Belgian recipe recommendation if you please...

[tronnyjenkins]

Hello all.

I am in need of a recipe for this coming Sunday.
I would like to do an extract + grains type deal.

It would be great if someone knows of something in the area of Unibroue's La Terrible, or St. Bernardus Abt 12. I hope these aren't too complicated, as I would love to be able to make a darker belgian type beer before it gets too warm here in south east Texas.

I did my first brew this past Sunday, a Rogue Dead Guy type Maibock, and via some of the other members have decided to give strictly primary fermentation a try rather than racking to secondary. This leaves me with a free glass carboy! I would love to do another batch.

If anyone has had great results please do post your recipe!

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Have you looked in the recipe section?

 

[tronnyjenkins]

I have a little bit, but nothing caught my eye necessarily. Lots of all-grains. I expect to be moving in that direction shortly, but thought maybe I should brew at least one more extract + grain before taking that plunge. Thank you for your quick reply.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I have a little bit, but nothing caught my eye necessarily. Lots of all-grains. I expect to be moving in that direction shortly, but thought maybe I should brew at least one more extract + grain before taking that plunge. Thank you for your quick reply.

try using the sort functions. for example click the "prefix" column label to force a sort.

 

[phatuna]

here's a clone for st. bernardus 12. It's AG read up on how to convert:http://www.brew-dudes.com/all-grain-to-extract-conversion/78

SG 1.103, FG 1.017
5.5 gallons
10# pilsner
3# munich
1# aromatic
1/2# debittered black malt
3# dark belgian candi syrup
1# beet sugar
3.5 AAU Challenger 60 min (1/2 oz 7% alpha)
1.3 AAU Styrian Goldings 20 min (1/4 oz 5% alpha)

Wyeast 3787

 

[tronnyjenkins]

ok sweet thank you.
has anyone ever even heard of a La Terrible recipe btw?
i couldn't locate one in my Googles.

 

[Pivzavod]

Check AHS, they have a lot of clone recipes.

 

[tronnyjenkins]

phatuna, thanks for that conversion link. that's really cool.
is there an easy way to make that a 5 gallon batch instead of 5.5 gallon?
(my spare carboy is only 5)

 

[iron_city_ap]

This might sound kind of obvious, but just use 5 gal of water instead of 5.5g. You could boil off .5gal, but in the end you would be left with something about the same, especially doing an extract version and measuring out the difference between the 5.5 and 5 gals. is more work that seems necessary. In AG brewing, its my understanding that people boil down to their final batch amount, but with extract it seems like you just go with what you want as the final amount. I add about 3 extra 12oz bottles full of water so I don't have to worry as much about water loss during the boil, sucking up trub in transfering, or the yeast cake, etc..., but that is just me.

 

[tronnyjenkins]

well... that does seem obvious, and i wondered that.
i guess i'll give it a shot unless anyone says otherwise.
thanks fellas.

 

[phatuna]

This might sound kind of obvious, but just use 5 gal of water instead of 5.5g. You could boil off .5gal, but in the end you would be left with something about the same, especially doing an extract version and measuring out the difference between the 5.5 and 5 gals. is more work that seems necessary. In AG brewing, its my understanding that people boil down to their final batch amount, but with extract it seems like you just go with what you want as the final amount. I add about 3 extra 12oz bottles full of water so I don't have to worry as much about water loss during the boil, sucking up trub in transfering, or the yeast cake, etc..., but that is just me.

You could do it this way, you will however have a higher OG. (the same amount of fermentables with less water).

You could also divide 5 (gallons) by 5.5 (gallons) = 90

so you could cut down all of your ingredients by 10%. This would get you closer to your OG target.

You might also think of leaving a little room in your 5 gallon fermenter. This thing will probably blow off a bit during fermentation. so, you might ferment w/ 4.5 gallons of wort or something like that. Just use the above calculation to figure out your ingredients.

 

[tronnyjenkins]

OK, so I actually ended up going with a Rochefort 8 clone, I think it is extremely close to Herman Holtrop's. We made it an extract, and substituted flaked barley for flaked corn, and also put a little less carafa. I had a couple questions regarding this. Here is what I have:

8.50 lb Pale Extract 73.8 % (was 12 lb Pilsner 2 row)
1.50 lb Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 9.2 %
0.50 lb Barley, Flaked (1.3 SRM) Grain 3.1 %
0.50 lb Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 3.1 %
3.00 oz Carafa Special Germany (302.0 SRM) Grain 1.5 %
1.50 lb Candi Sugar, Amber (75.0 SRM) Sugar 9.2 %

1.50 oz Styrian Goldings [4.20%] (60 min) Hops 19.6 IBU
0.75 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker [3.50%] (30 min) Hops 6.3 IBU
0.50 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker [3.50%] (5 min) Hops 1.1 IBU
0.50 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 30.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs Belgian Abbey II (Wyeast Labs #1762) [Starter 500 ml] Yeast-Ale

First, I only bought 1 pound of the candi sugar. The guy at my LHBS said that I could use "regular table sugar". I am wondering if I should try the "homemade belgian candi syrup" for the remaining half pound that it calls for... Any recipes for making this?

Second, I am curious about fermentation temperatures. I have heard that for some Belgian types you should start off at a cooler temperature, and then "ramp up" to the low eighties like is suspected by Westvleteren. My problem here is that the temperature control on our fermentation is pretty much the thermostat for our house. Our current batch is fermenting at 71 degrees. Do you guys have any ideas for getting up to the low eighties indoors? Or should I just do 76ish? (I guess I could make the house that hot, but that would suck)

Thirdly, I am thinking that I might try secondary fermentation for this recipe, since it will probably be fermenting for a little longer. Do you guys stick to the primary only method, even for a Belgian?

