Belgian Dark Strong Ale Easy Chimay Blue clone

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So I tried this for my first brew last weekend and just transferred it to the secondary. I tried a small glass from the primary and I am very impressed, it already tastes very similar to a chimay blue!

Thanks for the recipe summersolstice!

I have a couple questions though, after transferring there was about a half gallon of sludge at the bottom of the primary, I believe I should be throwing this out? Also, now the secondary is about half a gallon short of 5 gallons, should I add more water or is it fine?

 

[extexan]

Personally, I wouldn't add more water as it would dilute your fine brew. When priming, you may want to go a little less with the priming sugars...maybe a tablespoon less at least so it won't overcarbonate. Yes, throw out the trub.

 

[shanlmt]

Hello. I am so excited about this recipe. I've read through all the forum comments a couple of times. I have only brewed 2 batches of beer so far, and I may be biting off more than I can chew with this recipe, but I am so excited! Here are my questions:
1. Do I need to do something special with the WLP500 Yeast, other than just getting it to room temp and pitching it in the cooled wort? I just got confused because in the directions it says to pitch the yeast starter. So, if I need to make a starter could you tell me how to do that?

2. It says this is a 5 gallon batch, but it only calls for 4 gallons of water. Am I missing something?

 

[ohararp]

I highly recommend using a beer starter. I have been doing 800 ml starters with my liquid wyeast since I tend to brew beers that are 1.070 or higher. I built something similar to this http://www.homebrewing.org/The-Stirstarter-Yeast-Stir-Plate-_p_1306.html and it works great. I do the starter the night before and have had great fermentation, no stalls, since doing this. If you can't do a starter I would pitch 2 liquid starters.

I can only boil 5 gallons at a time and added enough water to get to this. After boil I added about 3/4 gallon to get back up to 5. Gravity matched perfect 1.090 when I did this.

 

[shanlmt]

Hi there. I'm getting ready to brew this chimay clone this week and i noticed that you said you put in 2lbs of your own candy sugar. The recipe only calls for 1 lb, but I was thinking of putting in some extra to boost the OG and make it higher in alcohol. My question is: will putting in the extra sugar change the flavor of the beer? like making it too sweet?

 

[shanlmt]

i am going to be making this beer this week and I saw your comment on the priming sugar. How much priming sugar did you use? How much priming sugar would you recommend using?

 

[shanlmt]

Thanks Ohararp. I was just wondering if you are using the original recipe by summersolstice or one of the alternate recipes that were listed later in this forum? I am planning on using the original recipe. The recipe doesn't list how much priming sugar he uses. Would you use 3/4 cups of corn sugar? In my last batch of beer I used 3/4 cup white sugar in a pint of water and brought it to a boil, cooled and placed in bottling bucket. That worked well for my last ale. Just wondering what would be best for this recipe. Thanks!

 

[ohararp]

I recommend fattyliver's recipe it is spot on ;-)! https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f71/easy-chimay-blue-clone-73965/index7.html#post2885789

I am running a kegerator so carbonation is easily taken care of. Priming sugar amount seems reasonable.

 

[shanlmt]

hello there Fattyliver. Thanks for posting this recipe. I am going to start a batch this weekend. I was comparing your recipe to the original recipe by summersolstice and noticed that you didn't add the 4oz of belgian aromomatic. Do you think if I added it, it would make any discernable difference in the taste? Also, I've never used the candi sugar. I'm assuming it's in a solid form, Do I still add it at 45 mins into the boil? and do I just put the solid sugar into the wort? Sorry for all the silly questions. Thanks!

 

[shanlmt]

Thanks Ohararp for all the quick responses. I think I will try fattyliver's recipe this weekend. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[shanlmt]

Just put it in the primary fermenter. I did fattyliver's recipe and my OG was 1.08. I can't wait till it's done!!!

 

[Crimsonwine]

I just brewed this Sunday and had a OG of 1.077. Also I made my own inverted sugar (Lyles Golden Syrup) but I left mine on boil till it started to caramelize to an amber color. It made just over two pounds and i pitched one pound. Based on my OG I should of pitched the other pound but was not sure if it would throw off the taste.

I went with WL500 Trappist Yeast since that seems to be the best selection based on feedback here. I created a 1200mL starter based on BeerSmith2 and pitched that.

I put it in my lager chest and set the temp to 68F. All I can say is the aroma after a couple days of fermentation is amazing. I hope it tastes as good as it smells.

I went out and bought a bottle of Chimay Blue so i can do a side by side when it is time. Its been a long time since I had some...and at $15 bottle I am glad I can homebrew it!

