Stone Cali-Belgique clone

Shenanigans · Nov 2, 2016

I still didn't brew this as I've been put off by the mixed reviews of this beer. Even tough it has 97% on rate beer the first few pages of reviews are not that positive. Anyway I have a pack of Belle Saison that is almost out of date so I'm going to brew this on the weekend. In about a month I should have something to report back :tank:

catdaddy66 · Nov 4, 2016

Subscribed! I am very interested in this beer so it's going on my 'to brew' list.

Shenanigans · Nov 5, 2016

Malt is milled and hops are weighed. Everything ready for brewing tomorrow

Let's see how it turns out

Shenanigans · Nov 11, 2016

Well the brew day went very good. Did a BIAB with a new system and just had to add an extra litre of water than calculated during the boil to hit my numbers perfectly. The Belle Saison had already taken off when I checked it early the next morning. Started at about 20oC and ramped it up to 26oC over the first 3 days. I will leave it there for the rest of the fermentation. I will add the Chinook dry hops on Sunday (day 7) and hopefully find time to bottle it a week later. I'll report back on Sunday with the current SG and taste.
Looking forward to drinking the final beer in 3 weeks or so.

Shenanigans · Nov 14, 2016

So I added the dry hops yesterday. The gravity reading was 1.003 and I could taste the yeast a lot more than the hops. However that's ok as that generally changes when it's cold crashed and carbed. So, so far so good.

Plus if it is now finished at 1.003 it's exactly what I calculated to get it to about 7% Alc. like the original.

ColbyJack · Nov 14, 2016

Awesome work! Cali-Belgique is the beer I chose to fill a growler at Stone brewery after trying everything they had on tap. Love this beer. Wish it were more commonly found. Let us know your thoughts. What temp did you mash at? Mash out?

Shenanigans · Nov 14, 2016

ColbyJack said:
Awesome work! Cali-Belgique is the beer I chose to fill a growler at Stone brewery after trying everything they had on tap. Love this beer. Wish it were more commonly found. Let us know your thoughts. What temp did you mash at? Mash out?

I mashed high at 155 not that it makes much different to this yeast

I do BIAB so I didn't exactly do a mash out just took the bag out of the kettle and started the boil when I rinsed the grain bag in another bucket with water at about 170. Then added this to the kettle too.

I never had Cali-Belgique as it's not readily available over here in Europe yet even though Stone have started brewing out of Berlin now. I just tried the Arrogant Bastard and IPA until now. The IPA was good but the AB wasn't anything special for me.

Hopefully soon I'll find a Cali-Belgique somewhere to compare to this brew. It was actually just a beer I came across when looking for a Belgian IPA recipe. So thought I'd give it a try. :fro:

Shenanigans · Nov 19, 2016

So it finished at 1.002 which is 7.2 instead of 7% but I can live with that.
I will bottle it tomorrow but was wondering how many volumes of CO2 I should aim for.

Is the original highly carbed like a strong Belgain ale or just a normal 2.3 to 2.5 for an IPA?

I'm going to aim for 2.4 hopefully that is correct.

catdaddy66 · Nov 21, 2016

Shenanigans said:
So it finished at 1.002 which is 7.2 instead of 7% but I can live with that.
I will bottle it tomorrow but was wondering how many volumes of CO2 I should aim for.

Is the original highly carbed like a strong Belgain ale or just a normal 2.3 to 2.5 for an IPA?

I'm going to aim for 2.4 hopefully that is correct.

I actually undercarb my beers slightly so I can pour down the center of my glass as they want you to do. You should be good with that much.

ColbyJack · Nov 21, 2016

As a point of reference, I do not recall this beer being over carbed at the brewery. Fingers crossed your brew is delicious!!!

Shenanigans · Nov 23, 2016

So I calculated the priming sugar for 2.4 vols.
Is 3 days in the bottle now and already a decent amount of gas.
I'll just have to behave myself and try to wait for a least a week before I try one :mug:

Btaz · Nov 23, 2016

Shenanigans said:
So I calculated the priming sugar for 2.4 vols.
Is 3 days in the bottle now and already a decent amount of gas.
I'll just have to behave myself and try to wait for a least a week before I try one

Becareful of bottle bombs. Most normal commercial bottles cannot take that much pressure.

Shenanigans · Nov 23, 2016

I think that 2.5 is the medium range of carbination for bottled beer.
Getting towards 3.5 I would be starting to get worried about bottle bombs with normal bottles.

popsicleian · Nov 23, 2016

Btaz said:
Becareful of bottle bombs. Most normal commercial bottles cannot take that much pressure.

I don't think that's true--that's a pretty standard carb volume for bottled beer. I wouldn't worry until it's well above 3.

Shenanigans · Nov 25, 2016

Well I have no will power and tried one of these after only 4 days in the bottle.

A bit flat of course but it already tastes surprisingly good.
I can tell Im really going to like this one when its finished.
I'll post a picture when it is that far.

:tank:

Wish I had a bottle of the original to compare.

catdaddy66 · Nov 25, 2016

popsicleian said:
I don't think that's true--that's a pretty standard carb volume for bottled beer. I wouldn't worry until it's well above 3.

I asked this same question a month ago as I bottled a Belgian blonde that called for 3.5 volumes of co2. Most commercial bottles are rated for 2.5 vols but can handle higher amounts safely. What is the upper limit? That I don't know but 2.4 should be ok.

I guess its like most things. The actual limit is higher than the rated limit for safety.

Shenanigans · Dec 12, 2016

So 3 weeks in the bottle now.
It tastes really good, refreshing with a mild bitterness, a little bit fruity and some Belgian funk. Nothing too overpowering just a well balanced light bodied beer. At 7.2% it packs a punch though :drunk:

Still no idea how it compares to the original.
I like the grain bill with this yeast but I rarely brew the exact same beer twice. I think I'll give it a go again keeping the IBUs the same and using Magnum for bittering again but swapping out the Chinook and Centennial with Amarillo and Strisselspalt. With such a long "too brew" list it might take a while though.
I'll just enjoy the 30 or so bottles left of this brew before I think about that though

Shenanigans · Dec 15, 2016

Here's a pic of one I'm drinking right now :mug:

Stone Cali-Belgique clone

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