Anyone have a tried and true Chimay Blue recipe?

I'm looking for a 5 gallon AG recipe for Chimay Blue. I've found several, but they are different enough that I thought it was worth asking for a tested recipe rather than trying something that may be disappointing after waiting for months...

Thanks!

This one is good

Bob G' Recipes

I think there's one in "Beer Captured" as well. That'd be tried and tested.

niquejim said:

This one is good

Bob G' Recipes

Click to expand...

The 7 oz of hops in this recipe seems way out of the trappist style if you really want a Chimay Blue. Lists out as 61.3 IBU which seems really high.

This is why I am asking for a tested recipe, too many variables. Has anyone made the Beer Captured recipe?

I know its not a clone, but you could check out The Jamil Show on Belgian Strong Dark Ale. Haven't had a chance to listen to it, but I'm sure they talk about Chimay, since its one of the most available commercial examples of this style.

Forget Beer Captured. That book is horrible. It might make some descent beer but most of them are not even close to the clone they claim to be.

Sorry for digging up an old thread (looking for info on an ESB), but I've made the Chimay Blue out of Beer Captured and liked it. You may want to run the recipe through some software if you want more than a 1.5 gallon boil; that's one problem with the recipes in that book...they pretty much all call for tiny boils if you're doing extract.

At one point we did a side-by-side with a bottle of the commercial stuff when ours was a little young yet (only 6-8 months). They were pretty close; ours was a little sweeter (possibly extract vs. all-grain difference) but the general consensus was it was as good or better.

I have my own recipes as Belgian styles are my favorite to brew. However, you may not accept mine as tried and true.(for me they are... you understand) Since Chimay Blue is technically a dark strong you could look for recipes under that heading. The best piece of advice I can give is to keep it simple, and you'd be floored by the complexity you can achieve with a few ingredients and proper mash temps and ferm. temps. Heck, at least one Belgian brewery makes thier dark strong with simply pils malt and a combination of dark sugars. And the complexity!!! I will offer a nugget of info for you. If you do all grain here's a suggested mash schedule: 113-30mins/142-30mins./149-30mins/151-45mins/sparge at no higher than 158. You're mashing for attenuation, so you don't want to "strike" or stop conversion. Let it convert right to the kettle.