Anyone have a New Belgium Abbey clone recipe?

[humann_brewing]

Hi all,

I would like to make this my first all-grain brew. I apologize in advance for the noob question, but what volume is this recipe intended for? The reason I ask is because when I added it to BeerSmith, it is suggesting that a 5 gallon batch size for the recipe above would yield an OG of 1.091 (efficiency of 70%) and an ABV of 9.8%. Is the volume supposed to be much larger than this? Or do I just have something configured wrong in BeerSmith?

Thanks in advance!

Josh

Happy New Year!

That sounds quite a bit off, there is what 10.5 lbs of fermentables in this. I believe the OG is supposed to be 1.065.

Check the amounts you have put in for all the grains/sugar,

I use beersmith too, you can adjust the value for your efficiency until you have the OG you want, then use the recalc function to put it back to the efficiency you brew with. This is of course if you have entered all the values correct.

I will enter it tonight and see what I get. I have the original article too so I will make sure there is nothing missing.

 

[LLBeanJ]

Here is my recipe that I created with BeerSmith after reading the Abbey Ale description on NBB's website. It's pretty close to the recipe posted earlier in this thread, but it is slightly different (e.g., mine has chocolate malt, per NBB's website). I did feel that it came out pretty close, though.

A couple of things:
1) I bittered with Magnum because I bitter all of my German and Belgian brews with Magnum. Swap out with same IBUs of Target if you want to be as close to NBB as possible. Unless you have a very sensitive palette, I doubt most people could tell the difference on a bittering hop, especially at such low IBUs.
2) I used WLP550 because I like it better. I think NBB uses WLP500, but I'm not a fan of that strain, so I don't use it.


BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Abbey Ale
Brewer: KWS
Asst Brewer:
Style: Belgian Dubbel
TYPE: All Grain


Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.97 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.72 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.065 SG
Estimated Color: 15.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 19.6 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 85.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 85.0 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
7 lbs 4.0 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 64.4 %
1 lbs 12.0 oz Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 2 15.6 %
8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 4.4 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 4 4.4 %
4.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 5 2.2 %
1.00 mg Fermcap S (Mash 0.0 mins) Other 6 -
0.29 oz Magnum [14.70 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 14.7 IBUs
0.50 oz Willamette [4.30 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 8 3.6 IBUs
0.50 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 5.0 mins) Fining 9 -
0.50 oz Liberty [3.90 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 10 1.3 IBUs
1 lbs Cane Sugar [Boil for 5 min](0.0 SRM) Sugar 11 8.9 %
0.50 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 0.0 mins) Other 12 -
1.0 pkg Belgian Ale (White Labs #WLP550) [35.49 Yeast 13 -


Mash Schedule: BIAB, Pilsner Step Mash
Total Grain Weight: 11 lbs 4.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Dough-In Add 29.7 qt of water at 96.3 F 95.0 F 5 min
Acid Rest Add -0.0 qt of water and heat to 111.0 111.0 F 10 min
Protein Rest Add -0.0 qt of water and heat to 125.0 125.0 F 15 min
Saccharification Add 0.0 qt of water and heat to 144.0 F 144.0 F 45 min
Saccharification Add -0.0 qt of water and heat to 158.0 158.0 F 30 min

Sparge: Remove grains, and prepare to boil wort
Notes:
------
WLP550
Pitch at 68° and gradually increase temp to 75° over the course of a week. Hold at 75° until fermentation is complete.

Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[jhaislip]

This is incredibly helpful. Thank you very much for taking the time to post it.

 

[humann_brewing]

Here is my recipe that I created with BeerSmith after reading the Abbey Ale description on NBB's website. It's pretty close to the recipe posted earlier in this thread, but it is slightly different (e.g., mine has chocolate malt, per NBB's website). I did feel that it came out pretty close, though.

A couple of things:
1) I bittered with Magnum because I bitter all of my German and Belgian brews with Magnum. Swap out with same IBUs of Target if you want to be as close to NBB as possible. Unless you have a very sensitive palette, I doubt most people could tell the difference on a bittering hop, especially at such low IBUs.
2) I used WLP550 because I like it better. I think NBB uses WLP500, but I'm not a fan of that strain, so I don't use it.


BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Abbey Ale
Brewer: KWS
Asst Brewer:
Style: Belgian Dubbel
TYPE: All Grain


Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.97 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.72 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.065 SG
Estimated Color: 15.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 19.6 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 85.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 85.0 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
7 lbs 4.0 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 64.4 %
1 lbs 12.0 oz Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 2 15.6 %
8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 4.4 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 4 4.4 %
4.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 5 2.2 %
1.00 mg Fermcap S (Mash 0.0 mins) Other 6 -
0.29 oz Magnum [14.70 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 14.7 IBUs
0.50 oz Willamette [4.30 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 8 3.6 IBUs
0.50 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 5.0 mins) Fining 9 -
0.50 oz Liberty [3.90 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 10 1.3 IBUs
1 lbs Cane Sugar [Boil for 5 min](0.0 SRM) Sugar 11 8.9 %
0.50 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 0.0 mins) Other 12 -
1.0 pkg Belgian Ale (White Labs #WLP550) [35.49 Yeast 13 -


