one, including harvest yeast, and so far nothing really beats the original yeast I used. What do you guys like? I think I need to get this back in rotation again...not sure if I want to use something new, or go back to old school on this.
 
Sounds interesting with the hops, and the yeasts. Can't wait to hear how it turns out.

The willamette is a little less than fresh, so doubt much will come from it apart from bittering. Tettnang... I love tettnang in Belgians :)

We'll see how it goes this time, but i generally find that like WLP530 better once its been harvested a couple of times.
 
Sounds interesting with the hops, and the yeasts. Can't wait to hear how it turns out.

Hey, that begs a question for you guys. What yeasts have you used on this? Every time I do this I use a different one, including harvest yeast, and so far nothing really beats the original yeast I used. What do you guys like? I think I need to get this back in rotation again...not sure if I want to use something new, or go back to old school on this.

1388 was nice if you want to mix it up.

3787/530 is hard to beat. Although I still swear they're not the same strain. 530 at 65 is a sneaky smooth brew.
 
Just wanted to say thanks, Revvy! Brewed this up last night and she's bubbling away as we speak. Really excited for this one because Leffe Blonde is my absolute favorite beer :) Thanks for the recipe!!!
 
Sampled some of the batch i brewed last month. Not bad. Wouldnt call mine a Leffe clone, but pretty good. Probably something in my process more than recipe.

I took about gallon put in a demijohn with frozen mixed berries, left it on there for a week and then bottled it. Had an early sample of that a couple of days ago and its excellent for a girly beer :) Will be better when fully carbed and conditioned a bit longer. I needed to know though.

earlyberryblonde1-e1360134228125.jpg
 
Just a quick shoutout for the recipe, Reverend! Came into some westmalle yeast and ran into this recipe as a good place to put it quick- didn't have room in the fermenter, either, so closet fermented it @ 72. It ramped up on it's own to 76 or so before coming back down as fermentation slowed. Am really diggin' it as the flavors come together and the yeast begins to shine! Never had leffe, but saw some at the store the other day, may have to pick it up if it is this good, and do a side by side. Thanks again!
 
So I entered this beer in the 18A category of the Babble Homebrew Comp which took place yesterday and it scored a 31! I was pretty pleased but thought it would do better, only 9 entries in the category and it did not place:( Score sheets should be out in the next week or two so I can review the comments-the beer is really fantastic and was hoping higher 30's at least and a placing-Thanks Revvy! Great beer!
 
Just brewed this one on 2-25-13. I used the modded recipe that rounded up the smaller additions to 8oz. I pitched WLP530 that I bought 3wks ago, been crazy trying to squeeze in a brew day.

Faint (wishful) activity after 12hrs, half inch of kruezen at 24hrs and tonight there's a solid 1.5 inch kruezen cap on the wort. No blowoff but I always use a blowoff tube anyway.

HBS got a new mill which gave a fine grind. My calc was 83% efficiency. Using stainless steel hop strainer balls meant no real loss to kettle trub only absorbtion.
 
I am wanting to do a belgian blond as my first all grain (wanting to move away from extract to save money) and I am wondering how this would work using the BIAB method? Any thoughts?
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Hello,

Ive done the recipe (extract), my og was 1,066 and it finished at 1,018... I though that it was good to bottle after tree weeks (my rule of tomb; I take an sg after 10 days then bottle after 3 weeks in primary). I carbed with 120g of sugar (4,2oz).

Today (2 1/2 weeks after bottling) It is overcabed. At first, friends asked me about possible infection but Im realy "over doing it" with the washing and sanitizing...
I think that the problem is my "rule of tomb". I only take an sg after 10 days and then a FG at bottling. Do you think that it is the problem?

It is the second time I use belgian yeast and it is the second time I have an overcarbed beer.

Thanks for your help
 
triat00 said:
Hello,

Ive done the recipe (extract), my og was 1,066 and it finished at 1,018... I though that it was good to bottle after tree weeks (my rule of tomb; I take an sg after 10 days then bottle after 3 weeks in primary). I carbed with 120g of sugar (4,2oz).

Today (2 1/2 weeks after bottling) It is overcabed. At first, friends asked me about possible infection but Im realy "over doing it" with the washing and sanitizing...
I think that the problem is my "rule of tomb". I only take an sg after 10 days and then a FG at bottling. Do you think that it is the problem?

It is the second time I use belgian yeast and it is the second time I have an overcarbed beer.

Thanks for your help

How long we're they in the fridge before you popped one open? Sometimes they just need more time getting cold to absorb the O2

1.018, even for extract with this beer seems a little high. Belgian yeast can work quick and then take a bit to eat those final points.

