Belgian Golden Strong Ale

[Joshua Hughes]

Not been at this long so im trying do an easy one. I will be making a 1 gallon brew. Thinking Duvel but understand that what I brew will NOT be Duvel. Just trying to ballpark it. I looked at the Kit from Northern Brewer and a Few online. Any help is appreciated.

Can I do this with:
Domestic 2 Row
Cane sugar
Saaz Hops
Belgian dry yeast?

Mash at 149
60 minute Boil
2 Weeks in primary
2 weeks in secondary (assuming I cant just leave it in primary for an extra week or 2)
4-6 weeks bottle conditioning.

 

[Pappers_]

That looks about right. I would consider substituting Pilsner malt for the two-row, if you can. A dry Belgian yeast will be fine, when you're selecting one, look for one that emphasizes fruity esters over spicy phenols, since that is one of the areas of distinction between the Golden Strong and a Tripel.

Here's a recipe I've used Belgian Golden Strong Ale - Cherub Nectar Belgian Golden Strong: Third BOS at 2013 Door County Competition

 

[Joshua Hughes]

Thanks Pappers ill give that a look in a few. Got a zoom meeting in 10.

 

[brownni5]

Don't bother with secondary. Common suggestion around here now. At the home brew scale, little potential benefit with huge potential downside. 4+ weeks in primary isn't a problem.

 

[jswillbrewforbeer]

+1 for fruity yeast and skipping secondary. I think Danstar Belle Saison could work.

 

[stickyfinger]

BGSA is one of my favorite styles!

i'd go for wy1388 or wlp570 to get the true BGSA character. it's so unique and i've never had another strain replicate it (though a saison strain could come out decent.) I honestly don't know if Pils malt is necessary given the huge yeast character. never tried anything but Pils malt but...

I have literally never been disappointed with BGSA if I follow these rules: 1.050-1.060 OG, all continental pils malt, 30-50 IBUs of a clean bittering hop at 60 minutes, pitch around 64-68 and then start ramping up 2 degrees every 12 hours after the first day of fermentation. once it is winding down and you have reached 80F (day 5 or so?), boil up some water, stir in about 2 lbs of dextrose or sucrose/5 gallon batch and let cool. Add that to the fermentor and let that ferment out. By day 14 or sooner you can cold crash for a few to many days to get a lot of the non-flocculant yeast out of solution (takes awhile sometimes) and then bottle or rack to keg. It is ALWAYS amazing if I follow these rules.

I've tried lower OG, dry hopping, flavorful 60 minute hop addition, lower fermentation temps, other yeast and none of those options resulted in an improvement to my taste.

 

[Joshua Hughes]

thanks guys!

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Belgian dry yeast?

Fermentis WB-06 is a close relative of strains alleged to come from Duvel.

 

[Joshua Hughes]

Due to availability I ordered this one the other day. Trying to get it bottled to my buddy by July 4. I put this in my wish list to get next time it make this.

 

[mbobeira]

BGSA is one of my favorite styles!

i'd go for wy1388 or wlp570 to get the true BGSA character. it's so unique and i've never had another strain replicate it (though a saison strain could come out decent.) I honestly don't know if Pils malt is necessary given the huge yeast character. never tried anything but Pils malt but...

I have literally never been disappointed with BGSA if I follow these rules: 1.050-1.060 OG, all continental pils malt, 30-50 IBUs of a clean bittering hop at 60 minutes, pitch around 64-68 and then start ramping up 2 degrees every 12 hours after the first day of fermentation. once it is winding down and you have reached 80F (day 5 or so?), boil up some water, stir in about 2 lbs of dextrose or sucrose/5 gallon batch and let cool. Add that to the fermentor and let that ferment out. By day 14 or sooner you can cold crash for a few to many days to get a lot of the non-flocculant yeast out of solution (takes awhile sometimes) and then bottle or rack to keg. It is ALWAYS amazing if I follow these rules.

