Suggestions solicited for Summer Ale summary

I need all the input I can get on this one. I brew mostly English style beers, and I understand the ingredients and techniques pretty much intuitively, this is a foray into the unknown…..
At the request of my son and his buddies, I have been formulating a recipe for a Trappist style Belgian, something in the fuzzy boundary between a Dubbel and a Dark/Strong Belgian Ale (on deck). So I picked up a copy of “Brew like a Monk” to get my head around the alien (to me) ingredients and mash schedules. In the meantime my wife picked up a copy of “The Homebrewers Garden” for me. I was amazed at how many of the herbs listed are growing in my garden, many of which I had believed to be solely ornamental. Over the course of a week or three my twisted little mind came up with this idea for a Summer Ale, using some of the herbs growing happily around my house. My idea is that it would have some of the characteristics of a Belgian Blonde Ale and a Wit, but not fall into either category. I have never used anything but hops, and before now, never had the desire to, so I am skeptical, but optimistic. My biggest question is in regards to quantities, I want enough to affect the character of the beer without individual components being identifiable, do I have too much? too little? I had to come up with a “partial extract” recipe due to the limitations of my 5-gallon MLT with a thinner than my normal mash. I’ll also dilute my high bicarbonate water 50/50 with distilled for the mash. I’ll use T-58 yeast, to get a little bit of the cool esters without totally overshadowing everything else.

“Pig in the Garden Summer Ale”

Batch size: 5-gallons
Boil Volume: 6-gallons
O.G.: 1.062
F.G. 1.01
IBU (from hops): 20.2
Color: 4.54 SRM
Assume mash efficiency of 70% for calculations (if higher, so much the better)

5lbs Pilsner malt
0.25lbs Munich malt
3lbs Torrified wheat
2lbs extra light LME
1lb clear candy sugar (homemade)
1-oz Fuggles hop pellets, 4.5AA 60-min.
1-oz lavender 30-min.
½-oz sweet woodruff 5-min.
½-oz coriander 5-min.
Zest from one lime 5-min.

Mash at 1.75quart per pound at 146-degrees.
90-min. boil
Extract and candy sugar added late. I was also thinking maybe tossing in three or four Rosemary leaves at flame out, or would this just make it “medicinal”?
Comments? Concerns? Suggestions? Or am I just losing what little I have left of my mind?

Mosher's Radical Brewing has lots of information on this stuff. You might want to check that out.

Thanks, I'll see if I can get my hands on a copy. How about the grain bill? Too much wheat?

After a bit more research and head scratching, here is what I have come up with. I have lowered the Original Gravity, it is after all, “summer ale”, and I am after more of a “session beer”. This also allows me to go all grain with it. I am dropping the candy sugar, I’m afraid that it would make it too dry at this gravity. I am also losing the woodruff, I think too much would be going on, and that things might clash a bit (rosemary is also not an option). I am going with White Wheat rather than the Torrified. So anyway, it has turned into more of a Witbeer than a Blonde…. With any luck SWMBO will like it.
As soon as this comes out of primary I’m doing a Brown Porter, more my speed…..


“Pig in the Garden Summer Ale”

Batch size: 5-gallons
Boil Volume: 6-gallons
O.G.: 1.049
F.G. 1.010
IBU (from hops): 10.4
Color: 4.03 SRM
Assume mash efficiency of 70% for calculations (if higher, so much the better)

6.5lbs Pilsner malt
0.25lbs Munich malt
3lbs white wheat malt
1/2-oz Styrian Goldings hop pellets, 4.5AA 90-min.
1/2-oz lavender 10-min. (the one item left from my garden)
3/8-oz Indian coriander 10-min. (had a heck of a time finding it!)
Zest from one lime 10-min.
Zest from one orange 10-min.

Infusion Mash at 1.25-quart per pound at 151-degrees for 60-min.
Batch sparge at 170-degrees in two batches.
90-min. boil (very low boil, more of a “simmer&#8221

The grain showed up the front porch yesterday, so I am hoping to brew early Saturday morning. Any suggestions or words of wisdom…. before I pre-heat the mash tun?

So, I brewed the revised recipe on July 4. I blended my high carbonate local water 50-50 with distilled water to soften. I infusion mashed at 151-degrees for 60-min. at 1.34-quarts per pound. Batch sparged with 170-degree water in two steps. I used a 90-minute boil, at just barely under boiling. The spices (lavender, Indian coriander, and the zest from one lime and one orange)were placed in a one gallon paint strainer bag and steeped for the last 15-min of the boil. The Lavender was cut right after the blooms opened, and the blooms and about 7” of the stems were then air dried until brew day. It was a very smooth brew day, and I hit my predicted O.G. right on the head. I rehydrated the T-58 for about 20-min., added a small bit of cooled wort for 5-min. and pitched. Very vigorous fermentation in less than 2-hours. I fermented at 71-degrees for the first couple of days, rather than the “normal” cooler temps to get as much ester character out of the T-58 as possible, figuring that with this low gravity, I didn’t need to worry about getting a hot alcohol taste, and let it ramp up to around 74-degrees after that.
I took a gravity reading on July 19. It is just a point or so away from my target F.G., and I just may bottle on July 24. I was very skeptical (after all, this was only a “wild-hair” experiment), but after tasting the gravity sample I was hard pressed not to siphon into empty soda jugs, stick it in the fridge, and drink the whole 5-gallons as-is…. Wow. Just Wow… For such a light beer it has a wonderful depth of character and a delightful “laid-back” complexity. If nothing horrible happens this may well be an absolutely exceptional beer, way too good to be considered a “lawn mower” beer. The combination of spices blended together so well that nothing is readily identifiable, but all contribute to a just awesome flavor. All of the Wits that I have tasted before always left me with the impression that “something was missing”, the little bit of Munich malt and the lavender really fill in the gaps. This is one experiment that I don’t think will need any “tweaking”, surprised the sucks out of me. I’ll keep you posted after bottling…. If I can wait that long…

I finished off the last bottle yesterday, and thought I would up-date this with the final results.
I am very pleased with this experiment. The Lavender and Indian coriander blend together wonderfully, creating a smooth harmonious, but complex flavor. The little bit of Munich Malt adds just a bit of depth that most Wits (at least to me) lack. The color is spot on, and appropriately hazy. The aroma is delightful with the blend of spices and yeast esters, just a hint of malt, and almost no hop aroma. Carbonation turned out way low for style, and the head retention is not near what I wanted (biggest fault with the beer, and something I need to work out with this one). Mouthfeel is light, crisp and refreshing, and would only be improved with higher carbonation. Has a nice sweetness to it, very smooth, and finishes dry. A bit of the Lavender hangs on for a while, but is almost unrecognizable as such, and is very pleasant. I wish you all could try it, but alas, all gone...
The only changes I would make to this (and I will next year as soon as my Lavender blooms again!) are: 1. Higher carbonation.
2. Just a bit more citrus, (not a lot, maybe a 15% to 20% increase) to give a better balance with the spices.
3. Maybe a tiny bit of black pepper…. Very tiny. Need to think about it some….
One of the best compliments I have ever received was from a buddy of my son, who drinks mostly Hoegaarden and Blue Moon. (“Dude, this is a thousand times better than Blue Moon!&#8221 He said that if he could go out and regularly buy mine, he wouldn’t drink anything else, ever. Needless to say I gave him a six-pack…
Mission accomplished….. Next???......