Belgian yeast also can drop quick if temperatures are not managed, what temps did you ferment at? Did you ever try to raise and rouse the yeast to see if it will drop some points?

The amount of priming sugar you used seems right assuming you had a full 5 gallons of finished beer, if you had less then it may be that too
 
How long we're they in the fridge before you popped one open? Sometimes they just need more time getting cold to absorb the O2

1.018, even for extract with this beer seems a little high. Belgian yeast can work quick and then take a bit to eat those final points.

Belgian yeast also can drop quick if temperatures are not managed, what temps did you ferment at? Did you ever try to raise and rouse the yeast to see if it will drop some points?

The amount of priming sugar you used seems right assuming you had a full 5 gallons of finished beer, if you had less then it may be that too

I let them in the fridge for 5-6 hours,... it was just a taste test. Maybe its a part of the problem.

I fermented at 66 and bottled at 68. Should I expect more attenuation from belgian yeast? I though that 70% was ok.

Next time, do you think I should take more readings? Ill try to rise the yeast if it appens again.

Thanks
 
Sounds interesting with the hops, and the yeasts. Can't wait to hear how it turns out.

Hey, that begs a question for you guys. What yeasts have you used on this? Every time I do this I use a different one, including harvest yeast, and so far nothing really beats the original yeast I used. What do you guys like? I think I need to get this back in rotation again...not sure if I want to use something new, or go back to old school on this.

Harvested yeast from Floreffe blonde and Floreffe triple. Second one turn out better and closer, to my opinion, to Leffe.
 
I let them in the fridge for 5-6 hours,... it was just a taste test. Maybe its a part of the problem.

I fermented at 66 and bottled at 68. Should I expect more attenuation from belgian yeast? I though that 70% was ok.

Next time, do you think I should take more readings? Ill try to rise the yeast if it appens again.

Thanks

5-6 hours is not enough time to get the CO2 fully absorbed into the beer. Give a couple a week and they should improve

66-68 is a bit low IMO for Belgian yeast and IME most like to get ramped up a bit as fermentation progresses. I like to pitch mine around 65 and gradually raise to 72. This keeps the yeast quite active although 70% attenuation isn't bad.

More readings are not necessary. I take an OG and then look for FG around 10 days to 2 weeks.
 
Revvy said:
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]

Het Revvy. I am going to brew up your "original version" for sure but am also interested if you ever did this honey version? I know this is an old post but am curious if it turned out, if tried. I read the entire thread but did see that anyone comment on it. Either way I will likely try it anyway. It sounds good and I normally do 2.5 gallon batches anyway!

Thanks so much for sharing your recipe, I am excited to give it a try.
 
Anyone could share the BeerSmith version of this - send me a site mail I will send you my email address. Thanks!
 
Really excited to make this my next brew, but I have two questions:

1. For a90 min boil, I would boil the wort for 30 mins before adding my first round of hops?
2. Any thoughts on how this recipe would work with the YEAST STRAIN: 1388 | Belgian Strong Ale?

Thanks in advance!
 
Really excited to make this my next brew, but I have two questions:

1. For a90 min boil, I would boil the wort for 30 mins before adding my first round of hops?
2. Any thoughts on how this recipe would work with the YEAST STRAIN: 1388 | Belgian Strong Ale?

Thanks in advance!

1. Yep.
2. The recipe will "work" fine. It's going to have a different ester profile, though. This recipe calls for WLP530, which is the same as Wyeast 3787.

Wyeast 1388 is the same as WLP570, which I have used in a Duvel clone. It's a very nice yeast, just be prepared to give it some serious time - it's slow to finish, and can take FOREVER to floc out.

From my experience, the yeast Revvy calls for has a lot more of a spicy character, combined with fruity notes. 1388 is going to give you little to no spiciness, but a lot of fruitiness - specifically, some very nice pear flavors.

I would think that it would work great with this beer, just relaize that it won't taste as much like Leffe as it will some other Belgian beer.
 
Great! Thanks for the help.

I think I am going to go with the Wyeast 3787. Haven't done a yeast starter before so the Wyeast just seems a bit easier than the whitelabs at the moment.

I'll post how it all works out when I'm done.
 
Great! Thanks for the help.

I think I am going to go with the Wyeast 3787. Haven't done a yeast starter before so the Wyeast just seems a bit easier than the whitelabs at the moment.

I'll post how it all works out when I'm done.

Doesn't matter if you use White Labs or Wyeast - you should pretty much ALWAYS be making a starter when using liquid yeast. Wyeast has neato activator packs, but all they really tell you is that your yeast isn't 100% dead when you get it.

