Father's Day: What strong beer ages nicely in 6-7 months?

Let me first state that Father's Day in Australia is in September, and that I'm making this for my dad, so the warm feeling you get inside from reading this and imagining your sons putting a lot of care and thought into their present for you is why you should reply and help me.

So. My dad likes strong ales, particularly Belgian. His favourite beer is Duvel, followed by Chimay Blue, and I know he likes the strong ale that James Squire does.

So, I was thinking of making him a Belgian Strong Pale Ale (or intermediate between BSPA and BSDA?), but putting a Father's Day and/or Australian sentiment into it somehow. I'm a novice brewer, but I really want to do a nice beer for my dad. I don't lauter either, I use a grain bag suspended in the tun to mash in, per this method recommended to me by my LHBS:

Short method of all-grain brewing

So, my questions are:

1 - What kind of ABV range for a Belgian Ale would age sufficiently by September? I'm happy to brew now if need be. Also happy to make it less strong if you think Belgian Strong Ales need more than 6-7 months.

2 - Can you think of any cool ways to add sentiment to it? September in Australia is the beginning of Spring, by the way. So anything springy, fathery or Australiany.

3 - Do you have any wisdom regarding Belgian Strong Ales that I should know, or any good threads to point me towards? I've never brewed anything like it before, but really want to get it right.

This would be a good choice. It will be drinkable before 6-7 months, but the longer you let it age the better. It is really close to the original

Westvleteren12 Clone

Another great one.

Devil May Cry

Interested in this thread as well,looking for a couple good Belgian recipes i can let sit & age for about 6 months or so before bottling.

Thanks for the replies, guys. Forgot to mention, I'm a novice brewer, so simple or easy recipes would be preferred. I'll edit this into the main post. Also, I don't lauter, I use a grain bag suspended in the tun to mash in, per this method recommended to me by my LHBS:

Short method of all-grain brewing

You can make a good Belgian with just steeping grains and extract. When I firststarted I did one and it turned out great, especially with age. I will look in my brew log and dig up the recipe.

beergolf said:

You can make a good Belgian with just steeping grains and extract. When I first started I did one and it turned out great, especially with age. I will look in my brew log and dig up the recipe.

Click to expand...

Thank you so much. I'm really grateful. Is it a Belgian Strong Pale/Dark Ale? If not, is it as simple as adding sucrose?

I have some wheat malt extract on hand. BSAs use a bit of wheat in them, right? Something tells me they reduce brewing efficiency I could use some WME instead, at the end of the boil, to prevent any problems in efficiency.

I am pretty sure there are a few guys in the Westvleteren12 thread that are doing an extract version.

Okay, problem appears to be solved.

Beergolf messaged me a recipe which uses steeped C40, Special B and Carapils, as well as LDME, Saaz (for bittering; I'll use leftover Hallertau), Styrian Goldings, and Wyeast 3787. Sucrose is added part way through fermentation. He says it would be very nice aged for 6 months, which is what I'm looking for.

I'm not sure if the recipe is his or not so you should probably ask him if you want the specifics. Hmm, forgot to ask him about OG/FG...