I have been trying a lot of belgian beers lately and I finally tried Chimay Red and absolutely loved it. I've had other dubbels before but none as smooth and easy to drink as Chimay Red. It's a beer I'd love to have readily available but it's too damned expensive. What's the solution? CLONE IT!
Here's my notes from Brew Like a Monk:
Chimay Red:
OG: 1.061
ABV: 7.1%
Apparent Attenuation: 88%
IBU: 19
Malts: Pilsener, caramel
Adjuncts: Wheat starch, sugar
Hops: Bittered with American, flavored with Hallertau
Yeast: WLP500 or wyeast 1214
Fermentation: Pitch at 68, rise to 82 after one week
Secondary: 3 days at 32
Side note: Refermented with primary yeast
Typical ingredients in a dubbel:
Pilsener: 60-92% (avg 61%)
Caramel: 0-40% (avg 2%)
Special B: 0-12% (avg 5%)
Wheat: 0-22% (avg 1%)
Sugar: 3-18% (avg 10%)
Keeping all that in mind, I set about making a rough grain bill that would incorporate all of what Stan says is in Chimay Red, plus a little special B. Almost all homebrew recipes include it and I don't want this beer to be too one-dimensional.
Rough grain bill:
Pilsener 60%
Caramel 60 10%
Dark Candi: 5%
Sugar: 10%
Wheat: 10%
Special B: .5 lbs or less
BeerSmith Recipe Printout - www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Chimay Red Clone
Brewer:
Asst Brewer:
Style: Belgian Dubbel
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.02 gal
Estimated OG: 1.064 SG
Estimated Color: 16.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 15.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
8.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 71.1 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 8.9 %
1.00 lb Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 8.9 %
0.25 lb Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 2.2 %
0.50 lb Candi Sugar, Amber (75.0 SRM) Sugar 4.4 %
0.50 lb Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 4.4 %
1 Pkgs Belgian Ale (White Labs #WLP550) Yeast-Ale
0.50 oz Northern Brewer [8.50%] (60 min) Hops 14.3 IBU
0.50 oz Hallertauer [4.80%] (5 min) Hops 1.6 IBU
This is what I came up with. Mash at 149 for 90 mins, ferment at 67 for one week, then rise to room temp which is around 78-80. I couldn't think of an appropriate American hop for bitterness but if anyone knows of any, I'd love to hear it. Let me know any suggestions in general. I understand that using the same ingredients as Chimay might not create as good a clone as using different ingredients (based on the differences in process). However, I figured it would be a good place to start.
Here's my notes from Brew Like a Monk:
Chimay Red:
OG: 1.061
ABV: 7.1%
Apparent Attenuation: 88%
IBU: 19
Malts: Pilsener, caramel
Adjuncts: Wheat starch, sugar
Hops: Bittered with American, flavored with Hallertau
Yeast: WLP500 or wyeast 1214
Fermentation: Pitch at 68, rise to 82 after one week
Secondary: 3 days at 32
Side note: Refermented with primary yeast
Typical ingredients in a dubbel:
Pilsener: 60-92% (avg 61%)
Caramel: 0-40% (avg 2%)
Special B: 0-12% (avg 5%)
Wheat: 0-22% (avg 1%)
Sugar: 3-18% (avg 10%)
Keeping all that in mind, I set about making a rough grain bill that would incorporate all of what Stan says is in Chimay Red, plus a little special B. Almost all homebrew recipes include it and I don't want this beer to be too one-dimensional.
Rough grain bill:
Pilsener 60%
Caramel 60 10%
Dark Candi: 5%
Sugar: 10%
Wheat: 10%
Special B: .5 lbs or less
BeerSmith Recipe Printout - www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Chimay Red Clone
Brewer:
Asst Brewer:
Style: Belgian Dubbel
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.02 gal
Estimated OG: 1.064 SG
Estimated Color: 16.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 15.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
8.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 71.1 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 8.9 %
1.00 lb Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 8.9 %
0.25 lb Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 2.2 %
0.50 lb Candi Sugar, Amber (75.0 SRM) Sugar 4.4 %
0.50 lb Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 4.4 %
1 Pkgs Belgian Ale (White Labs #WLP550) Yeast-Ale
0.50 oz Northern Brewer [8.50%] (60 min) Hops 14.3 IBU
0.50 oz Hallertauer [4.80%] (5 min) Hops 1.6 IBU
This is what I came up with. Mash at 149 for 90 mins, ferment at 67 for one week, then rise to room temp which is around 78-80. I couldn't think of an appropriate American hop for bitterness but if anyone knows of any, I'd love to hear it. Let me know any suggestions in general. I understand that using the same ingredients as Chimay might not create as good a clone as using different ingredients (based on the differences in process). However, I figured it would be a good place to start.