Hello all,
As a new-ish homebrewer (~ a year) with a handful of good, but safe, experiences under my belt, I recently embarked on an "exciting" brew - a belgian strong dark ale.
I love St. Bernardus Prior 8, and found a "clone" of this from a reputable book/magazine. Brew day went well, and it's been in primary fermentation for ~ 5 weeks now. I decided to move it last night. I also decided to have a taste.
Wow. This stuff basically tastes like maple syrup. Now I know what you're thinking. This beer needs to age. It needs time. I'm jumping the gun. To set my mind at ease, though, and to be sure I don't end up with a few gallons of Aunt Jemimah's later this year, I'm just wondering if anybody else has had this type of experience with this style? I 100% won't be dumping this, and will wait it out (and probably it will taste awesome) - I'm just curious if anybody else has experienced this as well, or has any explanation for my experience.
For those who will ask, here's the recipe I used:
~ 5G Batch
Mash
------
12.25 lb Belgian Pilsen
.5 lb German Pilsner
.38 lb UK Medium Crystal
.38 lb Belgian Special B
.25 lb Belgian Biscuit
.13 lb UK Chocolate
90 Minute Boil
------
1 oz UK Target @ 70 Min
.25 oz Styrian Goldings @ 15 Min
.25 oz Styrian Goldings @ 5 Min
1 lb Dark Candi Syrup (End of Boil)
.25 lb Sucruse (End of Boil, LHBS' recommended substitute for a second $8 bottle of candi syrup, which I wouldn't have used much of)
Fermentation
------
Wyeast 1762 - Belgian Abbey II
Original Gravity: 1.082
Fermented ~70dF for 5 weeks
Final Gravity: 1.015
Right now it's sitting in secondary in my temp-controlled freezer around 68dF, where I'll keep it for a few months before bottling.
...any takers?
As a new-ish homebrewer (~ a year) with a handful of good, but safe, experiences under my belt, I recently embarked on an "exciting" brew - a belgian strong dark ale.
I love St. Bernardus Prior 8, and found a "clone" of this from a reputable book/magazine. Brew day went well, and it's been in primary fermentation for ~ 5 weeks now. I decided to move it last night. I also decided to have a taste.
Wow. This stuff basically tastes like maple syrup. Now I know what you're thinking. This beer needs to age. It needs time. I'm jumping the gun. To set my mind at ease, though, and to be sure I don't end up with a few gallons of Aunt Jemimah's later this year, I'm just wondering if anybody else has had this type of experience with this style? I 100% won't be dumping this, and will wait it out (and probably it will taste awesome) - I'm just curious if anybody else has experienced this as well, or has any explanation for my experience.
For those who will ask, here's the recipe I used:
~ 5G Batch
Mash
------
12.25 lb Belgian Pilsen
.5 lb German Pilsner
.38 lb UK Medium Crystal
.38 lb Belgian Special B
.25 lb Belgian Biscuit
.13 lb UK Chocolate
90 Minute Boil
------
1 oz UK Target @ 70 Min
.25 oz Styrian Goldings @ 15 Min
.25 oz Styrian Goldings @ 5 Min
1 lb Dark Candi Syrup (End of Boil)
.25 lb Sucruse (End of Boil, LHBS' recommended substitute for a second $8 bottle of candi syrup, which I wouldn't have used much of)
Fermentation
------
Wyeast 1762 - Belgian Abbey II
Original Gravity: 1.082
Fermented ~70dF for 5 weeks
Final Gravity: 1.015
Right now it's sitting in secondary in my temp-controlled freezer around 68dF, where I'll keep it for a few months before bottling.
...any takers?