Affligem blonde. Critique please

[budchx]

This will be my next brew.
Please let me know what you think,any advice or critique are more than welcome!

Affligem blonde

Style: Unassigned OG: 1.062
Type: All Grain FG: 1.016
Rating: 0.0 ABV: 6.03 %
Calories: 203 IBU's: 34.32
Efficiency: 75 % Boil Size: 23.17 L
Color: 6.2 SRM Batch Size: 19.99 L
Preboil OG: 1.059 Boil Time: 60 minutes

Fermentation Steps
Name Days / Temp
Primary 14 days @ 20.0°C
Bottle/Keg 14 days @ 23.3°C

Grains & Adjuncts
Amount Percentage Name Time Gravity
5.00 kg 83.33 % Pilsner (2 Row) Bel 90 mins 1.036
1.00 kg 16.67 % Munich Malt 60 mins 1.037

Hops
Amount IBU's Name Time AA %
25.00 g 13.71 Hallertauer 90 mins 4.80
25.00 g 12.02 Spalter 60 mins 4.50
30.00 g 8.59 Styrian Goldings 15 mins 5.40

Yeasts
Amount Name Laboratory / ID
1.0 pkg Belgian Ardennes Wyeast Labs 3522

Additions
(none)

Mash Profile
Light Body Infusion 75 min @ 64.0°C
Add 15.65 L ( 2.91 L/kg ) water @ 73.3°C
Sparge 15.90 L of 77.0°C water over 15 mins

 

[Eliterunner1]

Well I can't say much to your grain bill because I'm not sure what it could actually be. I really love this beer and if I remember right it had a great subtle lemon flavor. Is there any chance you could get your hands on some Affligem and harvest their yeast? I personally don't care for Ardennes, but thats just me.

After doing a few searches it looks like people have messed around with the pilsner and the munich. Some have said that the munich should be 10% or less, but I guess thats up to your preference. It does finish pretty dry, so thats something to keep in mind.

 

[guitarist_713]

Have you ever used Forbidden Fruit yeast before? I've made several blonde ales with it and it really lends itself to a dry finish while also wreaking of Belgian fruity tart goodness. I've tried other yeasts and they always end up smelling and tasting like hot bologna! Try forbidden fruit

 

[maida7]

personally I'd back off on the munich malt a bit. Also I'd replace some of the base malt with sugar to help dry the beer out. IMHO belgian beers are best with a super dry drinkable finish.

Yeast is a huge factor in this style of beer.

I just finished a keg of Belgian Blonde fermented with WLP550 (same strain as 3522) I find this yeast to be slightly fruity with a strongly spicy phenolic flavor. I prefer something less phenolic. On the next batch I'm gonna use WLP530 with the hopes that it will be more fruity and less phenolic.

I've also done it with WLP500 and that was really nice and fruity but it was very slow to flocculate and I ended up with cloudy yeasty beer and tuns of yeast in the kegs. Hopefully 530 has the fruity character of 500 with better flocculation.

 

[guitarist_713]

Trappist High Gravity 3787 is another great yeast to use. It's the same yeast used to brew Duvel

 

[abrahamnormal]

1388 is the duvel strain
3787 is the westmalle strain

 

[guitarist_713]

Yep you're right I had them mixed up. Luckily, there is no shortage of experts among home brewers

 

[abrahamnormal]

i love the 3787. wonderful yeast.

 

[slarkin712]

I don't remember exactly how affligem tastes, so I can't help too much. I will say that 3787 is a great yeast for trippels, dubbels, and blondes. It works great in a Leffe clone. The one thing about this yeast is that you get a decent amount of banana that might not be what you're looking for. I'd go with the forbidden fruit with something tart with out banana.

 

[budchx]

Just brew it yesterday, missed my og 1.050 instead of 1.062, and went with ardennes yeast.really active fermentation this morning,@ 26 deg Celsius...
Will see how it turns!!!