Tomorrow: Session Belgian

[smh]

Alright. I love Belgian beer but really dislike 9% ABV. It gives me a headache with even one. So I'm shooting for a low ABV nice tasty Belgian. My plan is below. The grains are already crushed so that's basically set in stone. I'm pretty excited to brew with Meridian hops. I've had Summit's Meridian Session ale and although I know it's stylistically much different than a Belgian I think these hops will work nicely.


Style: Belgian Pale Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0) grain bill #2

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 3.62 gal
Post Boil Volume: 3.12 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 3.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 3.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.043 SG
Estimated Color: 7.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 24.4 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 72.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
4 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 80.0 %
12.0 o Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 2 15.0 %
4.0 oz Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 3 5.0 %
0.50 oz Meridian [6.70 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 4 18.5 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 5 -
0.25 Meridian [6.70 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 6 6.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg Belgian Ardennes (Wyeast Labs #3522) [12 Yeast 7 -


Mash Schedule: BIAB, Light Body
Total Grain Weight: 5 lbs
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Saccharification Add 15.95 qt of water at 159.1 F 147.9 F 90 min
Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 7 min 168.0 F 10 min

Sparge: Remove grains, and prepare to boil wort

 

[homebrewdad]

I love a big Belgians, but I can see the attraction. I've never used those hops, but I do think that your grain bill looks good - simple is better for Belgians. Let the yeast shine. Irks me to no end to see people putting all sorts of spices and such in them.

Only a 60 minute boil for pilsner malt? It's usually advised to do a 90 minute boil to prevent DMS.

If you bump it to 90 minutes, be sure to bump up the total volume so you don't boil too much off.

 

[smh]

Thanks for the tip. I've never even really thought too hard about changing from a 60min boil. My brewpot is just barely large enough for this volume so if I boil off too much I'll probably just top-up afterwards. Clean water of course.

These are pretty new hops as far as I can tell. The one commercial example I had was excellent so I'm looking forward to testing in a couple of different brews. I must say I'm also not a fan of highly hopped beer nor extreme bitterness. It's part of the appeal of Belgians to me, they're well balanced beers.

 

[smh]

Brewed this up this morning. WAAAYYY darker than I expected, maybe due to 90 minute boil?

One of the sweeter tasting worts I've ever made despite the gravity of 1.042. Pitched the wyeast pack that took its sweet time puffing up and never really did get all that big. I'm hoping for the best and relaxing with my session saison now. Beautiful beer, will be testing difference between this 3111 yeast and the 3724 in my next brew.

 

[homebrewdad]

Cool, hope it turns out well! I love the balance of Belgians, myself.

 

[Beernik]

Slightly off topic: Uinta makes a 4.0% Belgian Pale Ale called Monkshine. It's one of my favorite beers.

Good luck with your brew.