Belgian Blonde aie

So after 16 days of constant bubbling in the primary, I racked my Belgian to a five gal carboy. It's still fermenting, and shot some foam into the airlock, so I had to add a blowoff tube. This is some dedicated yeast: 1.070 - 1.012 in 16 days, and it's still working hard. I think I'll leave it in the secondary for a month. What do you guys think?

Have you posted the recipe anywhere? i'd be curious to see it. I'm in the plannign stages of doign something Belgian, and "summery". Craving it.

I really like the recipe in teh latest BYO...I might try that.

I'd still be interested in seeing your recipe though.

Monk said:

So after 16 days of constant bubbling in the primary,

Click to expand...

That seems like a long time, IMO. I just did two 1.070 brews in the last couple of weeks. I racked the first one, a really big APA, to secondary last night . . . it went from 1.070 to 1.010 in 9 days. I put an 1.071 ESB in primary on Saturday with two packages of Coopers Ale Yeast (no starter). Fermented like mad . . . no bubbles this morning, so I am assuming that the gravity is 1.010 or thereabouts . . . haven't given it a hydro test yet, though.

I would also like to see that recipe.

Dude said:

I really like the recipe in teh latest BYO...I might try that.

Click to expand...

And the mash schedule?!

My recipe is somewhat experimental. My buddy from the brew shop and I wanted to see what a couple of changed variables would do to a more traditional Belgian Blonde.

Here's my recipe:

7.4 lbs. Pale Malt extract
1 lb. clear candi sugar (just beet sugar)
1 cup white cane sugar
1 oz. Styrian Golding (60 min boil)
.5 oz. Styrian G (20 min)
.5 oz. Styrian G (5 min)

Abbey Yeast (white labs 530)

The wort cooking schedule is just like a basic extract recipe, except you add 6 lbs. of pale malt extract at the 30 min mark, to avoid over-carmelization and the darker hue that comes from it. when the boil returns, you make the flavor hop addition.

For a more traditional recipe, I'd use extra light extract instead of pale, and I'd use about 8 lbs.

The late edition of malt is really helpful, though, when it comes to SRM. I just racked this the other day and it is extremely light in color.

As for the yeast, I think the white labs "belgian Golden" is the more authentic. It's "WL570". The Abbey yeast, fermented at about 68-70 degrees, has produced a lot of very stinky CO2--muy sulfurous. But after 2 weeks, the sulfurly smell is almost gone and a nice fruity, sweet aroma has replaced it.