Belgian blonde recipe thoughts

Looking for thoughts here, this is my first belgian style. Anywhere I could simplify it would be great, but I don't think this is complicated. Also interested in any glaring mistakes here, anything that would generally improve it, or just your thoughts and well wishes. For the record, this is modified from a recipe off Breiss's blog. Originally a dubbel recipe. I'll be sure to post back after finishing a glass.

Type: Ale
Style: Belgian Specialty Ale
Batch Size: 5 gallons
Recipe Type: All grain

Ingredients

12.5 lbs— Pilsen Malt
8 oz— Aromatic Malt
8 oz— Carapils Malt
1 lb—Sugar Cane—15 minute boil
1 Whirlfloc tablet—5 minute boil
1 oz—Saaz Hops (5% AA)—90 minute boil
1 oz—Saaz Hops (5% AA)—15 minute boil
1 vials—WLP510 Bastogne Belgian Ale Yeast—Primary Fermentation Starter
10.25 oz light DME for starters

Procedures

Create 1 liter starter on stirplate 24-48 hrs prior to 450 billion cells using 9 oz light DME, retain small sample and immediately reculture new 1 liter starter to 50 billion cells using 1.25 oz light DME for bottling, chill rest yeast when ready until bottling
Mash at 155-160ºF for 45 minutes. 20.25 qt at 166°
Sparge at 168°F (prepare at least 20qt of water), run until boil kettle is full
Boil 90 min
90 min: First hop addition (1 oz Saaz)
Heat cane sugar in saucepan, stirring constantly until liquid and slightly browned
Add cane sugar at 15 min prior to flameout
Add Whirlfloc tablet at 5 min prior to flameout
Cool to 72ºF
Oxygenate and pitch yeast

Fermentation

Primary Fermentation: 24-30 days at 65° F
Bottle with saved 50 billion cell starter, 4 oz table sugar for ~2.5 vol CO2
Fermentation Notes: Bottle condition and age for 1 month

Stats

Original Gravity: 1.072
Final Gravity: 1.016
ABV: 7.23%
IBU: 18.52
SRM 4.88

 

You're mashing pretty high for a Belgian style, more like 150* would be my vote. Otherwise I think it looks pretty good, though usually I would leave out the carapils and then just add the sugar at flameout directly to the kettle. 65 fermentation temp is going to be pretty low, you could pitch at that then let it rise to the low/mid 70's.

 

Mash 148 - 150. Belgians want to be dry.

1 lb sugar seems low. You can push that to 20% fo fermentables easily. Again, Belgians want to be dry. 2 lbs will be OK.

Don't add the sugar straight off the stove. It's temperature will be much higher than the boiling wort, and will possibly lead to the wort to boil over. I'd make the syrup ahead of time, and let it cool. After you have the color, add water (very slowly in small amounts) and you will get syrup rather than solid sugar.

That yeast sounds pretty tame for a Belgian from the White Labs site I've never tried it.

65 F is low for a Belgian ferment. Start there, and once it gets going, raise the temp to 80 F over a week. ....... I know White labs says 66 - 72 F, but live dangerously - You want flavor!

Good luck with your beer.

 

I can definitely lower the mash temp to about 149. Good suggestion. Dropped the carapils and reduced the pils grain to 11.5 lb. That lets me bump the sugar up to 2lb within my ABV goal. I can bump the ferment temp up a bit, but even with an enclosed insulated box with heat control there's limitations up here in the frozen northwastes.

So the 510 sounds tame? I'm open to suggestions, but I don't mind a clean taste as belgians go.

 

Yeah I was talking about adding the sugar dry at flameout. Unless you're trying to make your own dark candi I don't see the benefit of making a syrup first, and I wouldn't think you actually want any browning of the sugar for a blonde. Can't help you with the 510, but if you like them a little clean then that seems to fit the description as Calder said. I tend to use either 3787/WL530 or 3522/WL550.

 

Apparently the 510 isn't available anyway. Oh well. I have White Lab's 530 Abby Ale on order. Should floculate and clear out really well, and still give that nice belgian flavor. I also tweaked the grain bill to 12lb pils base, 1lb aroma, and bumped the sugar to 2 lb. Smack in the middle for the Belgian Blonde style guides. This should end up as very much on the malt forward side of the spectrum.

 

530 looks like a better yeast. Supposedly the Westmalle yeast. I'd challenge the 72 F upper limit on the White Labs site after a few days. Start within their range for a few days, and then raise the temperature to dry it out and bring out more flavor.

 

I also agree with the lower mash temp. I mash mine at 148 and it finishes dry but has a nice malt presence. My go to yeast is the Wyeast Ardennes strain and I let it go up to 74 - 76, that strain for me has just enough Belgian character. My grain bill is similar to yours but I only used 1lb of granulated sugar added in the last 10 minutes. I have never had a boil over issue doing that. Actually got a 1st place in the first comp I entered with it, scored a 40.

 

Thanks!
How did I miss that yeast? Seems like everything I was looking for, especially the high flocculation. I strongly prefer a bright clear beer.

 

I'll echo the lower mash temp. But I think the recipe looks very solid. I see no problem adding the sugar by itself close to flameout. Hell, I've done this in over 30 or 40 brews with not a single issue of burning or boil over, so I have no idea what people are talking about. Dont bother making a syrup just dump it in. The 3 beers I've made in teh past week even each had a pound of table sugar tossed in just fine

Note for 530: USE A BLOWOFF! Trust me, this yeast makes the most krausen of anythign ive ever seen. I have used it 6 times, always needed a blowoff. Pitch mid 60s, let it free rise, but you can bump it up into the 80s just fine. It also seems to go in bursts. Once I took off the blowoff only to find it spilling out again the next morning!

 

Looks pretty good.

530 does take off fast so the recommendation of a blow off tube is very good advice. Start it out in the mid sixties and hold it there until fermentation gets going. Then you can slowly ramp the temp up to help it finish out. Just don't ramp it up too fast. Get the temp up to help it finish. 530/3787 is famous for starting off fast and then taking a long time to totally finish. I usually give itplenty of time. Maybe a couple of extra weeks.

The first couple of times I used that yeast I bottled too soon and ended up with overcarbed beer. So now I usually err on the side of too long in the fermenter rather than trying to bottle too soon.

Brew on.

 

I'm gonna add one more note, not so much to the recipe, but more on your expectations. Be prepared to wait for this to age a bit before judging how it turned out. My blondes tend to need at least 4 months before they start to really shine. After only a month they're still a bit green, slightly tart and the dry alcohol isn't as balanced and creamy as it will be later. This is one of those styles that really wows you on how much aging can make a difference.

Can't wait to hear how it turned out!

 

Normally you wouldn't have an issue. My impression from his first post was that he was going to make the syrup while the wort was boiling, and add the hot syrup to the boil. The sugar would be a lot hotter than the boiling wort.

 

So this got bottled about a month ago. In the bottling frenzy (multiple brews ready for bottling) I forgot to get the bottling yeast ready and add it. It's still not carbonated, but it has carbed a *little*. Did I kill this beer? Or do I just need more patience?

On the bright side, it'll definitely be worth the wait. The sample I tool during bottling was amazing. Clean flavor with clear banana clove and nothing off at all.

 

Coming back to update this!

This batch is FANTASTIC! Definitely brewing this one again.
Yes, it carbed up and dried out over time. A month ago I was getting a very nice round champagne flavor. Now it's almost taking on an orange lollipop flavor, but way more subtle and complex.