I've tried lower OG, dry hopping, flavorful 60 minute hop addition, lower fermentation temps, other yeast and none of those options resulted in an improvement to my taste.

Wich hop do you suggest to a BSGA?

Do you thing a hop single adition at 60 minutes is great for a BGSA?

Have you tried to use corandier seeds?

 

[stickyfinger]

I’m a purist on this style, FYI. If i wanted some hop character in it (I don’t) I’d start with a lot of low alpha character hops at 60 minutes, like Saaz for example. If thats not enough I’d add a tiny character hop charge at maybe 10 minutes left in the boil and work from there to taste.

I prefer 40 or more calculated IBUs of Magnum at 60 minutes and no other hops. It’s a perfect yeast driven beer IMHO.

I only use coriander in Wit biere. It would be interesting in this though.

I also prefer the White Labs to Wyeast but it’s just preference. Both make very nice authentic versions and attenuate like beasts.

Honestly, I’ve tried session versions, hoppy versions, dry hopped versions, sour versions, different malts and probably other versions lol! My favorite is White Labs yeast, clean firm bittering at 60 mins, continental Pils malt only, ferment 68 and raise to 80 at 4 degrees per day and add the dextrose syrup at like day 4-7ish. It makes a perfect version of the style. World Class.

I still need to try just adding the dextrose to the boil kettle. It would likely be fine I think. I just am afraid of too much sweetness and lazy yeast doing that and have never varied my procedure in that lol!

Wich hop do you suggest to a BSGA?

Do you thing a hop single adition at 60 minutes is great for a BGSA?

Have you tried to use corandier seeds?

 

[stickyfinger]

I used that ages ago when it first came out. I’d avoid it in BGSA personally.

Fermentis WB-06 is a close relative of strains alleged to come from Duvel.

 

[Joshua Hughes]

Got it fermenting last night and that is going well. Keeping temp between 64-68 for a few days. After high Krausen I am adding sugar and letting the temp go, It wont be getting higher than 72. Then comes my question....
Most of my information comes from Zymurgy mag.
Its after roughly 8 days to Let it sit for 21 days at temps near 32. Ive never "lagered." Do I need to rack to a secondary (wasn't planning to rack to secondary and never have before). Can I just put my primary in the fridge? Does it have to be 21 days? Will i see a real benefit vs letting it stay in primary for 3 weeks under 70 degrees?

 

[stickyfinger]

If u are kegging just rack to keg and condition there. I use a floating dip tube and it is a little yeasty for a few days then slowly loses the haze until it is clear, if it lasts that long. The yeast is not offensive to mw in this style. You have to lager awhile for clarity with this very nonflocculant yeast.

Got it fermenting last night and that is going well. Keeping temp between 64-68 for a few days. After high Krausen I am adding sugar and letting the temp go, It wont be getting higher than 72. Then comes my question....
Most of my information comes from Zymurgy mag.
Its after roughly 8 days to Let it sit for 21 days at temps near 32. Ive never "lagered." Do I need to rack to a secondary (wasn't planning to rack to secondary and never have before). Can I just put my primary in the fridge? Does it have to be 21 days? Will i see a real benefit vs letting it stay in primary for 3 weeks under 70 degrees?

 

[Joshua Hughes]

I accidentally post question in two different threads with same name. I apologize to anyone who gets bothered by that.

I am bottling. Will 2 weeks be ok for Lagering? Can I leave in primary vessel?

 

[stickyfinger]

I accidentally post question in two different threads with same name. I apologize to anyone who gets bothered by that.

I am bottling. Will 2 weeks be ok for Lagering? Can I leave in primary vessel?

Sorry not sure. Never bottled one before. I dont think it will be clear after 2 weeks lagering. Might take a lot more. Maybe someone who bottles will chime in.

 

[Joshua Hughes]

Sorry not sure. Never bottled one before. I dont think it will be clear after 2 weeks lagering. Might take a lot more. Maybe someone who bottles will chime in.