Mash Schedule: BIAB, Pilsner Step Mash
Total Grain Weight: 11 lbs 4.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Dough-In Add 29.7 qt of water at 96.3 F 95.0 F 5 min
Acid Rest Add -0.0 qt of water and heat to 111.0 111.0 F 10 min
Protein Rest Add -0.0 qt of water and heat to 125.0 125.0 F 15 min
Saccharification Add 0.0 qt of water and heat to 144.0 F 144.0 F 45 min
Saccharification Add -0.0 qt of water and heat to 158.0 158.0 F 30 min

Sparge: Remove grains, and prepare to boil wort
Notes:
------
WLP550
Pitch at 68° and gradually increase temp to 75° over the course of a week. Hold at 75° until fermentation is complete.

Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Very nice! I am going to use pilsner too even though the recipe sales American 2row and munich, I didn't realize the BYO was missing chocolate malt but the site has it, good catch.

So you get 85% with BIAB? that is crazy

Do you think NB is step mashing this? I'm lazy

 

[LLBeanJ]

Yep, 85% is my default efficiency. I back it off a bit for bigger beers, but I will usually meet or exceed it on anything under 1.070-ish. My last brew was a 1.088 Wee Heavy and I hit 82% (1.090 - planned for 80%).

I doubt they're step mashing. Instead, they are likely doing a slow ramp, since their brewhouses are completely automated. Since I don't have that kind of control, I've found that a step mash works well to improve attenuation, which we all know is typically key for a Belgian.

 

[humann_brewing]

Yep, 85% is my default efficiency. I back it off a bit for bigger beers, but I will usually meet or exceed it on anything under 1.070-ish. My last brew was a 1.088 Wee Heavy and I hit 82% (1.090 - planned for 80%).

I doubt they're step mashing. Instead, they are likely doing a slow ramp, since their brewhouses are completely automated. Since I don't have that kind of control, I've found that a step mash works well to improve attenuation, which we all know is typically key for a Belgian.

That is what I figure, I too get between 85-87% efficiency but that is with sparging a traditional mash. I did a no sparge recently, first one for a mild and got like 78ish

 

[LLBeanJ]

That is what I figure, I too get between 85-87% efficiency but that is with sparging a traditional mash. I did a no sparge recently, first one for a mild and got like 78ish

Nice. I always do a small sparge (1-2 gallons), which I found gives me about 5 extra percentage points. Before I was sparging, I would typically hit about 80%, though it was not as consistent as it is with a sparge.

 

[surferdrew]

Hi all, I would like to make this my first all-grain brew. I apologize in advance for the noob question, but what volume is this recipe intended for? The reason I ask is because when I added it to BeerSmith, it is suggesting that a 5 gallon batch size for the recipe above would yield an OG of 1.091 (efficiency of 70%) and an ABV of 9.8%. Is the volume supposed to be much larger than this? Or do I just have something configured wrong in BeerSmith? Thanks in advance! Josh Happy New Year!

Hey Josh,

Don't know if you've already figured out the answer to your question, but typically when homebrewers refer to a "5 gallon batch," that is the final volume of finished beer available for consumption.

Different beer styles, varying types of brewing equipment, boil time/evaporation rate, and amount of yeast/hops/adjuncts all affect how much beer you "lose" between your pre-boil volume and your final volume of finished beer.

As an all-grain brewer, I typically aim for a pre-boil volume of 7 gallons...i then end up with 6 gallons after a 60 minute boil...I then end up with about 5.5 in my carboy at the start of fermentation...I then end up with a little more than 5 gallons in the keg.

For beers with a lot of hops (8-16oz), I add .5 gallons to my pre-boil volume because the hops absorb a lot of wort and I account for that in advance.

So, you can work backwards as an all-grain brewer and then calculate your grain and hop bill for a specific OG and IBU at a specific volume.

Hope that makes sense!

 

[coyote68]

great explanation surferdrew. that's exactly what i tell my noob friends and they get it right off the bat.

 

[humann_brewing]

brewed this, somehow hit 1.071 so that part will be off but went smooth otherwise and it ramping up its krauzen now. What should I try to keep this at? I have it at 65 now.

 

[LLBeanJ]

I'd increase the temp 1° per day until you hit 75°. The thing with Belgian yeast is that you don't want to let it decrease in temp or the little buggers will want to go to sleep.

 

[Beernip]

brewed this, somehow hit 1.071 so that part will be off but went smooth otherwise and it ramping up its krauzen now. What should I try to keep this at? I have it at 65 now.

Using wlp500 the yeast wanted to rise naturally up 10* over a week and it worked well. Just don't let it get over 80*.

 

[humann_brewing]

Using wlp500 the yeast wanted to rise naturally up 10* over a week and it worked well. Just don't let it get over 80*.

yeah, I read earlier in this thread I think that you can get a lot of banana at a higher temp. I am looking for a good balance like the commercial has