Belgian beer taste?

[AkTom]

I try to brew different beer styles to try a variety of beers. I am a IPA fan. I also like Graff, some stouts, lambics (comerial). Any way, I brewed a batch of the Belgian Pirate. To me, it tastes weird. I'm Not sure how to describe it. Is it just me or should I stay away from Belgians? I used a Trappist yeast.

 

[drainbamage]

Belgian beers have a distinctive spicy yeast character, and are usually bottle-conditioned so that yeastiness carries over into the beer. It can take some getting used to.

 

[madscientist451]

Yes, weird taste is a good way to describe it. I let my Belgian beers age a while, just like them better that way. If I drink a Belgian type beer, I'll usually just have one or two.

 

[drainbamage]

I let my Belgian beers age a while, just like them better that way.

This is a good point. They can take longer to condition in the bottle than other beers, especially the higher-ABV styles. I brewed a quad that didn't really mellow out until it had sat for a year and a half.

 

[hbhudy]

Can you post your recipe and include the yeast you used?? I love Belgians, but they can be very complex depending on the yeast, recipe, temps, etc...

I will be honest that I am totally biased and think that everyone can find a Belgian they like.. What commercial versions have you tried and like??

 

[AkTom]

I am a techno dip stick. I couldn't find it in the tecipes (where I got it). So here goes trying to type it in for you.

The Belgian Pirate

Recipe type: All Grain
Yeast: Belgian Ardennes (G3 Cake) I subbed WY 3787 Trappist High Gravity
Orig Grav: 1.088 - 1.016
Final Grav: 1.014 - 1.016
IBU : 35.4
Boiling Time : 60 min.
Color: 19.8 SRM
Primary: ~3 weeks
Secondary:~1 week

Ingredients
10# American 2 row
2# german malt
0.5# CaraAroma
1# Torrified wheat (I only had 9 oz.)
1.5# light brown sugar

0.75chinook(pellets 12.0%AA) boil 60 min.
1 oz. Mt. Hood (pellets, 6.0%AA) boil 20 min

1 ea. cinnamon stick 15 min.
2# pineapple(fres)15 min (I used 2-20oz cans with juice)
4 ox Oak Wood Chips soaked in Cruzan Dark Rum on brewday

My Poor brewing notes...
11-29-15
Hit temps good.
Total run off 7 gal.
4 gallons in keggle, oops, valve open spilled maybe 1/2 qt.
3 gallons more sparge
OG only 1.064
added 2# dme
12-13 (Don't hate me...) added 2/3 cup Cap't Morgan and 2 teaspoons Mexican Vannilla
12-20 FG 1.016
12-20 bottles

The only Belgian I've had is a Leffe. It sucked. I was at a friends house and dumped it.
Tom

 

[Brettomomyces]

I think the word on the tip of everyone's tongue is phenolics.

Clovey is how they typically come off to me, although you can get plastic notes and other flavors as well. You can get some of the same flavors from hefeweizen yeast and unintentionally from infection. I'm personally not a big fan either. A colder ferment with lots of healthy yeast will result in reduced phenol production.

They don't always show up in every belgian yeast. Seek out strains that don't promote phenolics.

 

[AkTom]

I'll let it age a couple more months and try it again. If all else fails... I'll add some lemon juice to each glass. That my friends is how to drink a BMC/Belgain ;-)

 

[Big Monk]

Your problem is less about Belgian beer in general and more about recipe creation. IMO chinook hops have no place and adding cinnamon, pineapple, rum, vanilla and rum soaked wood chips in a beer together is unique but completely out of style for anything Belgian. That's why it tastes weird.

Try a Westmalle, Chimay, Rochefort, Orval, Achel, St. Bernardus, Duvel, Achouffe, Ommegang, Allagash, etc. and tell me if you feel the same way.

 

[helibrewer]

That recipe is all wrong for a Belgian.

 

[Braumeise]

I was never a fan of German wheat beer - I am German like really born and raised there - I am super biased concerning beer - yet, I find that the Belgians have mastered wit beers!

And Einstök has obv. the better water resources and came up with the best wit beer in history ever for my taste! Staying very true to the original Belgian recipe.

From all the craft Breweries in the US I can totally appreciate Ommegangs approach and I find them to come up with very amazing, Belgian style beers.
The Triskel Farmhouse Ale was imo one of the best beers I have tasted in the US so far.

I can not and under no circumstances relate to your "experience" concerning Belgian Beers. And having no clue what I am doing when brewing I dare to state, that the recipe you used might be far far away from anything that I would consider Belgian Style Beer.

Have an Einstök white ale and let me know if you find that taste off or odd.

 

[hbhudy]

I have to agree with some of the others that there is so much going on in the recipe that it is challenging to point to one thing, but what temp did the beer ferment at?? But let this thing age!!! As all those flavors will take time to blend.

