Belgian Dark Strong Ale Easy Chimay Blue clone

[millyvfloyd]

I've had this in the secondary for a month and the gravity seems to be stuck around 1.032. Any tips?

 

[bknifefight]

I've had this in the secondary for a month and the gravity seems to be stuck around 1.032. Any tips?

You shouldn't have transferred to the secondary if it wasn't done fermenting. You probably don't have enough yeast to finish the job in there. I would pitch some more and see what happens.

 

[Broken]

I've had this in the secondary for a month and the gravity seems to be stuck around 1.032. Any tips?

I used the WLP500 and mine finished at 1.030 after 3 weeks in primary. I let it sit in secondary for another 10 days and bottled it. Granted this was yesterday. My starting gravity was 1.100. (boiled too much off)

 

[paradoxic]

I used the WLP500 and mine finished at 1.030 after 3 weeks in primary. I let it sit in secondary for another 10 days and bottled it. Granted this was yesterday. My starting gravity was 1.100. (boiled too much off)

Any tasting notes?

 

[bknifefight]

I am really happy with this beer but not happy with myself. I decided at the end of fermentation to up the temperature and get some nice Belgian flavors in there. With this being my first time using WLP500, I didn't know it throws so much banana and bubblegum flavors when it gets too hot. It's good but not as good as it could be because of what I did.

 

[deafmonk]

I am really happy with this beer but not happy with myself. I decided at the end of fermentation to up the temperature and get some nice Belgian flavors in there. With this being my first time using WLP500, I didn't know it throws so much banana and bubblegum flavors when it gets too hot. It's good but not as good as it could be because of what I did.

I am curious. I am using WLP500 also for Ommegang Abbey Ale clone which the recipe calls for primary fermentation temp of 76 to 84 degrees F. I stayed with 77 to 78 degrees F because I was afraid of banana flavors if the temp went over 80 degrees. How hot did you up the temperature?

 

[Broken]

Any tasting notes?

The taste was good I think. Its hard to tell without the carbonation for me. I fermented at 68-70. I did not detect very much of a flowery/banana taste.

I plan on opening one in a week, hopefully it is fully carbonated. I will update. I just opened a 10% stout after 2 weeks and it was not carbonated... woops. Guess that one needs another 2-3 weeks.

 

[bknifefight]

I am curious. I am using WLP500 also for Ommegang Abbey Ale clone which the recipe calls for primary fermentation temp of 76 to 84 degrees F. I stayed with 77 to 78 degrees F because I was afraid of banana flavors if the temp went over 80 degrees. How hot did you up the temperature?

I kept it in the upper 60's for all of the fermentation and after it was all done, for almost a day I had it in the upper 70's which I think gave me all the banana and bubble gum. It hit 77-79. I would not go over the lower 70s for this yeast.

 

[adagiogray]

Taste notes: I have to revise my prior statement now that it's been bottled two weeks. Subbing the yeast and one of the hops has definitely made a taste difference - I used German traditional instead of Hallertau and it's definitely a stronger hop flavor than Chimay. I also used the Wyeast 3787 instead of the WLP500, and as someone commented earlier, it's a bit spicier than fruity, even though it smelled very fruity during the ferment. It's a good strong caramel-y malty barleywine-ish ale. My carbonation is seeming inconsistent between bottles too. Although my final ABV is only somewhere in the 7.5-8% range, the alcohol taste is notable. This one will probably still benefit form some aging for a month or 2.

 

[FattyLiver]

I followed the OP recipe fairly closely but tweaked it to get it to the magic 9% of Chimay Blue.

I also used Amber Belgian Candy syrup instead also.

I did however split it into two 2.5 gallon batches one with WLP500 and one with WY1214

Ingredients used

Ingredients
-----------
Amber LME 3.30 lb, Extract, Extract
Aromatic Malt (Belgian) 0.25 lb, Grain, Steeped
Northern Brewer LME - Munich 6.00 lb, Extract, Extract
Candi Sugar, Amber (Belgian) 1.00 lb, Sugar, Other
CaraMunich 0.50 lb, Grain, Steeped
Munich (German) 2.00 lb, Grain, Steeped
Special "B" (Belgian) 0.50 lb, Grain, Steeped
Torrified Wheat 0.50 lb, Adjunct, Steeped

Hallertauer (Germany) 1.00 oz, Pellet, 60 minutes
Styrian Golding (Slovenia) 1.00 oz, Pellet, 30 minutes

This somehow hit exactly 1.09 OG. This batch was almost meant to be so far.

