My Maredsous 8 Quest...please be critical! :)

OK – fellow home brewers – I need advice. I have homebrewed for a few years (extract and partial mash) and have recently got my single tier HERMs all grain system up and running. I am 30 gallons in and a feel comfortable with my rig. I also have a fermentation chamber to control ferm temps….

One of my goals is to brew a version of Maredsous 8 – a belgian ale that I think is awesome. I have searched all over and have seen partial threads – but no real solid recipes with follow up. With what I have (and what I have stolen from other threads) – I will explain my plan….

Proposed Recipe (5 gal):
12 lbs Belgian Pilsner (I will use Franco-Belges Pilsen)
1 lb Caramunich Malt 60
1 lb Special B Malt

Mash at 152F for 70 min
Mash out at 165F for 10 min

90 min boil
1.5 oz Styrian Goldings (60 min)
1 oz Saaz (10 min)
Add Dextrose (corn sugar) to reach desired OG to get 8% ABV during last 15 min (OG around 1.070)

Cool and oxygenate.
Pitch yeast at 64F. WY1388 (750mL starter on stir plate).

Primary: After 5 days at 68-70F – heat ramp to 81-82F until terminal gravity.
Secondary: crash temps to low 50F’s for 2 weeks.
Bottle: re-pitch small starter of WY1388 and corn sugar (store at 70F for at least 3 weeks – or until carbonated)

What does everyone think of this plan?
Anything that should be changed/altered?
Has anyone tried to clone Maredsous 8?
Any and all help/comments/criticisms are accepted – I will try to update this thread during my quest…

Maredsous 10 is one of my favorite beers.. I blame this beer for my "good" beer addiction

Candi syrup inc. one of the importers of belgian sugars has some clone recipes that are probably close for both the 8 and 10. Admittedly their recipes strangely always include their products . In this case you can probably replace the syrup with a similar amount of table sugar or dextrose and achieve a close approximation.
http://www.candisyrup.com/recipes.html
Here's another discussion with a similar recipe on the NB forums
http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=32031

@rockfish - thanks for the comments. I have seen the candisyrup clone - and the NB forum discussion. I am hoping to hear from someone who has tried one of these - at least learn from their mistakes

A while back - I also ran across the below site. I emailed for a copy of the recipe...no luck. http://www.humpsbrewing.bluegosling.com/2008/03/22/double-dubbel-trouble/

Keep the comments/suggestions coming....

I don't know if it will be a clone, but it looks like a nice recipe for a Belgian.

Instead of corn sugar you can just use plain table sugar. I have also used turbinado sugar in some of my Belgians and it adds a nice taste to the brew. I have used the Candi Syrup products and I highly recommend them, they are very good. I often add the sugar after fermentation slows, usually about 4-5 days. Just boil the sugar up in a little water, cool and add to the fermenter. This lets the yeast work on the more complex sugars of the wort for a few days and then they get a feast of simple sugars later.

Your fermentation schedule looks great. Pitch low and slowly get the temp up works great.

Beergolf - thanks for the idea. After I add the sugar (after 4 or 5 days in the primary) - exactly how fast do ramp up the temp? Example - 3 degrees per day until you reach 80F?

I usually raise the temperature 2 degrees a day after the first couple of days of fermentation.

Well all...starting my starter in the morning. Planning on brewing the first attempt Monday...let me know if you have any last minute suggestions! More posts to come...

Trial #1 is in the fermenter. Brew day went pretty well. 70% efficiency with 5 gallons at 1.067. Why is 70% making me feel crappy?

I am assuming that I will need to add 1 lb of dextrose to get up in the 8% range. I plan on doing that in a few days...then start the heat ramp...

Ok all - I have a question and would really like your thoughts. I hope that I am not over thinking this....which I am known to do.

Please see above for my proposed fermentation schedule and other comments.

As of now - this is in the primary with active fermentation which started pretty quickly (12 hrs at 64F, then bumped it up to 68F - it has been at this temp for about 48 hrs). All is going well....

My question/issue - I have to add 1 lb of dextrose (per comments above I was thinking around day 4or5 when active fermentation starts to decrease) and I also have to start the heat ramp (up to 80F in 2F/day increments).

Exactly how would you do this (in what order - or does it matter)? Would you start the heat ramp prior to adding dextrose - or would you wait until a few days after adding dextrose to start the heat ramp?

Bump....

Just wondering...gonna do something in the next 24 hrs...

Add the sugar now, and start the temp ramp about a day later.

Add the sugar, the fermentation will take off again. Give it a day or two and then start the temp ramp up. If you ramp it up as you add the sugar it will just go to crazy.

Heat ramp completed a few days ago. Gravity yesterday was 1.016...I am gonna let it ride a few more days at 80 F and recheck. The hydro sample tasted ok...we will see as things progress! All is going well...

