Tips on a first Belgian Strong/Quad

[geom44]

Contemplating our first Belgian Strong Ale or Quad. Here's a recipe I've composed after a quick browsing of recipes combined with the ingredients I have available. Let me know of some tips. (I do have a good bit of Fuggle and 8%+ hops but I figured this schedule might work better).

16 lbs 2 –row
0.5 lbs biscuit
0.25 special B
0.2 lbs chocolate
0.3 victory

Total Grain: 17.25 lbs

1.0 oz American Golding 4-6% (90 min)
1.0 oz German Hallertau 3.5-5.5% (60 min)
1.0 oz German Hallertau 3.5-5.5 % (30 min)
1.0 oz UK East Kent Golding 4-6%% (15 min)
1.0 oz German Hallertau 3.5-5.5% (1 min)

Total Hops: 5 oz

6g Coriander
3g peppercorn
6g orange peel
5g Allspice

3.0 lbs dark Belgian candi (1 min)

Whitelabs Belgian Strong Yeast

 

[didinho]

Contemplating our first Belgian Strong Ale or Quad. Here's a recipe I've composed after a quick browsing of recipes combined with the ingredients I have available. Let me know of some tips.

be very careful while calculating the yeast to be pitched. aerate well the wort before pitching. OG and wort quantities?

 

[porterpounder]

Looks pretty solid, but I'd dump the spices altogether. Let the yeast add it's phenols and esters to bring the flavor out. No need to kill it with spice. Start with the ferm temp lower (65 F) and despite what you may read elsehwere, don't let it get over 72F and even then not until later in the fermentation.

 

[giraffe]

Have you used wlp545 belgian strong ale before? If not, I recommend, pretty much any other strain. Everytime I used it, its ester profile Id describe as "burnt socks." Wyeast 3787/wlp530 is a good standby for a classic belgian profile.

Besides that, id ditch the spices, they arent nessecary. If you got to use them, id keep a small amount of coriander/pepper. You will get alot of the flavor from the dark candi and the yeast.

Biscuit and victory are very similar, and arent really necessary here. Honestly, it wont hurt, so leave it if you want, especially if your 2row is bland. Munich/aromatic may be a better choice, but its a minor quibble. Really 90% of the flavor comes from the dark candi and the yeast, thats whats important here.

I dont know what the IBUs add up to there, but id keep it close to 35.

+1 to fermenting at 65 with the recommended amount of yeast. You may want to brew a 1.050-1.060 blonde first and then harvest the yeast if you cant make a big enough starter.

 

[ahariton]

Make a yeast starter and use a blowoff tube. Belgian yeasts have VIGOROUS fermemtations.

 

[VulgarCelt]

Aerate , aerate , aerate. A good 90-120 seconds of oxygen.

I agree in broad strokes with the temp (65) with this yeast. 545 Is a super attenuator for a Belgian. With many Belgians I have found that often to get them to finish out you need to climb the temp a bit as fermentation slows. It will help keep the yeast moving along and cleaning up after themselves. High temps from day 1 will just give you fusel soup. Which is gross...

I think this is the same strain as the WY3522. If it is this will kick out major banana aroma. If you do let this climb you can get awesome clove from it as well.

+1 on the blow-off. You will never regret having one and you will certainly regret not at some point. I don't even airlock anymore. I use a tube into water / idophor for everything.

Ditch the spices. The beauty in the Belgians comes from the yeast.

I have been playing with Belgians quite a bit over the last three years. I just did a very small write-up of some of the information I found on the thread #519881. Some of those yeasts are extremely fun to play with.

Have fun! Belgians are by far my favorite beer.

 

[giraffe]

I think this is the same strain as the WY3522. If it is this will kick out major banana aroma. If you do let this climb you can get awesome clove from it as well.

550 is the 3522 (achouffe). 545 is not available from wyeast.

 

[VulgarCelt]

+1 to fermenting at 65 with the recommended amount of yeast. You may want to brew a 1.050-1.060 blonde first and then harvest the yeast if you cant make a big enough starter.

Thats a good point I missed. I always make a starter. The smallest one I am making these days is a 1.6 liter for 5 gals but its usually closer to 2. I use the pitch calculator in BeerSmith2 to give me the cell count I need for my gravity.

 

[VulgarCelt]

550 is the 3522 (achouffe). 545 is not available from wyeast.

Any idea if this is an actual Abbey strain?

 

[d3track]

I really like 545, start mid-low and do a slow ramp up. It will go LOW, like 1.003-1.006 low.

I'd also maybe start with 50-75% of the spices, they go a long way with that yeast in small amounts.

 

[giraffe]

Any idea if this is an actual Abbey strain?

545 is not a trappist strain. Its from an unknown brewery in the ardeness.

 

[orangehero]

I'd recommend using continental pils as the base malt not US 2-row.

Also I think you're a little heavy on the late hops. I would limit the hops to bittering and flavor charges. Large hop aroma and flavor are out of place in the style.

 

[VulgarCelt]

Since I don't seem to be able to remember everything at the same time here is another thought...

When adding sucrose (candi sugar) to beer I generally add it after krausen begins to drop, say 2 or 3 days. I got it from Stan Hieronymus in Brew like a Monk I believe. This had a huge impact on my finishing gravity once I started doing it. It helps to create a much drier beer.

You might also want to read what he says about temp control. Its going to be a bit different than some of the opinions here. He notes that many Trappist breweries let the temp rise naturally from 65-70 and then maintain it for a bit to help the strains finish out. Some of these temps go as high as the 80's. And these are some of the best beers in the world...

 

[orangehero]

Since I don't seem to be able to remember everything at the same time here is another thought...

When adding sucrose (candi sugar) to beer I generally add it after krausen begins to drop, say 2 or 3 days. I got it from Stan Hieronymus in Brew like a Monk I believe. This had a huge impact on my finishing gravity once I started doing it. It helps to create a much drier beer.

You might also want to read what he says about temp control. Its going to be a bit different than some of the opinions here. He notes that many Trappist breweries let the temp rise naturally from 65-70 and then maintain it for a bit to help the strains finish out. Some of these temps go as high as the 80's. And these are some of the best beers in the world...

Don't use candi sugar, use candi syrup (which isn't sucrose). The problem with adding syrup to the primary is that it can settle on the bottom and not fully mix. I like end of the boil to preserve aromatic compounds while making sure it dissolves.

Yeast health, proper pitching rate, and temp control will get you the attenuation you want.

Also the fermentation temp is strain dependent and you should use caution using the figures from commercial breweries depending on whether they use cylindroconical fermentors. The schedule you described is great for the Westmalle strain, though.