Recipe critique - (Belgian)

Doing the NB Number 8 Extract with a couple changes. Added some SB for extra depth and color and some Carafoam for better head retention. Going to pitch it onto a Belgian Abbey II yeast cake that I have a Belgian amber going on right now. Any comments to suggestions would be helpful.
2 lbs belgian 2 row (PM)
1.50 lbs. CaraMunich (PM)
0.5 lbs Carafoam (PM)
0.25 lbs Special B (PM)
6 lbs. Pilsen Malt Syrup (boil for 15min.)
2 lb. Pilsen DME (boil for 60 min.)
2 lb. Brown Belgian Soft Candi Sugar (end of boil)
15 oz. Corn Sugar or Honey (end of boil)
1 oz. Tradition (60 min)
0.5 oz. Hallertau Mittelfruh (30 min)
0.5 oz. Hallertau Mittelfruh (5 min)

Brewing this recipe today. I got a couple grain bags so I am thinking about doing a PM with 2# of Belgian 2 row I also picked up. I was also contemplating replacing the 15oz of corn sugar with honey. What do you guys think?

Just my $.02 - I'd skip the '15 oz Corn Sugar or Honey' addition. You have plenty of fermentables and I'm not sure what either of these would contribute to this beer, if at all. This is a big beer and I would recommend a blow off tube right from the start.

Yeah the corn sugar is just what comes in the recipe from NB. With the extra 2lbs of 2 row I think that will cover it.

Just checking. What is you mash schedule? Long enough and right temp for conversion? Otherwise the grains won’t add to fermentables.

(A bit of a noob myself. Someone back me up on this.)

definitely skip the corn sugar. you already have 2 lbs of candi sugar...more than enough to lighten it up and dry it out.

The special B, caramunich and carafoam don't need to be mashed. You could just steep them to get the color and fermentables. The belgian 2-row needs to be mashed. Without the 2-row you could just steep the specialty grains and do an extract brew.

Well I was trying to add the 2 row and do a partial mash. I was hoping that this would make the beer a little better with a little less of the extract twang. This is my second batch and the first one is pretty good so far. Im just kind of a perfectionist and want to make the best beer I can with what I have. I already have all the grains mashing right now @ 150. Was going to mash for an hour then mash out/"sparge". The grain bag at 170. I figured I didnt need the corn sugar just have it on hand in case I miss my OG. Which I will probably add some buckwheat honey if it is a little low.

That's great, definitely go for the PM!! I switched to PM and noticed a huge difference.

Sorry...I didn't mean that you should do the extract way I was just replying about the questions of the mashing...

newkarian said:

I figured I didnt need the corn sugar just have it on hand in case I miss my OG. Which I will probably add some buckwheat honey if it is a little low.

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i wouldn't bother. you're getting very little from the 3 lbs of grain anyway, considering all the extract you're adding. if you missed your OG, i would add more extract and really, it's not going to be necessary in this batch. it'll be big enough.

trust me, 2 lbs of sugar is tops, even for a big belgian.

other than that, good call on the partial mash...you should probably notice a difference in flavor, although there is still a majority of extract.

Hope it turns out great!

I guess I got pretty good effeciency on the mash because my OG came out at 1.100. Plugged the recipe into calculator on TastyBrew and it came out to exactly 1.100 so I hit OG dead on. I didnt add any extra sugar besides the candi that was called for. And I actually came out with 5.5gal. I shook the hell out of it before taking the SG so it was definately mixed well. This one will take a while to be ready to drink but I hope it turns out good. It tasted great when I pitched it. Final recipe was.

2 lbs belgian 2 row (PM)
1.50 lbs. CaraMunich (PM)
0.5 lbs Carafoam (PM)
0.25 lbs Special B (PM)
6 lbs. Pilsen Malt Syrup (boil for 15min.)
2 lb. Pilsen DME (boil for 60 min.)
2 lb. Brown Belgian Soft Candi Sugar (end of boil)
1 oz. Tradition (60 min)
0.5 oz. Hallertau Mittelfruh (30 min)
0.25 oz. Hallertau Mittelfruh (10 min)
0.25 oz. Hallertau Mittelfruh (flameout)
Pitched on to a Belgian Abbey II cake @ 66F
Put it in my bathtub with a huge blowoff tube.

NICE! sounds great. good call on the blow-off and the waiting time. i'd leave it in the primary a month, even if it does finish earlier...let those yeasty beasties clean up after themselves

Yeah I plan on going for 1 month in the primary and 2 months in secondary then bottle. Will probably age it for about 6 months before I start drinking if I can stand it.

I know it might not be with the style but what does everyone think about dry hopping this beer in the secondary. I was thinking of 1oz of the Hallertau Mittelfruh for a month in the secondary.

i'd skip it. your 5 min addition is enough IMO.

Boy am I glad I did a blow off with this one. Ive never seen a more violent fermentation! The swmbo keeps complaining that she can hear it from the other room gurgling hehe.:rockin:

Tested SG today @ 1.022. Would like to get a couple more points so Im going to let this one sit in the primary for probably a month. Tasted great though, kinda fruity and malty with a plum/raisin aftertaste, very little noticable alcohol even though its over 10% at this point. This will be dangerous

Racked to secondary today. It has been in primary for one month. SG was 1.021. Tasted a little sweet, very malty, raisny, and slightly alcoholic. Do you guys think this final gravity is ok or should I maybe pitch some Brett or Saison yeast and let the critters munch on the unfermentables for a bit. The SG is within limits for the style but it still tastes a little sweet for me. Attenuation was 78% so the Abbey II is at its upper limits. Im going to let this secondary for a min of 4-6months before bottling.

that sounds good. you may wish to introduce some more yeast at bottling, as most of them will fall out in the secondary and you could have trouble with carbonation.

Yeah I have an extra smack pack of Abbey II. I will either use it or some nottingham at bottling. Do you think the Brett is a good idea? I ordered some Brett B and C today. Plan on mixing them and letting it go for a while. Tried some orval yesterday and loved the dryness of it. So im thinking the Brett might help me achieve this. Only concern is do you think drying it out to much will accentuate the 10.5% abv too much?

i wouldn't use the brett. make a starter with the smack pack, decant and use that. add the nottingham as well, if you'd like.

i despise brett