Cold crashed today. FG ended at 1.011 - gives me about 8.2% ABV. Gonna wait out the 2 weeks at 50 F - then decide if I should keg or bottle...

Color looks good - Hydro samples taste pretty good...we will see...

Coohang said:

Cold crashed today. FG ended at 1.011 - gives me about 8.2% ABV. Gonna wait out the 2 weeks at 50 F - then decide if I should keg or bottle...

Color looks good - Hydro samples taste pretty good...we will see...

Click to expand...

Sounds like things are going good. You should have a very good brew.

I usually bottle 1/2 in 12 oz bottles and he other half in 22 oz bottles and set them aside to age. I slowly drink the 12 oz bottles to see the progression of flavor. They are usually pretty good after 4- 6 weeks but continue to change witth age. The big bottles get at least 4-6 months before tasting.

Does anyone have an opinion on the below?

I am not deviating this run, but my current schedule for this brew is: pitch yeast, ferment for a few days, add dextrose, after a few days heat ramp to 80 F, at terminal gravity rack to secondary and crash to 50F and hold for 2 weeks, bottle with dextrose and a small yeast starter, then age.

What about - bottling at terminal gravity, put the bottles back in the ferm chamber for 2 or 3 weeks, then crash to 50 for 2 weeks, then move to a place to store...

This saves from having to repitch - thoughts?

Brew Like a Monk has this as OG 1.069, 83% attenuation, IBU 29, with pilsener, caramalt, and roasted malt, dextrose, styrian goldings, and saaz. Duvel yeast pitched at 61 to 64, rises to 79 to 84, then a secondary at 46 degrees.

I'd mash lower, 146F-149F, but everything else looks good. Let us know how it turns out.

How did this turn out? This is one of my favorite Belgians and would be great to avoid the 8.50 a pint at the bar by being able to brew it at home.

This is still in the secondary at 50 F. I am going to bottle or keg in the next few days. All looking good so far! I will keep this post up to date. Should have comments in a few weeks...

Racked to a keg. This is "on deck". Will be put in and in the gas as soon as a space opens up.

I probably shouldn't have been lazy and bottled!

Coohang said:

Racked to a keg. This is "on deck". Will be put in and in the gas as soon as a space opens up.

I probably shouldn't have been lazy and bottled!

Click to expand...

Yes, you should have bottled at some of it. Belgians love some aging and really do change a lot with some time.

I just went down to my basement yesterday and counted 11 different Belgians in different stages of aging.

Great thread.
You can still bottle some with a beer gun.

Haven't forgot about this! Actually put it on the gas and in the keezer this weekend. Pulled a sample just a few minutes ago - flat of course but tastes pretty good. Going to wait a few weeks and then do a 'blind' tasting w Maredsous....

Yes - then bottle some with my DIY beer gun....

Well – honestly I have found myself stalling posting on this. Not because of the outcome – because I seriously lack the ability to describe beers. My normal response to trying beers is….”pretty good” – (with a few head nods)….!

First – I have not done a side-by-side comparison to Maredsous 8. I will post if I do one. The more I brew – the less I care about how it compares to commercial beers.

I had about 6 guys over this weekend. All of these guys are beer drinkers, but almost none are beer snobs . I had several beers on tap (BM’s Centennial Blond, Pale Ale, Boston Lager clone, and this one – which I had labeled “Belgian Strong Ale&#8221. All of the guys started with this one – and then came back for seconds, thirds – and some even more. At 8.4% ABV – this cut the night short for a few of them (thankfully their significant others were present to drive them home)…enough about that. My point is – they had really positive things to say and tend to echo a lot of the comments (they are the things that I actually like about Maredsous 8.

I have attached a picture below.
Color – nice dark brown; beer is crystal clear
My best attempt at describing it is that it is nice a malty (no spices present) – crisp and the high ABV is no noticeable at all (which is what makes this beer (and Maredsous) dangerous!).

I am so pleased with the results that I am hesitant to change anything with respect to the recipe/fermentation schedule. Next time – I will bottle instead of kegging…

Thanks to all who supplied helpful comments to my questions!

Thank you so much for following up on this! I have found quite a few recipes for this online, but no followups. I just recently started brewing, so I will probably have to wait on this as I have no temperature control, but I really wanted to find a Maredsous 8 or 10 clone. Your picture appears to show a beer quite similar in head and color to the actual beer. Thanks again for the detailed procedure and updates.

Well - the keg kicked this Sunday. Didn't get a chance to do a side-by-side. I will see if I can get another batch going soon. I might lower the mash temp a degree or two...

It does not matter if it was a perfect clone. Only if you liked the brew.....

Sounds great. You just used that as inspiration......

enjoy.