Belgian Strong Dark on a Budget

[JonnyJumpUp]

I'm trying to tackle the belgian strong style. My first attempt, a dubbel, came out drinkable but thats about all I can say. It was mostly due to an unforseen rise in fermentation temperatures to 75F. But besides tasting like booze and bannanas it was very dry and flatter than I expected it would be. I thought maybe a strong dark would hide some of my mistakes until I can master the belgian yeast... so I'm using 1/2 gallon of washed WL500 yeast from the Dubbel and pitching into this recipe. Opinions and input from those with more experience with this style appreciated.

Batch Size: 5.00 gal

10.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) Grain 78.55 %
0.40 lb Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 3.14 %
0.20 lb Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 1.57 %
0.10 lb Pale Chocolate Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 1.02 %

1.00 lb Candi Sugar, Dark (85.0 SRM) Sugar 7.86 %
1.00 lb Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 7.86 %

0.50 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 6.5 IBU
0.50 oz Chinook [13.00 %] (60 min) Hops 18.8 IBU
0.50 oz Styrian Goldings [5.40 %] (30 min) Hops 6.0 IBU
0.50 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [4.00 %] (15 min) Hops 2.9 IBU
0.50 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [4.00 %] (2 min) Hops 0.5 IBU

1/2 Gallon of Washed Yeast from WLP500 Belgian Dubbel fermented at 75F. Tagert fermentation for strong dark 68F.

Est Original Gravity: 1.079 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.018 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 7.95%
Bitterness: 34.7 IBU
Est Color: 19.2 SRM

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

BDSA usually do not have that much hop character. I'd ditch the 30 and 2 minute additions and adjust the bittering as necessary to balance the BU:GU.

 

[beergolf]

BDSA usually do not have that much hop character. I'd ditch the 30 and 2 minute additions and adjust the bittering as necessary to balance the BU:GU.

I agree. Your BU:GU ratio is .44 and it should be down around .297

 

[WoodlandBrew]

I love dark malty beers. I agree on lowering the bitterness although I might take out one of the 60 minute additions and reduce the others. If you are looking to do this on a budget switch the two row to American. I know that goes against the grain with fitting the style, but most people aren't going to notice the difference. Also you can make your own candy sugar to save several dollars per batch.

 

[HomebrewMTB]

I would complicate the malt bill and simplify the hop bill. Consider adding any or all of the following: aromatic, wheat, melanoidan, Munich. I would also increase the OG some with adding some pilsner malt. You should be aging this beer so the hop aroma/flavor will fade anyway. You might as well keep that simple. You could easily do a single addition of noble hop at 60 mins and be done.

 

[CTownBrewer]

This is what I'd do for a Belgian Dark aiming for about 9 to 9.5% ABV. I also included some notes at the end based on my research on Belgian style beers in general...

GRAIN BILL
- 70% Belgian Pilsner
- 10% Munich
- 4% Aromatic
- 4% CaraMunich
- 4% Special B
- 8% Corn Sugar

HOPS
- 100% Hallertauer @ 60 minutes to hit 22-25 IBU

YEAST
- Wyeast 1762 - Belgian Abbey Ale II or 3787 Trappist High Gravity

NOTES
- If using Pilsner malt, make sure to boil 90 minutes to drive off DMS.
- Many taste tests have been done between Candi Sugar vs corn sugar...There really isn't a detectable difference, except that corn sugar is way cheaper.
- Consider adding the corn sugar midway thru fermentation instead of to the boil...the yeast could get stressed consuming the simple sugars & fail to ferment all the sugars from the grain which is what you want. Just boil the sugar in a cup or two of water & cool to 70 F before adding to the ferment (it will become syrupy).
- Fermentation is key. If you can't control the fermentation temperature, it's going to be tough to make an awesome Belgian. I try to start mine in the low to mid 60's & raise the temp slowly to the low 70's as fermentation slows.