What to expect from this recipe?

[scone]

I was trying to come up with a single wort to ferment 1/2 with something Belgian, and the other half with an English yeast (in separate carboys). For the yeasts I was thinking WLP500 Trappist, and S-04, but I'm open to other Belgian yeasts instead of the 500. I was just curious what to expect out of this recipe...

Ok here's the grist I have so far. Will it taste anything like an English Brown with the Special B in there? I can't tell what I'm making here.. maybe a Dark Belgian/English CrazyBrown?

The recipe is actually similar to a Northern English Brown recipe, but with less Special Roast, and adding Special B.

OG ~ 1.056

84% Maris Otter
5% Victory
2% Special Roast
5% Crystal 40L
2% Pale Chocolate
2% Special B
and on the "Belgian side" I'm also planning to add 1 lb. of dark syrup to dry it out a bit.

Also, if you have a hop suggestion, I'm all ears. I was thinking Kent Goldings to ~25 IBU ish.

 

[davekippen]

Beer

Haha couldnt resist the smart a** comment

Cheers

 

[JLem]

In general I think it looks pretty solid. Nothing jumps out at me as something "wrong". Not sure what the Special Roast will bring to the beer that you won't get from the Victory (or vice versa) - you could probably use one or the other and not really notice a difference. I have never used Special B, though my understanding is that Special B is a dark kilned crystal malt. This gives you 7% crystal malts, which is well within reason. 2% Chocolate will give you a nice color and some hints roast - will be quite nice I imagine.

For the Belgian version, personally I wouldn't bother with the dark candi syrup - you've already built up your caramel, "Dark fruit" flavors from the malts. If you want to dry it out, just use some plain white table sugar. Either way, a pound might be excessive.

EKGs would work for both beers, so it is a good choice.

 

[Quaker]

I agree it looks good. The Special B isn't too far from a Simpson's Extra Dark Crystal used in some English beers, although I think it looks less homogenous in color/kilning. I've learned I don't like too much of either one, 2% looks good. Unless you already have both Special Roast and Victory on hand, I'd just up the Victory to 7% for simplicity in line with JLem's thoughts.