Help with belgan pale please

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bennie1986

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I want to brew a belgan pale with stuff I have on hand. Here is what I have so far...

9 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 85.7 %
1 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 2 9.5 %
8.0 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 3 4.8 %
0.75 oz Centennial [8.70 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 21.6 IBUs
0.25 oz Centennial [8.70 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 5 0.0 IBUs

mash 152f for 60min

pitch starter of wlp568
 
i would drop the special b to 4oz or switch it for caravienne.

i'm guessing you're around 1.050 on this. if so i would also move your FO addition to 10 or 15 minutes to bring your IBU closer to 30 and back off the intense hop flavor. you'll lose some belgian character if you treat like an IPA.

if you like mashing this way then it should work. i like to really dry out my lighter belgians so i do step mashes. start at mid 140's and bump up to mid 150's. if you go this route then moving that late hop addition back some would also be beneficial or you'll end up with hop juice. that's your call. 152 single step should work as well especially if you plan on it dropping a few degrees over the mash.
 
i would drop the special b to 4oz or switch it for caravienne.

i'm guessing you're around 1.050 on this. if so i would also move your FO addition to 10 or 15 minutes to bring your IBU closer to 30 and back off the intense hop flavor. you'll lose some belgian character if you treat like an IPA.

if you like mashing this way then it should work. i like to really dry out my lighter belgians so i do step mashes. start at mid 140's and bump up to mid 150's. if you go this route then moving that late hop addition back some would also be beneficial or you'll end up with hop juice. that's your call. 152 single step should work as well especially if you plan on it dropping a few degrees over the mash.

Why do you think I should back off the special b? Im not disagreeing just curious as to the reasoning because im not too experienced with recipe design.
 
Special b can get intense and dominate a beer. When I design a beer I plan on the fact that I'll be drinking any mistakes. For that reason I tend to play things conservatively until I have a better understanding of the ingredient.

In this case you have a lighter beer with a touch of bready malt and fruity hops. Your flavor so far is bright and fruity with a hint of bread crust. Special b is going to bring burnt sugars and a hint of raisin to the table. It's a bit of a push in a whole new direction. Could be good in small doses but could also end up taking over.

I'm always cautious with special b.
 
JZ wrote an excellent profile on the style in an old issue of BYO (Jul/Aug 2008) but that article isn't on their website, drat them. I remember it being very worthwhile indeed. Perhaps a brewing pal has a back issue for you to read.

Here is another JZ/JP article with excellent information.

The best part of developing a new beer recipe is gathering and consuming the benchmarks. In this case, I'd start drinking De Koninck. :)

When you boil all the verbiage off of it, Belgian Pale Ale is essentially English Pale Ale or Special Bitter made in Belgium with Belgian ingredients. In this way it developed in precisely the same way American Pale Ale developed. Belgian Pale Ale tends to be less hops-forward, uses Continental ingredients, and is fermented with a Belgian yeast.

Developing a good Belgian Pale Ale recipe ought to be as simple as finding a well-regarded English Pale Ale or Special Bitter recipe and using that as a template. You'll need to swap some grist constituents in order to be true to style - Pils for pale ale base male, Caramunich or Caravienne for malt flavor and color. You'll need to swap out the Goldings for slightly less Saaz in the late additions. Finally, you'll need to use a comparatively subtle, well-attenuating and flocculant Belgian yeast strain. You want a star-bright, deep amber beer with a bit of noble hops character and present yet comparatively subdued yeast character.

The characteristics of Special B are out of place in this beer, except in very restrained amounts. If you already have some, use it, but don't exceed 4 oz in 5 gallons. I'd increase the Munich (since it's not Caramunich) to 2 lbs and reduce the pale malt accordingly.

Centennial is an atrocious choice for this style. See if you can't scare up something more "refined European" than "bossy, vulgar American." ;) US varieties derived from noble ancestors are perfect here: Liberty, Mt Hood, etc. If you MUST use Centennial, be very restrained on the flavor addition. In fact, I'd move the late addition to 20 minutes to make it more subtle.

Belgian Pale Ale is not a showcase for fruity-as-South-Beach-on-Pride-Day strains, even though it's Belgian. Select a somewhat restrained yeast with spicy notes. It should also quickly drop star-bright, which is a rare quality in a Belgian yeast. I adore Wyeast Ardennes in Belgian Pale Ale for those reasons: Flavor and clarity. That said, your White Labs Saison blend will likely work very well indeed. You'll probably have to wait a while for it to drop bright, unless you fine in a secondary.

Good luck! :mug:

Bob
 
Wow tons of good info, thanks guys! I know a lot of this is out of style but I wanted to get as close as I can with what I have on hand. The reason I'm even going for anything close to Belgian is because I have the yeast that I need to use. I will make a separate recipe based off the great advise given and brew it once I have money to buy specific ingredients, it's hunting season so all money has been diverted from brewing to hunting lol. The only other hops I have are simco and I felt like the centennial would be a tad less atrocious lol! I will dial back the special b to 4oz. Te reason I used it was to get a little of that raisin flavor and some added color. The only other thing I have to add color is crystal 60, chocolate, an roast malts and I wanted to try something a little different.
 
Don't get me wrong - I don't think you'll be way off with what you've got on hand. It's going to be a fine beer as you propose it...

...even though I don't like Centennial in this beer. ;) That said, I like it far better than Simcoe. [shudder] Given that's all you have, and given what I know of Centennial's characteristics, I'd not add a flavor/aroma charge at all. I strongly suspect enough Centennial will get through even an hour's boil that you'll net enough to make the beer stylistically more appropriate. Now, if you like Centennial, keep the late addition. I'm pretty sure it won't meld pleasingly with the yeast's characteristics, but I'm always keen to be surprised. NB: I may be still suffering from my decade-old revolt against "C" hops. That's always possible. :D

Special B in the 4 ounces recommended will add color and a detectable firm sweetness, without the somewhat overpowering characteristic dark fruit and caramel notes, which would be out of place in this beer. If you use more than that, the color will get more into the desired range but the palate will go wonky. Frankly, if it were me I'd use a half-pound of the Crystal 60 and 2 ounces of the Chocolate on top of the mash at sparge time purely to get the luscious copper color I like in Pale Ales of any type.

You don't want to use too much Crystal, see, because Belgian Pale Ale needs to finish dry. You want fullness in the mouth initially, but you want the finish to be dry and "more-ish". I'd mash this at 150F, being an all-malt beer with caramel/crystal malts in the grist.

Cheers!
 
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