Belgian Dark Strong Ale

[DrummerBoySeth]

I am working on creating my own 2 gallon Belgian Dark Strong ale recipe. Here is my first "rough draft". I am shooting for something like a Belgian Quad, or a beefed-up Dubbel. I am not trying to clone a particular brew, but want to try to create a relatively flavorful (complex?) ale with lots of malty backbone and that signature Belgian "funk"

Suggestions are appreciated.

 

[snuesen]

I'd make a big starter for this, or else think about using white labs 545. You could also put in the syrup later in the fermentation to offset some of the original gravity. Hope it goes well tho!

 

[ArrowheadAles]

I made a belgian dark awhile back and used this yeast with a starter and also used a dry pack of T-58. Fermentation exploded and it was great after some aging. So if you aren't making a starter, perhaps try the dry yeast method as well.
Good luck, cheers!

 

[smizak]

+1 on adding sugar later, just when the fermentation starts to subside. Do your yeast a favor

 

[kingwood-kid]

If you haven't bought the ingredients yet, I would use the darkest Candi syrup you can find instead of the clear, and drop the carafa and chocolate malts. I also think that 550 will drop the gravity a few points lower than your projections.

 

[DrummerBoySeth]

I chose 550 because it was one of the higher-attenuating Belgian yeast strains. If it drops a few points below 1.018, I will not be terribly disappointed. Dry is OK with me on this brew. If any of you have experience with another strain of yeast that will add more of that traditional Belgian "funk" let me know. I really love Belgian beer, and I want this brew to have all the phenols, esters, and general yeasty funkiness that is characteristic of Belgian beer. One of the reason I was considering the Carafa II and the Chocolate malts is that this is sort of a "clean out the closet" brew that I hope to use up some of the small quantities of leftover malt that I have on hand now. That is also the reason for the 1/2 ounce of EKG at 60. I have it here, and I want to use it up before it goes bad.

I probably will add the candi sugar after 1 or 2 days in primary just to lower the overall stress level of the yeast, unless stressing the yeast will give me more of that yummy yeasty grunge that is Belgian beer.