Both companies provide ~100 billion cells in a pack. Typical fermentations really need somewhere between 150-200 billion.

The good news is that starters are WAY easier to make than beer is.

All you do is boil 100ml of dry extract per liter of water (which works out to a little less than half of a cup of extract for a quart of water). For many beers, a 2 liter starter is PLENTY big. Cool this, pitch your yeast into it. Shake it every time you think about it for the next day or so. Congrats, you just drastically improved your yeast count, which will yield better beer.

You don't need a fancy erlenmeyer flask - I just sanitize an empty sweet tea jug. Cover the opening loosely with sanitized foil (you want oxygen in there to help yeast growth).

That's it.
 
just brewed this BIAB with scaled recipe on beersmith. Hit way over on OG. 1.076. i estimated my boil off a bit low and i was only doing a 1.13 gallon batch anyway. should i add a bit of top off water to get the gravity down or just leave it? i am using wyeast smak pack yeast (about half the bag without popping the DME inside) abbey ale I. i want to brew another batch within a couple of days and maybe tweak one or more of the ingredients which is why i only used half.
 
Let it ride. A Belgian with more booze is still a Belgian. It may take a little longer to condition.

I'd still pop the smack pack per directions and pour it in a sealable sanitized container that way it's easier to judge volumes. Letting the other yeast sit for a few days or even weeks won't really any different than a starter.
 
just brewed this BIAB with scaled recipe on beersmith. Hit way over on OG. 1.076. i estimated my boil off a bit low and i was only doing a 1.13 gallon batch anyway. should i add a bit of top off water to get the gravity down or just leave it?

Yeah, I did a partial mash and overshot the OG, as well. Still turned out great. Let it ride.
 
Hi to all on this forum,
I saw Revvy's Leffe Clone recipe about 2 years ago and I saved the link as a favourite so I could come back to it.
So here I go.

It's the first time i've tried brewing from grains and also i'm not sure about some of the terms used and the timings in this recipe.

1. firstly i'm just about to order my grains. Should I get whole or crushed grains?
2. For the recipe timings is this correct:
1. 4 grains added to water at 14q water at 178F
2. maintain at 158F for 30 mins before adding golding hops
3. maintain temp for a further 15 mins
4. add 4.5g water at 168F and maintain temp a further 15 minutes
5. add second hops and maintain temp for 15 mins before adding sugar.
6. maintain temp for a final 15 mins.
7. ferment until it stops (3-4 weeks)
3. For the yeast is there anything special I need to do (create a starter) or do I just throw it in?

thanks in advance
 
Hi to all on this forum,
I saw Revvy's Leffe Clone recipe about 2 years ago and I saved the link as a favourite so I could come back to it.
So here I go.

It's the first time i've tried brewing from grains and also i'm not sure about some of the terms used and the timings in this recipe.

1. firstly i'm just about to order my grains. Should I get whole or crushed grains?
2. For the recipe timings is this correct:
1. 4 grains added to water at 14q water at 178F
2. maintain at 158F for 30 mins before adding golding hops
3. maintain temp for a further 15 mins
4. add 4.5g water at 168F and maintain temp a further 15 minutes
5. add second hops and maintain temp for 15 mins before adding sugar.
6. maintain temp for a final 15 mins.
7. ferment until it stops (3-4 weeks)
3. For the yeast is there anything special I need to do (create a starter) or do I just throw it in?

thanks in advance

1. You want crushed grains if you don't own a mill/crusher. Otherwise, you'll get awful efficiency... like 25% or something like that.

2. Here's the proceedure (which is largely good for most all grain beers):

Add all grains to your mash tun. Add your strike water (14q @ 178 degrees).

Hold at 158 degrees for 45 minutes (most beers hold for 60 minutes... you won't hurt this beer if you do that).

Drain the first gallon or so until it runs clear. Carefully pour this back in so as to not disturb the grain bed. This is called "vorlaufing".

Drain all liquid into your boil kettle.

Sparge (rinse) the grains with 4.5 gallons of 168 degree water. Drain/vorlauf again, until all of the wort is in your boil kettle.

Bring the beer to a boil. Boil for 30 minutes, then add your bittering hop addition: 1.36 oz Styrian Goldings [5.40 %] (note that for most boils, you'd add the bittering hops at the beginning of the boil. This beer uses pilsner malt, which must be boiled for 90 minutes, not 60).

Boil for 30 minutes, then add your next hops 0.71 oz Saaz [4.00 %].

Boil for 30 more minutes. Chill the beer to ~70 degrees (a bit cooler is better). Move to fermenter, aerate, pitch yeast. Leave it alone for 3-4 weeks.
 
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