So the main reason Im supposed to "lager" this is to clear it up? Can I pop the primary in the fridge? Will i need to repitch yeast after? I dont have any more belgian to do that. Could I just leave in primary 2 week, bottle, then make sure they get a few weeks in the fridge before drank? I dont care about clear but this batch is for a buddy.

 

[stickyfinger]

i’m not sure. I would crash it in primary as long as you can keep air from getting in and leave it there until the waves of yeast fall to the bottom. Once it is much less hazy, warm up and bottle.

So the main reason Im supposed to "lager" this is to clear it up? Can I pop the primary in the fridge? Will i need to repitch yeast after? I dont have any more belgian to do that. Could I just leave in primary 2 week, bottle, then make sure they get a few weeks in the fridge before drank? I dont care about clear but this batch is for a buddy.

 

[Joshua Hughes]

Assuming I pitched enough yeast I shouldnt need to add yeast to bottling bucket? I do not plan to cold crash it, or lager it until its been bottled and left to carb up for 3 weeks.

 

[stickyfinger]

There will be tons of yeast. This yeast is not very flocculant.

 

[Joshua Hughes]

Good deal. One less thing I’ll screw up

 

[mbobeira]

BGSA is one of my favorite styles!

i'd go for wy1388 or wlp570 to get the true BGSA character. it's so unique and i've never had another strain replicate it (though a saison strain could come out decent.) I honestly don't know if Pils malt is necessary given the huge yeast character. never tried anything but Pils malt but...

I have literally never been disappointed with BGSA if I follow these rules: 1.050-1.060 OG, all continental pils malt, 30-50 IBUs of a clean bittering hop at 60 minutes, pitch around 64-68 and then start ramping up 2 degrees every 12 hours after the first day of fermentation. once it is winding down and you have reached 80F (day 5 or so?), boil up some water, stir in about 2 lbs of dextrose or sucrose/5 gallon batch and let cool. Add that to the fermentor and let that ferment out. By day 14 or sooner you can cold crash for a few to many days to get a lot of the non-flocculant yeast out of solution (takes awhile sometimes) and then bottle or rack to keg. It is ALWAYS amazing if I follow these rules.

I've tried lower OG, dry hopping, flavorful 60 minute hop addition, lower fermentation temps, other yeast and none of those options resulted in an improvement to my taste.

I have another important question for you....

In your opinion, in Belgian styles I can substitute Candy Sugar by Sugar Cane without great losses?

Here in Brazil the original Belgian Candy Sugar is very very expensive... Yesterday I mashed a BGSA trying to aim your tips: - 93% pilsen and 7% sugar cane (in boil). OG 1082, 24 IBU, Mangum for Bittering (17 IBU) and Saaz at 30 min (7 IBU), Yeast WLP550.

What you think about Sugar Cane in Belgian styles?

 

[Pappers_]

What you think about Sugar Cane in Belgian styles?

For this style, yes, table sugar works fine. For the Belgian Dark Strong (or sometimes called Quad here in the US), no, you need the flavors from the candy sugar.

 

[stickyfinger]

Yeah if u just need higher abv without the caramel flavor from the candi syrup then sucrose or dextrose are great. I’d use dextrose unless its hard to get or expensive. Can be a little smoother tasting once fermented out.

if a recipe uses candi sugar try the fancy syrups from candisyrup.com. You can buy them from good homebrew stores. Tons of rich flavor when using the dark. versions. They have tons of good recipes on the site too.

I have another important question for you....

In your opinion, in Belgian styles I can substitute Candy Sugar by Sugar Cane without great losses?

Here in Brazil the original Belgian Candy Sugar is very very expensive... Yesterday I mashed a BGSA trying to aim your tips: - 93% pilsen and 7% sugar cane (in boil). OG 1082, 24 IBU, Mangum for Bittering (17 IBU) and Saaz at 30 min (7 IBU), Yeast WLP550.

What you think about Sugar Cane in Belgian styles?