Leffe

I want to plan my next AG brew.
I've done 2 hob goblin clones so far. I like the beer and I think I'll make it my house ale.

But I'd like to try a different style. I'm not a lager boy and I don't have lagering facilities.

Can any one point me in the right direction for a Leffe clone? would I be able to usemy english pale malt as a base?

Cheers guys, you've done me proud so far.

There is a recipe in Beer captured for Lefe Blonde--I don't have the book but maybe someone else can post it.

well, no ones really helped with my belgian blonde post, so i came up with one myself. are you wanting the leffe blonde, cause this might be similar.

9 lb. belgian pilsen
2 lb. white wheat
1/2 lb. cara-pils
1/2 lb. aromatic malt
1 lb. honey or clear candi sugar

3/4 oz. perle (60)
1/2 oz. saaz (15)

WL belgian ale yeast

thats the basics of my simple version of one of these. maybe it'll help you, not sure if it's close to style, but it comes in within the bjcp guidelines for SRM, IBU, and OG/FG. any suggestions are ppreciated.

Thanks,

I'll see if I can get the ingredients. Does it need to be largered?

No beer NEEDS to be lagered. You just won't get that clean, crisp lager thing without lagering.

In any event, drengels' beer is an ale. Note the yeast. Belgian beers generally have lots of interesting esters and flavors that are generated by unique ale yeasts.

they are fermented with ale yeast, but the blonde is typically cold conditioned for a while. its a big beer (OG of 1.075), so it will need some time. the cold conditioning should round it out and make it real nice and about as easy drinking as belgians get. according to the bjcp stuff about it (look in my belgian blonde thread) this style was created to please european lager drinkers, but i think that is kind of laughable as the ale is so much more complex than ANY lager out there. i just don't see a correlation between a belgian ale thats 7% abv and highly complex tasting (but still smooth and good for a hot day) and a wimpy lager.

also- candi sugar or honey is up to you. candi sugar is traditional, but i think honey would work well. the perle can be replaced by a oz. of the more traditional styrian goldings. my idea with this is to let the yeast create the comlexity, while keeping the grain bill simple, and highlight earthy, spicy hops that will work well with the yeast i'm using. other hops i'd consider are hallertau, brewers gold, and tettnang.

i plan on using cali ale yeast for the primary, then transferring and adding honey/candi sugar and dumping the belgian ale yeast in. i want a clean, but still distinctively belgian profile with this. something that could please the knowledgable beer drinker (myself mainly), but his blonde ale drinking girlfriend would still like it.

I recently had a Leffe, but don't know which one. It said "Leffe" on the tap handle so I drank four. Whichever one I had was practically a hefeweizen and was fantastic...definitely wouldn't need to be lagered.

Here's one dude's recipe:
http://crca.ucsd.edu/~ben/beer/leffe_blonde.php?menu=beer

drengel said:

i just don't see a correlation between a belgian ale thats 7% abv and highly complex tasting (but still smooth and good for a hot day) and a wimpy lager.

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Well, the blonde sounds like a wimpy Trippel. So, I imagine that's what they mean about appeasing Pilsner drinkers. Belgium has seen a big shift away from its more traditional beers and Pils is the most popular beer there now. So, the blonde style seems to be a "tweener" style between Pilsner and the more traditional beers.

drengel said:

also- candi sugar or honey is up to you. candi sugar is traditional, but i think honey would work well.

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What makes you think that? Just curious. But honey is not a particularly clean fermenter. I'd use candi sugar for sure.

drengel said:

i plan on using cali ale yeast for the primary, then transferring and adding honey/candi sugar and dumping the belgian ale yeast in.

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No matter which you use, add the honey or sugar to the primary/kettle. Candi sugar is just sucrose (table sugar), and as such is a complex sugar. It's difficult for yeast to ferment it (honey too). So you want it in there from the beginning when the yeast is healthy and has a chance of fermenting it. I don't see any advantage to waiting to add it but lots of potential disadvantages.

This gives me a name for a new brew: Hop Goblin. Maybe I need to see what the cyber community could come up with.

Brewpastor said:

This gives me a name for a new brew: Hop Goblin.