Am I safe just using the Wyeast 1762? It isn't even two weeks old, and should be very active... the current batch TOOK OFF.

 

[tronnyjenkins]

Thank you guys for the help you have already provided. You have already been extremely valuable, and I only ask so many questions because I am an eager learner and want to do things the best way possible.

 

[phatuna]

Tronny, I've only got a bit of info: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/How_to_make_Candi_Sugar
also, https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/making-belgian-candi-syrup-83604/

for your second question, there is something called a "brew belt" that I think will raise the temps. You could also search "swamp cooler" and instead of using ice to cool the water down, you could use 85 degree water from your sink. The other thing that folks do is to use an aquarium heater in their swamp cooler (a swamp cooler is simply a cooler bigger than your primary bucket, put the primary into the cooler, fill cooler with some water, put the aquarium heater in there).. p.s. the search feature is at the top of this webpage on the right.

Try a 2ndary if you want. I've never brewed a belgian but in my opinion the use of a secondary for aging longer than 5 to 6 weeks is a good idea.

 

[aphid_rancher]

I found an old heating pad in the closet worked to warm my carboy. The owner of our local home-brew store recommended putting it on the side of the glass to create convection that will gently stir the liquid rather than setting the carboy on the pad which can cook the stuff on the bottom too much. Use a blanket or sweatshirt to insulate things and a little creativity to control the temperature with how much the pad is in contact with the glass.

 

[iron_city_ap]

I found an old heating pad in the closet worked to warm my carboy. The owner of our local home-brew store recommended putting it on the side of the glass to create convection that will gently stir the liquid rather than setting the carboy on the pad which can cook the stuff on the bottom too much. Use a blanket or sweatshirt to insulate things and a little creativity to control the temperature with how much the pad is in contact with the glass.

Sounds pretty sweet, but it would take a fair amount of monitoring at first just to make sure you don't get it too warm, but after you get it figured out the 1st time I bet it would work really well.

 

[iron_city_ap]

You could do it this way, you will however have a higher OG. (the same amount of fermentables with less water).

I kinda forgot about that math stuff. Good point and thanks for pointing that out.

 

[tronnyjenkins]

thanks.
i will try the search feature more often too.

 

[patd]

Oooh rochefort 8, one of my favorites. Looking forward to hearing how this extract version turns out.

 

[tronnyjenkins]

I will let you know, it's my second brew, so hopefully I won't mess things up.
I'm also excited about the about the possibility to easily convert any all-grain recipe until I get to that skill level.

Brew day tomorrow!

 

[tronnyjenkins]

just finished brewing, hopefully it will take off like the first brew. we plan to keep the fermentation temp at a strict 71 F and see what we get. it was alot of fun, and we ended up with a great color due to the decreased carafa amount.

we made the addtional half pound of candi sugar, which was a darker color and tasted like roasted marshmallows. we added all candi sugar at five minutes, with the last hallertauer addition.

when pouring to the primary, we had a ton of solid trub/hot break type stuff, so we strained it out using the grain steeping bag. i of course sanitized this beforehand. we took out alot of the yucky looking solids, but i think enough nutrients got through for the yeast to be happy. we had to add probably 3/4 of a gallon of water, and the OG was between 1.074-1.077, which may be a touch low, but hopefully that's ok.

 

[tronnyjenkins]

The batch took off today!
I am a little worried, because this morning it was definitely bubbling like crazy, and by 7:15 or so there was brown gunk in the airlock.
When we arrived home after work, there was stuff on the side of the fermentor, and the lid was partially off. The pressure must have been crazy!
Do you guys think it could have got contaminated? I immediately sanitized the airlock and replaced the lid, and the air gap was tiny, but I am a worry "wort"...

(post cleaned airlock)

 

[phatuna]

It will be fine. You should use a blow off system next time. Do a search for it. I don't use an airlock anymore until fermentation is complete.
Instead of an airlock, run a couple of feet of your clear tubing from the airlock hole to a container of sanitized water. you will no longer have this problem...

 

[PhelanKA7]

I just opened a 1 week old bottle of my first beer, Brewer's Best Belgian Tripel today and I have to admit I am absolutely blown away. I don't know how much of this is "Parent's Pride" (parents know what I'm talkin about) but I would be a repeat buyer of this beer if I found it in a store.

I'll post a thread probably in two weeks once the carbonation has a bit more time to complete, so that I can get pictures of the head in it's full glory. After just one week however the head forms seconds after pouring at around 1/4" thickness and takes a creamy/milky appearance. After 15 minutes or so the head reduces down to a fingernails width but remains for over 30 minutes. It might've stuck around longer but I didn't bother to find out. I enjoyed the heck outta the stuff.

Whether I go the AG/PM route at some point or not I will definitely be sticking with BB in a pinch. This has been a fantastic experience in no small part to the ingredients included in that first kit. I highly recommend it this particular kit (Belgian Tripel).

 

[tronnyjenkins]

my Rochefort clone was bottle today.
Two weeks in primary, two in secondary, and it had reached the perfect gravity.
Great color, excellent clarity, aroma to die for.
Taste was GREAT. i can't wait for it to be fully bottle conditioned.

On a side note, I was sad with my Julius Ecter bottles. Luckily I only had two, but they were an odd size or something because it was almost impossible to cap them.

 

[patd]

I'm going to give this one a shot this weekend...what was your steep time on the grains?

 

[tronnyjenkins]

We steeped this for 30 minutes at 160 I believe.

 

[tronnyjenkins]

So I was just curious how this beer was coming along and after 2 1/2 weeks it hasn't carbonated. Am I being a worry wort, or should I be worried?