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That'll taste very Belgian. For a more American version, do one or more (or even all but probably not) of the following: - Use a clean-fermenting American ale yeast such as WLP001. (This alone gets you into something more akin to Blue Moon territory - Belgian-inspired, but not Belgian.) -...

Got a photo? I at least am always interested in seeing pictures of what different approaches to vivid red color look like in the glass.

When made by a brewer who doesn't know what they're doing? Yes, absolutely.

Clear candi sugar is just sucrose, in big pieces and priced too damn high. Use it up since you've got it, nothing wrong with the stuff. (I just use table sugar in most of my Belgians; it's cheaper.) I'm gonna second the notion of leaving out the crystal malt, but you can use it if you like...

I note it doesn't site its sources well, and for the oldest recipes it doesn't seem to reflect much knowledge about historical malting practices (pale malt? in England? in 1300?), but it's not a bad jumping-off point.

Baltika 6 is the only commercial BP I've had, and it's only got a minimal roast character; this is much more in line with other porters in that regard, though not to the point of having the ashen character I dislike in some. The amount of carafa II was because nothing else is providing very...

I'm not even sure I've yet decided on a "this style," really, but I want something sessionable so low gravity is definitely correct. Maybe as high as 4.5%, but not bigger.

I'm thinking about making a sessionable ale with a bone-dry finish, probably somewhere in the amber or copper color range but I'm flexible on that point. I'm inspired in part by the dryness of some CDAs, but as a supertaster my preference isn't usually for very bitter beers, so I was thinking...

Here's my final recipe, for 5gal: 15# Vienna 1/2# C60 1/2# Caraaroma 1# Carafa II Special 1.5oz Perle 60' 0.5oz Perle 20' Wyeast Munich Lager yeast, fermented at a constant 53F. (I did this in a temp-controlled fridge rather than the swamp cooler I used to use, so that number is...

Not quite. They started with non-dried malts, so the results were very probably more akin to modern high-kilned malts such as Munich. There was also sun-dried malt (paler than pils, with a touch of green flavor), and there were various clever ways of kilning malt that eliminated most of the...

As much as you want. You can brew a beer with nothing else (and, indeed, that's how an 18th-century English proto-porter would have been done.)

In an ideal world, totally this. On the other hand, when I started doing temp control for authentic Belgian schedules it involved a mini-fridge in which I could fit a three-gallon batch but not five... which just means I had to brew more often, and I'm OK with this.

Also worth looking at the ratios in some authentic Belgian versions of the style. Achel Blond 8: OG 1.078, 30 IBU, BU:GU .38 Chimay Blanche: OG 1.069, 35 IBU, BU:GU .51 Westmalle Tripel: OG 1.081, 39 IBU, BU:GU .48 Note that Westmalle is often regarded as the prototypical tripel, and is...

18lb pilsner LME 1lb white sugar Water to 5 gallons Boil 7 hours, adding water periodically to keep it around three gallons rather than boiling dry. (I'd planned to do six, but my timer ran out and I realized I'd never added my hops, so I added another hour.) Boil additions: 4oz Cluster hops...

For my strong Belgians, I ferment for a week at the high end of ale temperatures (I don't bother starting cold and ramping up, the way some of the abbey breweries do it), then chill to just barely not freezing for two weeks, then pitch new yeast and bottle. If you do it this way, though, he new...

Black. I've made a barleywine darker than BeerLogic's, even - it was black, with a deeply tan head. Nothing but pilsner malt extract (because I didn't have a mash tun big enough for the amount I wanted if it were AG) and a little white sugar (and water, of course!), boiled seven hours...

If you want to be fancy about it, ferment it warmer than most ales (like upper seventies) and then for clarity either cold crash for a while, or store the bottles cold after they've had time to carbonate.

Never had them in beer, but dandelion wine (made from the flowers, water, white sugar, and a little bit of citrus juice) is a classic. The times I tried to make it it hasn't come out so well, so I need a better recipe, but when I've had good dandelion wine it tastes like summer vacation in a...

I also wonder if the fact that the flaked grains are unmalted has anything to do with it. But yeah, it's definitely what the grain is; flaked corn has a lovely flavor and belongs in certain beers (and, in small amounts, not exclusively cream ale), but it doesn't do anything for the head.

As a completely different take on the concept, here's my German export ale, based on the hoppier Einbeck beers of the late Middle Ages but adapted somewhat: 11lb Munich malt 6lb wheat malt (ideally the dark German wheat malt) .5lb beech-smoked malt Do a decoction mash, or at least an...