Belgian Dark Strong with ECY20 Bug Country

[lawbadger]

I'm planning on doing a Belgian Dark Strong soon and splitting the batch with a portion "clean" and the other using ECY20 Bug Country. I've posted the recipe for a 12 gallon batch below and would appreciate any suggestions you could give.

I've done my fair share of sour/funky blondes, saisons, and farmhouse ales, but this is my first dark sour. I'm trying to figure out how the Bug Country will play with the dark malts (ie trying to avoid something like low fg leading to drier finish and astringent or harsh flavor/aroma from dark malts).

Thanks!

1.074 OG
ECY20 Bug Country - ? FG
WLP545 Belgian Strong Ale - est 1.014 FG (7.9% ABV)
28 IBU
20 SRM
0.38 IBU/OG

Fermentables
Efficiency: 75.0 % Batch size: 12.0 gal
Fermentable Amount
Pilsen Light DME 9.0 lb 38 %
Corn Sugar 4.0 lb 17 %
Munich DME 3.0 lb 12 %
Wheat DME 3.0 lb 12 %
Caramunich II 1.0 lb 4 %
Castle Aromatic 1.0 lb 4 %
Special B. 1.0 lb 4 %
CandiSyrup D90 1.0 lb 4 %
Chocolate Malt 0.5 lb 2 %

Hops
Boil time: 60 min
Hop Amount Time
Northern Brewer 2.5 oz 60 min
Northern Brewer 0.5 oz 10 min
Styrian Golding 1.0 oz 0 min

Yeasts
Name Lab/Product
ECY Bug County
Wyeast 1762 Belgian Abbey II / WLP545 Belgian Strong Ale

Extras
Name Amount Time
Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast) 1.5 tsp 10.0 min Boil

 

[smokinghole]

My opinion is that you will not end up with what you want if you brew to be fermented clean and then with ECY20. I'd brew to ferment with one or the other and brew it differently for the ECY20 (like higher mash temp, longer boil, so forth) you have to figure if you aim for about 1.012 with the clean portion the sour portion will likely make it to I'd say at least 1.006 and possibly lower depending on your mash.

 

[lawbadger]

My opinion is that you will not end up with what you want if you brew to be fermented clean and then with ECY20.

Sorry if I wasn't clear, it's a 12 gallon batch that I'm splitting with 6 gallons fermented with Wyeast/WLP and 6 gallons fermented with Bug Country.

I'm curious about the flavor impact of using larger amounts of dark crystal/malts with something like Bug Country that takes the fg down into single digits. The lower final gravity would presumably bring the malt/roast to the forefront with the funk since there wouldn't be much residual sugar to balance things out. It's obviously a long term ferment with Bug Country so I suppose any overly roast or astringent flavors would mellow over time.

 

[TheZymurgist]

I just did this recipe:

http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/homebrew-recipe/beer-recipe-of-the-week-saisonn-dhiver/

but scaled it down to 1.065 (only due to mash tun limitations) and fermented half with The Yeast Bay's Saison Blend, and half with their Melange (basically their version of Roeselare). I've seen other sour/funky recipes with roasted grains, and based on your percentages, I think you'd be ok, especially since you're using extract. I would think there would be some residual sweetness that will help.