I am 3 weeks into the primary and the gravity is as follows.

WY1214 batch = 1.022
WLP500 Batch = 1.0215

Taste test was delicious. The 1214 batch smells a bit better, while I preferred the taste of 500 batch a bit more. By a bit I mean minuscule and I can already tell these will both be delicious.

Odds are I am going to just bottle this from primary after week 4 since my FG is hit and it already tastes magical.

I decided I am going to add some 1214 before bottling to make sure nothing dare goes wrong while conditioning.

I'll report back sometime towards the end of June after I know I will cave in and try some of each early.

Thanks for the initial blueprint.

 

[bknifefight]

1.0215? You're being to precise, just round up or down

 

[reifer1]

ok...I've read this thread for beginning to end...and now I'm excited. This will be my first Belgian. Seems like a great place to start. I'll try to stick to the original recipe posted but certianly have enough suggestions for subs! (And you've answered my question about the boiling wort killing the wine yeast)
Bottling my summer ale this weekend and will replace with this in my primary immediately!
Love this site!! Thanks everyone!
Cheers!

 

[FattyLiver]

Well I tried a small Chimay bottle of each batch yesterday out of curiosity.

They were not fully carbed yet nor even cold as I refrigerated them only for an hour or so.

The WLP500 one looked, smelled, and tasted very close. Although mine felt a bit dryer.

The WY1214 one however just seemed a bit off. It was good but didn't have the early awesomeness of the white labs.

If I did it again I would do 2 weeks primary, 4 weeks secondary and stick with WLP500 @ 66-68 degrees.

Regardless they should both be awesome in a month or two and actually cold conditioned for a week or two.

 

[deafmonk]

If I did it again I would do 2 weeks primary, 4 weeks secondary and stick with WLP500 @ 66-68 degrees.

Regardless they should both be awesome in a month or two and actually cold conditioned for a week or two.

Hi FattyLiver,

I am still newbie so I want to see if you can clarify your comment "actually cold conditioned for a week or two" for me. Is that at that point at the end of secondary and then cold conditioned? The reason I asked is because I have another recipe for Ommegang Abbey Ale clone which calls for 76 to 84 degrees F in primary and 28 degrees F in secondary which I think is "cold conditioned."

Or perhaps your definition of "cold conditioned" is to put in the refrigerator for a week or two and then open it up to drink?

Thanks in advance for your reply.

 

[ohararp]

Fatty liver, I just brewed your version of this recipe today and it looks and smells great. OG was right at 1.090 for 5 gallons. Nice!

 

[FattyLiver]

Or perhaps your definition of "cold conditioned" is to put in the refrigerator for a week or two and then open it up to drink?

Sorry wasn't very clear. I just meant leave it in the fridge for a few weeks before drinking it.

 

[FattyLiver]

Fatty liver, I just brewed your version of this recipe today and it looks and smells great. OG was right at 1.090 for 5 gallons. Nice!

Congrats. I was shocked when it came out exactly at 1.09 .lol.
For once my OG calculator was spot on.

I am still holding strong and not trying another one yet. I will prob give it a few more weeks conditioning before I revisit it.

Although my willpower is fading rapidly

 

[ohararp]

Fermentation finally quieted down to a bubble or so every 3-5 minutes. Did a quick gravity check with the "thief" and gravity was at 1.020 (9.2% ABV) for 13 days of fermentation. I am stoked! A 1-2 more weeks in primary, with a move to secondary and we should be all set. I didn't take notes, but it was right on for a Chimay Blue recipe, despite being a bit green.

 

[mwmoose152]

Has anyone ready Beer Captured? They have a clone of the Chimay Blue, and it is much different. Is it against any laws to post that here?

 

[bknifefight]

No, it is perfectly legal to post recipes since they don't fall under copyright law (there was a discussion about this in the Blood Orange Hefeweizen thread since it was written in a book). I'd like to see this alternate recipe.