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Not to be a party pooper, but I've seen this name used for a commercial brew.

-walker

Janx said:

Well, the blonde sounds like a wimpy Trippel

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i say 'summertime trippel' (or something along those lines)...you say wimpy trippel. i see what you're saying though, maybe if americans will drink the traditional belgians we can keep them in business.

Janx said:

What makes you think that? Just curious. But honey is not a particularly clean fermenter. I'd use candi sugar for sure.

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i'm gonna use candi sugar as you suggest, but honey is very fermentable, and while not a super clean, almost tastless alcohol source like candi sugar, it has a complex and IMO very nice taste that goes exceptionally well with american blondes. however as i said in th other thread its probably overdoing it in a belgian style.

Janx said:

No matter which you use, add the honey or sugar to the primary/kettle. Candi sugar is just sucrose (table sugar), and as such is a complex sugar. It's difficult for yeast to ferment it (honey too). So you want it in there from the beginning when the yeast is healthy and has a chance of fermenting it. I don't see any advantage to waiting to add it but lots of potential disadvantages.

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i will be adding a good amount of healthy belgian ale yeast along with the sugar. i think the yeast from a starter can handle the sugar when most of the rest of everything is already fermented. but as i've never tried it thats just speculation. i want to do it this way for a couple reasons1) i've never done it and sounds fun. belgian ales often employ multiple yeast strains, so why don't i? take two of my favs (which are completely different) belgian and cali and see what happens. (2) i want a cleaner profile than straight belgian yeast would give me, not for my sake, but so other people who don't necesarily enjoy belgians will like it also.

any second opinions on the adding candi sugar and belgian yeast to the secondary?

i will talk to the guys at the brewery today and see what they do for their belgian blonde.

edit: where did the smiley come from?

drengel said:

edit: where did the smiley come from?

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from having : and ( right next to each other.

drengel said:

i say 'summertime trippel' (or something along those lines)...you say wimpy trippel. i see what you're saying though, maybe if americans will drink the traditional belgians we can keep them in business.

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Sorry...I didn't mean wimpy in a bad way...I was just using your words to explain where this style seems to fit in for me.

As for Americans drinking the traditional Belgians, honestly that looks like their only hope. American beer drinkers have done a lot for reviving interest in traditional beers, and ironically, given our love of cheap crappy things, we seem to have become the hotbed of knowledgable beer drinkers with good taste. It's a shame the Belgians don't still like their traditional brews, but maybe, as you say, exports can keep the best ones afloat.

drengel said:

any second opinions on the adding candi sugar and belgian yeast to the secondary?

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Nope I'd definitely put sugar in the primary. I have some experience using sucrose, and it's a difficult chore for the yeast. I'd give the yeast every advantage you can.

I'd use only the Belgian yeast too and skip the California yeast because most of your fermentables will be gone by the time (unless you add the sugar then, but still it would be largely fermented by the California Ale yeast whose cell count will be millions higher than the Belgian) the Belgian gets added and it will largely be outcompeted by the California. I'm not sure how much of the groovy Belgian mojo you'll get adding it a week in. Remember, it's not a wild yeast, so it's competing for the same resources as the California Ale.

And don't use candi sugar just because I would. Honestly, I don't really care for the flavor of honey in many beers and I think it's overused. But I like to create pretty focused beers, so I don't add a lot of crazy adjunct ingredients like a lot of homebrewers do (fruits, spices, chocolate, coffee, etc, etc, etc).

But that's just me

Cheers

BeeGee said:

I recently had a Leffe, but don't know which one. It said "Leffe" on the tap handle so I drank four. Whichever one I had was practically a hefeweizen and was fantastic...definitely wouldn't need to be lagered.

Here's one dude's recipe:
http://crca.ucsd.edu/~ben/beer/leffe_blonde.php?menu=beer

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That is the one from Beer Captured that I couldn't remeber--I recognize it from the 1/4 lb additions of bisquit and honey malt and from the Pride of Ringwood hops, which I thought was odd (i substituted Target).

interesting recipe, but a tad too dark. i thought about the honey malt and biscuit malt, but decided against it and went for a simpler recipe.