 

[beergolf]

Your problem is less about Belgian beer in general and more about recipe creation. IMO chinook hops have no place and adding cinnamon, pineapple, rum, vanilla and rum soaked wood chips in a beer together is unique but completely out of style for anything Belgian. That's why it tastes weird.

Try a Westmalle, Chimay, Rochefort, Orval, Achel, St. Bernardus, Duvel, Achouffe, Ommegang, Allagash, etc. and tell me if you feel the same way.

This^^^^^.

That recipe has waaaayyyyy to much going on for a good Belgian. Most good Belgians are very simple recipes that rely on the yeast for most of their flavor. For example a basic tripel recipe is just 80% pils, 20% sugar, noble hops and they yeast of choice.

Trying to classify Belgian flavor is difficult because there are so many different brews that are classified as Belgians. A tripel is much different than a BDSA. RPIScotty has a good suggestion. Try several different Belgians and see if you like any of them.

I personally love Belgians and brew them often. I am drinking a very nice BDSA right now. belgian pale, Belgian pils, D-90 and D-180, noble hops and 3787. mmmmmmmmm

 

[m00ps]

Agree with the overcomplexity for really any type of beer, but definitely belgians. Also, Belgian beers are defined by their yeast. Even if you have a solid recipe and technique, if your yeast arent happy, you wont get a good Belgian beer. It can take a few tries to get one that tastes right

 

[AkTom]

I'll try one of those beers listed. Just so you know, I didn't come up with that recipe. I got it here somewhere. I just did the best with what I had. My lhbs is 150 miles. Thanks for the info. HBT is the best.

 

[m00ps]

I'll try one of those beers listed. Just so you know, I didn't come up with that recipe. I got it here somewhere. I just did the best with what I had. My lhbs is 150 miles. Thanks for the info. HBT is the best.

I wouldn't doubt the recipe came from somewhere here or some book. I've seen a lot of wonky Belgian recipes flying around. Could also be you didn't like that specific yeast you used. Not sure which one it was

 

[AkTom]

Probably the yeast. But even beer that doesn't turn out great are a good learning experience.

 

[TheMadKing]

FWIW I don't like most belgians. What most people describe as "cloves" taste like refried beans to me. I simply can't acquire a taste for it. I've never had a beer made with belgian yeast that I like, and I pick up on it instantly, even in a cleanly fermented beer. It just doesn't agree with my taste buds or body chemistry or something.

 

[ba-brewer]

The ardenne yeast called out in the recipe is fairly mellow if fermented below 70, it also clears well. It needs extra head space in the fermentor though, I had it pop the top on the fermentor before.

 

[Big Monk]

One of the issues with using the term "Belgian" is that it implies a beer type, i.e. "did you have the Sierra Nevada Belgian?" or "I've never had such a good Belgian". "Belgian" is not a type of beer like IPA, Stout or Porter is.

Belgium has the most diverse and idiosynchratic beer culture in the world. The beers can't accurately beer summarized by the all encompassing "Belgian" moniker. There are the monastic beers, regional farmhouse styles, saisons, the famed sour beers (Our Bruin, Flanders Red), Lambic, regional pales and blonds, Abbey beers, etc.

When someone says, "I dont like Belgians", I can get behind that if I know the actual type they refer to. I personally dont like Belgian blonde type ales.

Another big contributor is that people think that "Belgian" beers ferment hot. Yes, some producers of Belgian styles ferment warm, but that is because they have adapted thier yeast over time to give them the desired characteristics under those conditions. I am of the opinion that, at the homebrew level, if you are fermenting Belgian style yeast over 70 deg in the intitial stages of fermentation that you are unlikely to ever like "Belgian" beers.

 

[TheMadKing]

One of the issues with using the term "Belgian" is that it implies a beer type, i.e. "did you have the Sierra Nevada Belgian?" or "I've never had such a good Belgian". "Belgian" is not a type of beer like IPA, Stout or Porter is.

Belgium has the most diverse and idiosynchratic beer culture in the world. The beers can't accurately beer summarized by the all encompassing "Belgian" moniker. There are the monastic beers, regional farmhouse styles, saisons, the famed sour beers (Our Bruin, Flanders Red), Lambic, regional pales and blonds, Abbey beers, etc.

When someone says, "I dont like Belgians", I can get behind that if I know the actual type they refer to. I personally dont like Belgian blonde type ales.

Another big contributor is that people think that "Belgian" beers ferment hot. Yes, some producers of Belgian styles ferment warm, but that is because they have adapted thier yeast over time to give them the desired characteristics under those conditions. I am of the opinion that, at the homebrew level, if you are fermenting Belgian style yeast over 70 deg in the intitial stages of fermentation that you are unlikely to ever like "Belgian" beers.

All Belgian beers (that I've ever tried and heard of) use a traditionally Belgian strain of yeast, i.e yeast that produces higher amounts of phenolics and esters. So when someone (like me) says they don't like Belgian beers, it would be more accurate for us to say "we don't like Belgian yeasts or the flavors that characterize those strains."