Affligem Noel Clone Question

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

slipperypick

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2009
Messages
54
Reaction score
0
Location
Denver 'burbs
I'm planning to brew the Affligem Noel Clone from Beer Captured (pg 38), and I'm having some issues with the color. When I plug all of the ingredients into Beer Alchemy on my Mac, it comes out at 14.5 SRM... The printed recipe states that it should be 24. The description says it should be dark and chocolatey.
I've Dubbel and Tripel checked my typing, and I didn't enter anything incorrectly.
Has anybody ever brewed this clone and noticed the same issue?
 
The recipe's SRM doesn't match my calculations in Beer Alchemy... When I plugged this recipe in, the SRM was 14.... Yet, according to the description of the finished product in the book, it should be "dark and chocolatey like the dubbel, buttery and full of honey like the tripel... with a lovely deep garnet color."
Also, I can't find Cara-Munich malt in Beer Alchemy's ingredients database. I tried a couple of different substitutions and currently am using Caramel Munich Malt 120 in an effort to squeeze out as much color as I can. I'm just not sure if the flavor would be right. Here it is:

Affligem Noel Christmas Ale
OG: 1.093-1.095
FG: 1.022-1.023
SRM: 24
IBU: 26
ABV: 9.1%

Mash at 152 degrees for 90 minutes:
15.66 lb. Belgian 2-row Pilsner malt
8 oz. Belgian Cara-Munich Malt
4 oz. Belgian Aromatic Malt
4 oz. Belgian Biscuit Malt
2 oz. British Chocolate Malt
2 oz. Gambrinus Honey Malt

For a 90 minute boil, add:

1/2 oz. Challenger hops @ 7.8%
3/4 oz. Styrian Goldings @ 4.7%
1 lb. Belgian Clear Candi Sugar
4 oz. Malto Dextrine

15 minutes from end, add:
1/2 oz. Styrian Goldings @ 4.7%
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp Irish Moss

5 minutes from end, add:
1/2 oz. Styrian Goldings @ 4.7%

Pitch yeast:
1st choice: Wyeast 1388 Belgian Strong Ale
2nd choice: Wyeast 1762 Belgian Abbey II
 
I'm still trying to figure out why the recipe says the target SRM is 24, but the ingredients when plugged into Beer Tools Pro and Beer Alchemy add up to only around 14. It's a little annoying, really!
:confused:
 
If you add the candi sugar at the beginning of the 90 minute boil it should caramelize quite nicely and give you some extra color. Not sure if it will get you to 24 SRM, but definitely more than what you are currently at. You could also use a darker candi syrup if you don't want to affect the flavor much with adding darker malts.
 
So I've been messing around with Beersmith seeing as I want to brew this recipe. It seems that if you use Dark Candi Sugar instead of clear, and get rid of the chocolate malt (since that was really only for color) you get an SRM around 25, which is much closer to your target. I would suggest that is the best root to get that dark color you want.
 
Back
Top