New territory

Ok ladies and germs, I've decided to branch out of my normal comfort zone and try something new. I'm thinking a Belgian Specialty with the following bill:

8lbs Canadian 2 row - would rather use MO, Munich, or Vienna but I don't have enough (maybe 2lbs of MO and only 1lb of Munich and Vienna on hand)
1lb Vienna
.5lb Crystal 40L
.5lb Special B
1.5lb Honey (~5min)
.5 Amber Belgian Candi Sugar (~5min)

1oz Galena 60min
1oz EKG 15min
1oz EKG 0min
2 packets of US-05 or Notty (using what's on hand since they're about to expire)

Interesting bill I know, but hey...why not? Opinions anyone? Should put me in the neighborhood of 50IBU and 13SRM. I think the hops should balance out the sugars ok.

A Belgian beer needs a Belgian yeast, and probably plenty of pils malt or belgian grist. Honestly, there's nothing Belgian about your beer apart from the sugar, and there's so little of that you won't even know it's there. You have domestic and german grains, english hops, and totally neutral yeasts.

Maybe start with some pilsner malt (belgian preferably, but any will do) at the very least, and absolutely get a nice Belgian yeast, then you'll be headed in the right direction.

daksin said:

A Belgian beer needs a Belgian yeast, and probably plenty of pils malt or belgian grist. Honestly, there's nothing Belgian about your beer apart from the sugar, and there's so little of that you won't even know it's there. You have domestic and german grains, english hops, and totally neutral yeasts.

Maybe start with some pilsner malt (belgian preferably, but any will do) at the very least, and absolutely get a nice Belgian yeast, then you'll be headed in the right direction.

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Yeah, see I'm out of everything but what I stated. Belgian Specialty is a catch-all category so that's where it went. Screw it, I'm just gonna throw what I've got into the mash and make some beer. In the name of science and adventure!

Yeah, you have a recipe for a brown or something along those lines there. The defining characteristic of a Belgian is the ester/phenol character produced by a Belgian yeast strain. The malt bill is less vital.

Whattawort said:

Yeah, see I'm out of everything but what I stated. Belgian Specialty is a catch-all category so that's where it went. Screw it, I'm just gonna throw what I've got into the mash and make some beer. In the name of science and adventure!

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Belgian specialty still has to be a Belgian style beer, half the beers from Belgium don't have any real style. As said before, you've got a mish mash of grain and yeast and could turn out tasty, but not Belgian.

Got a line on some WLP545 tonight for free! What can I say, I'm cheap a$$. Now I think we can all agree that I might have something that will fit the requirements of the category. Wish the yeast was higher on the floc end and didn't tend to end so dry, but hey...it's free! Only reason I want to cram this beer into the category is because I want to enter it into competition for once but it really doesn't come too close to other categories.

Whattawort said:

Yeah, see I'm out of everything but what I stated. Belgian Specialty is a catch-all category so that's where it went. Screw it, I'm just gonna throw what I've got into the mash and make some beer. In the name of science and adventure!

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There you go, that's the spirit!

As for style, you're more in the American Amber area than Belgian Specialty, as stated. But unless you're entering in a competition, who cares?

You've got the right idea of taking left over ingredients and just making something that will be good, regardless of if it fits any particular style. That's how we got to where we are now.

Whattawort said:

Got a line on some WLP545 tonight for free! What can I say, I'm cheap a$$. Now I think we can all agree that I might have something that will fit the requirements of the category. Wish the yeast was higher on the floc end and didn't tend to end so dry, but hey...it's free! Only reason I want to cram this beer into the category is because I want to enter it into competition for once but it really doesn't come too close to other categories.

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Yeah, I should probably read all the posts...

So, make a big starter to make sure you get the yeast character, and you're good. However, as other posters mentioned your grain bill is lacking for a true Belgian. The Special B and candi sugar are the only Belgian things in the mash/boil. Yeast can cover up a lot of the mash, but you never know who you'll get as a judge. Can they taste every malt or are they normal and won't be able to tell you used Canadian malt instead of Belgian Pils?

Don't use any yeast - spontaneously ferment! You said you wanted to experiment, right Sunny Jim?

bottlebomber said:

Don't use any yeast - spontaneously ferment! You said you wanted to experiment, right Sunny Jim?

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I'm not that patient buddy boy.

I would think if you are entering a competition you would want it to be to style.

BrewerBear said:

I would think if you are entering a competition you would want it to be to style.

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Tis precisely what I was trying to do with what I have. No style fit the bill, so since Belgian Specialty is such a broad catch-all category, I figured I could somehow shove it in there. It's a moot point now. I got it figured out and came up with a few more freebie ingredients. It's amazing how many people out there are willing to share a bit of this and a bit of that.