First Recipe from Scratch

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Ell

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And I wanted thoughts before I brewed it.

I'm hoping for a beer like Great Divide's Belgica, but smaller. It's a Belgian IPA, and it clocks in a little better than 7%. I want a drinkable summer beer in this vein.

http://hopville.com/recipe/686161/belgian-pale-ale-recipes/belgian-pale

Basically:

3.15 lbs Pilsen LME
3.15 lbs Gold LME
.5 lbs Crystal 75
.5 lbs Belgian Caramel Pils

60 mins 0.5 oz Warrior pellet 17.9
10 mins 1.0 oz Cascade pellet 5.5
7 days 1.0 oz Cascade pellet 5.5 dry hop

Wyeast 1388 Belgian Strong Ale Yeast

The hops are what I have on hand, and I read that the Belgica has a blend of American and European malts, so that's the reason for the mix.

Thoughts? I've not seen many recipes mix malts like this, so I'm wondering if I've just wandered out on my own lunatic island, or it's just something I've not seen.

I appreciate any and all feedback.
 
The crystal 75 might be a little bit dark. I'm a big fan of the 20 because you get the caramelized sugar but without throwing color out of whack( in terms of the style I mean.). The color can be whatever you want. I make a black IPA, I'm not original but it's as black as I want it to be. I like those beers though, the belgian IPA. LeChouffe makes one called houblon and stone has one called Calibelgie. They also did one this year that is a belgian style barleywine. Where is Great Divide? I haven't seen them in Vegas.
 
May not be exactly to any specific BJCP style but it sure sounds like it'll be good to drink. I'm not sure I'd call ~7% a session-type beer though. Just a thought, but would you consider somethign < 5% a bit more appropriate for session?
 
Great Divide is in Denver, Colorado. It's odd you don't get it in Vegas - it was one of the first breweries we got when Alabama belatedly ended prohibition (of high alcohol beer) 3 years ago.

I backed the crystal down to a "Medium Crystal" (what's listed on NB, since that's likely where I'll buy the ingredients). It rates out at a 50-60 L - and should keep the beer relatively "Golden" still.

Anyone have any thoughts on mixing the LME?
 
Oh yeah - I've tried to make the recipe "smaller" than that. This one clocks out around 5%.

And, it seems like it should be a BJCP "Belgian Pale".

I'm considering scrapping the 2 different kinds of LME (and just using 6lbs of Gold) since I'm already adding the Belgian malts as specialty grains (thus making the Pilsner less necessary).

Thoughts?
 
And I think I just had a brainstorm... I'm going to brew this twice (probably on the same day) and use the Belgian yeast on one and just regular US-05 on the other. I can get a 6 gal the Pils and the Gold and use half of each in each brew, hop it the same and rock on...

I'm excited about my little experiment.
 
I brewed a Belgian Dubbel last November that used :

85% Pilsner Malt
10% Maris Otter
3.5% Caramel 10L
1.5% Dark Candi Sugar

Styrian Goldings
Belgian Abbey II 1762

Turned out to be quite nice for the holiday gathering. I like doing mixed grains that differ from the style
 
Well, my grand experiment is underway. I moved the hop schedule around a touch - .8 oz Cascade at 15 min, then another .8 at 1 minute. Trying to up the aroma a bit. Will dry hop for 7 days on both.

Both the US-05 and the Belgian Strong yeast are bubbling away this morning. I'll let you know what happens here...
 
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