i have a dream.......

and i need you to give me feedback. i just went on austin homebrew's website to put together an epic beer from the ground up. given the fact that im pretttttty new to brewing, and that ive never done this before, i was hoping for some feedback to see what you all think of this recipe.

3 pounds wheat malt
3 pounds munich malt
3 pounds amber malt
8oz honey malt grain
1lb caramunich grain
1lb carapils grain
1oz warrior hops
1oz cascade hops
1oz saaz hops
8oz dark belgian candi sugar
1/2oz corriader
heading powder
1/2oz sweet orange peel
1/2oz bitter orange peel

and White Labs Platinum Abbey Ale IV WLP540
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_21_77_155_421&products_id=11079

its a 57 dollar bill so before i buy all that ****, i was wondering if an experienced head could give me some advice.

and yes i want it to be strong as all dirt sanitation.

Hey bud,
I brewed an abbey about two weeks ago, so...
1. you can save money on the belgian candy sugar by just buying sugar in the raw. Turbino style sugars.
2. Also MAKE SURE to keep fermentation temperature steady. It all depends on how hot or hotter it is. The warmer the temperature the more banana and clove esters will be released, my friend was telling me that the trappists in belgium ferment in the low 80's for 4-5 days and transfer it and lower the temp to mid 60's.
3. Use yeast nutrients and crop your yeast vial or slap pack 2 times!!! 2 cups of H2O, 1/2 cup dry malt, 1/8 teaspoon nutrients let sit for 24 hours and repeat. you will then have about 30,000,000 hungry ass yeast cells to work on that high sugar recipe. Sanitation is extra crucial in this step!!!! EXTRA CRUCIAL!!!
4. I personally wouldn't use sweet orange peel, it just makes a weird flavor, stick with bitter.
5. Relax, Don't worry, have a homebrew!!!

cheers

kickass. thanks for that

I also forgot to mention if you are using the yeast multiplying method, you gots to boil the water for 10 minutes with the dry malt, i have had good success adding the nutrients 30 seconds before the end of the boil, chill to room temp and pitch the yeast. for the 2 cups, use a quart container for the first 24 hours and then repeat the boil process and then use a growler to hold the next round, you should have around four cups total of liquid. Good luck and be patient... When I racked mine, i dry hopped it and also put in 1 ounce of french oak cubes to enhance the woody flavor the yeast already provides. It is also super heavy on the palate but its still got at least 3 months to go!:cross:

awesome thanks again. as far as the ingredient ballance goes, how does it look? im going to change out the sweet orange for two doses of bitter.

The grains look good but malts, is all personal preference. Being a chef my mentors taught me the K.I.S.S. rule in cooking. kiss stands for keep it simple stupid. the more complex/ingredients in the food, the less each individual flavor stands out. In my younger days of brewing i tried to put as many ingredients in the pot as possible... The more batches I brew, the more I learn to enjoy the simplicity.
I am not one to tell another how to brew, but I can advise. My advice for the hops, is to take out the cascade and replace with tettnang. My reason behind this would be tradition and the cascades are going to bring the northwest american flavor to a belgian style ale... Peppery Grapefruit notes. Warrior and Saaz are excellent choices as warrior is a good bittering hop with really no floral or fruit characteristics. As for schedule, Flavor with tettnang 60 minutes, bitter with warrior 10 minutes, and aroma with saaz 5 minutes. You might also have good success pitching saaz and warrior at the same time.
I use this website a lot when I am trying to achieve what a.a.u. i want to achieve.
http://www.realbeer.com/hops/bcalc_js.html
there is also a a.b.v. site...
http://www.realbeer.com/hops/kcalc_...58&rep=4.58&etohwt=4.7&etohvol=5.87&kcals=180

I also just try to stick to 1 type of liquid or dry malt and challenge myself to hit the color of perfection through trial and error in the color or roast of the grain.

All in all, what makes brewing fun is individuality. The thing that makes your recipe good is YOU made it. Just like in cooking you must stand behind it and take ownership in your success as well as failure. I have been brewing for only 3 years and I am my own worst critic. What makes this hobby fun is when your friends LOVE it.
Dude just have fun and go with it.

you've got a lot going on there. You really have no base grain (except for the munich I guess.) Maybe cut back on the specialty grains if anything and use some sort of a base.
+1 on dropping the cascade, and I'd go with something like styrian goldings and/or saaz vs warrior and cascade. Remember trappists don't have much bitterness to them so there is especially no place for the warrior. Shoot for 15-25ibu.
But hey brew what you like.

cookinwood, as far as the flavor/bitter goes, 60min will give little to no flavor and all bitterness. And while 10mins of a high alpha hop like warrior will lend bitterness, it will also lend lots of flavor and even aroma. I think you got the terms mixed up?

I just calculated the hop schedule with an original gravity of 1.090-1.1 and got 23-25 i.b.u. with the warrior, saaz, and tettnang. Styrian goldings like tettnang have have A.A. around 4.5% I have been getting noble saaz up here in seattle and the A.A.'s have been 3.6% So I guess you can toss the saaz for 60 and knockout with the warrior and styrian/tettnang at 10 minutes. Also mine is for whole leaf hops... Pellets will give off around 30% more A.A. so if using pellets, I would go with 3/4 ounces of each.

you would normally have pilsner as a base malt for this and remember, specialty grains are just that: specialty grains. you don't need a lot to add character. I'd drop the amber malt and cut down the quantities of caramunich/carapils to 0.5 lbs each.

the cascade hops is a little off (and i'm not a fan), but could still make for a good brew...i've tasted some mighty fine belgian beers that were rather hoppy. it's all about balance. i would go on the low side for IBUs.

also, i would NOT ferment this in the 80s. supposedly the best thing to do with belgians to get that estery profile is to start in the low range (say, 65°F) then slowly work your way up into the 70s. All fermenting in the high 70s and 80s is going to do is give you a hot alcohol taste and a mean hangover. I personally let mine ferment in the sixties for well over a week, then bring them out to room temperature (which is still in the low 70s, MAX.)

definitely make a large starter and rouse the yeast often. Belgian yeast likes to crap out on you...don't be afraid to give it a nice swirl every day or so the first week to keep those guys moving.

cool. ive got a lot to think about then hah.

as for a bitter belgian, i dont know if you've ever tried the d'chouffe tripel ipa but its a freakin masterpiece, and has a spectacular range from spicy to quazi bitter hop profiles, and thats something i kind of want to do, but at the same time, ive always wanted to do an imperial wit. dunno. lots to think about.

yes, the d'chouffe is pretty good

as for imperial wit, i think trois pistoles from unibroue is often considered similar to that style...a dark ale with wheat and spices using belgian yeast.

yeah its a little bit tame though. dont get me wrong i love unibrau (and carry almost every type of beer they make), but i wanted more of a tripel ipa style whoonot.