 

[mwmoose152]

OK. Here it is:

8 oz Belgian cara-munich malt
6 oz Belgian aromatic malt
4 oz Belgian special b malt
2.5 oz British chocolate malt

8.75 lbs muntons extra light dry
1.5 lbs dark candi sugar
1/2 oz yakima magnum @ 15.5 % AA

15 min left,
1/2 oz german hallertau hersbrucker
1/8 tsp grains of paradise
1 tsp irish moss

2 min left,
1/4 oz german hallertau hersbrucker
1/8 tsp grains of paradise

Wyeast 1214 or 1388.

1/2 cup corn sugar AND 1/3 cup clear candi sugar at bottling.

Seems more involved. Thoughts?

 

[bknifefight]

That looks remarkably similar to dubbels that I make. The yeast is what gives it a lot of the right flavor, if 1214 or 1388 is the chimay variety, I'm sure it will be good.

 

[Senoroms]

Thank you all for the great information and helpful tips, I brewed this beer last night and had a few questions:

I did a partial boil and once I cooled my wort with my chiller, I transferred to my primary container. I added the remaining 2 gallons or so and then pitched my yeast WLP 500, I woke up this morning to check the beer and to my surprise nothing is happening. Did I not aerate the wort enough or is it normal not to have fermentation begin right away?

Thanks everyone.

 

[ohararp]

Update: All my buddies think this recipe is spot on and I can't agree more now that I have this in the keg. I am too impatient and have been drinking this pretty steadily. I will say it has gotten better the longer it has been in the keg though overall great thread and recipe.

Senorms, did you pitch a starter. It's highly recommeded for anything over 1.070. I do it now for all my beers. A starter and an aeration stone seem to do the trick now for me every time. I'd give it till this evening to see if anything is happening.

 

[extexan]

Gotta agree with ohararp. Also, at what temp was your yeast when you pitched it? What temp was your wort? If there is more than a 10 degree temp difference, it can severely increase the lag time. Airation is important as well, IMO; especially on a higher gravity beer.
I bottled my Chimay Red in late October, and it's just beginning to taste good.

 

[Senoroms]

Wort temp and yeast temp were at 78 degrees. Thankfully i saw some real strong bubbling Sunday evening through Monday night, however today things have stopped all together. This is my first high percentage beer so maybe I'm being a little anxious but I was expecting to see bubbling for more than one day... Thoughts?

Thanks for helping a newb!

 

[extexan]

What was your OG? Did you airate the wort? If you took an OG reading, you can check it again to see how far it has dropped. If it has stopped fermenting because of lack of airation, you MAY consider doing some serious airation to get your ferment started again. Without O2, the yeast will peter out. Check your gravity anyway; if it's done it should be around 1.012-1.015 depending on your OG.

 

[FattyLiver]

I just popped a 1214 bottle after waiting for 2 more months. It is definitely getting there now.

I will prob try a WLP500 bottle this weekend for comparison.

Another month or two it should be fully matured.

The addition of the candy syrup at bottling in the above recipe seems like exactly what mine is lacking. Mine has a much more dry and less sweet finish. I think that would complete the recipe.

Either way I am sitting on an obnoxious amount of a good home brewed Belgian Quad.

 

[usfmikeb]

OK. Here it is:

8 oz Belgian cara-munich malt
6 oz Belgian aromatic malt
4 oz Belgian special b malt
2.5 oz British chocolate malt

8.75 lbs muntons extra light dry
1.5 lbs dark candi sugar
1/2 oz yakima magnum @ 15.5 % AA

15 min left,
1/2 oz german hallertau hersbrucker
1/8 tsp grains of paradise
1 tsp irish moss

2 min left,
1/4 oz german hallertau hersbrucker
1/8 tsp grains of paradise

Wyeast 1214 or 1388.

1/2 cup corn sugar AND 1/3 cup clear candi sugar at bottling.

Seems more involved. Thoughts?

Just FYI, Wyeast 1214 is based on a Chimay strain, while 1388 is based on a Duvel strain. I don't do extract, so I can't provide any feedback on the recipe, but just wanted to make sure that the appropriate yeast is used here.

 

[extexan]

Works for me. It's very similar to mine. I bottled this batch last Black Friday. I tasted a bottle 2 weeks ago. I'ts not ready yet. I'll probably sample again in 8 weeks.