 

[adagiogray]

I just did another batch of this up, this time with the proper yeast and hops. OG was spot on at 1.074, but even after 5 weeks in the primary(I didn't bother with the secondary this time) It had only dropped to 1.018. The temp got a little hot during the mash a couple of times, and I did add an extra 1/4 lb of chocolate malt, but I figured it would finish lower. It sat in a 69-74ish temp range throughout, it may have gotten as high as 80 for a few days in my basement while I was gone fotr vacation with the a/c off.... Just hope 1. I don't get bottle bombs and 2. there's enough yeast alive to carb it up. The uncarbed beer at bottling was quite tasty. It'll only get better with a few months aging.

 

[Crimsonwine]

How is everyone aging there Chimay Blue Clone?

I have mine kegged and sitting in a lager chest at 52F uncarbed...Was wondering if just putting into my kegerator where it is 38F and letting it sit for a couple months to age will be ok...or should this beer age at a warmer temp?

 

[LordHumungus]

Just got my batch into the primary fermenter last night, with a OG 1.076. Had to use Karos syrup, and used White Labs Trappist yeast. Can't wait!

Day 4 - Still bubbling at a healthy level but definitely slowing. Added another 16 oz of Karos (total 32) per brew shops advice.

Day 7 - Stopped bubbling, transferred to secondary but probably too early. Gravity 1.026. May need to repitch, but will wait 10 days.

Day 14 - Tastes quite good. Fruity, ever so slightly bitter aftertaste. Gravity steady at 1.026. Anyone think I need to repitch?

 

[JAStout]

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.

Hello,

My wort gravity seems to be stuck at 1.030 for two weeks now. Here’s the details.

I brewed Fattyliver’s recipe on Sept 5th. My OG was 1.086
I made the candi sugar, cooked it a bit darker than called for. It tasted very “roasty”.
I made one addition to the recipe – 0.2 lb puffed wheat.

My mash went like this:
Mashed everything in 2.5 gal water for:
30 min at 122F
45 min at 156F
5 min at 170F

Then added the wort to 3 gallons of water, added the extracts and started the boil (1 hour).
Added hops per schedule
Add yeast nutrient at 50 min.
Added candi sugar at 60 min.
Cooled to 75F and pitched a 3 liter starter of WLP500.

Wort has been at 72F for three weeks now. It tastes wonderful, but I’d like it to be a bit drier. 

Any recommendations to get this to attenuate more?

-J

 

[LordHumungus]

What was your final gravity?

 

[JAStout]

It was still at 1.030 last Monday. That same day, I added some yeast nutrient and stirred the wort. I'll check the gravity again tonight.

 

[shanlmt]

I bottled the Chimay last week, after being in the secondary for about 5 weeks. The ABV was just a little under 8%. My OG was 1.082 and FG 1.02. The taste is great! I can't wait to drink it. I'm going to try and be patient and leave it in the bottles for at least a month before I try one.

 

[cmaz]

We took a stab at brewing this beer this past Sunday. A couple of alterations though:

i mistakenly bought clear candi sugar instead of amber.

LHBS does not carry White Labs, so i used the Wyeast 1214.

LHBS had no Northern Brewer Munich LME, so i asked him for equal parts x-light and amber. He came up a little light, though and only gave me 9 lbs. And on top of that, i used a cup of the xlight to make the starter. Then i got nervous that i was going to be way low for my OG, so, went back to LHBS and bought some Light DME and added a pound and a half of that to the recipe.

Here is what it finally came down to:

Aromatic Malt (Belgian) 0.25 lb, Grain, Steeped
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

Steeped for 40 minutes at 156 degrees.

Added 0.5 lb light DME and started boil.

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

X-light LME 3.00 lb, Extract, @ Knockout
Amber LME 4.00 lb, Extract, @ Knockout
Light DME 1.00 lb, Extrackt @ Knockout
Candi Sugar, Amber (Belgian) 1.00 lb, Sugar, Other @ Knockout
Yeast Nutrient, 2 tsp @ Knockout
Whirlfloc Tab, 1 tab at Knockout

(boy, knockout was busy, and adding all that LME stopped the boil, so i brought it back up to boil and went about 10 minute extra)

OG came out much much lower than i had hoped/expected (although Brewtarget was telling me it was going to be low, i didn't believe it. Fattyliver, if you're still reading this, how did you get up to 1.09?). My OG was 1.079.

Wyeast 1214, made a starter two nights before from 1 cup LME and 4 cups water. Then bumped it up again the next night with 1/2 cup DME and 2 cups water.

First time i've done a starter, and was worried that i hadn't began that process early enough. One online calculator told me i needed 6 liters of starter! i didn't get anyhere near that, but i must have done alright, because it was off and bubbling within about 3 hours.

Today is Tuesday and it got a little cold last night, but it is still going. Can't wait til it's done so we can move it to secondary and give it a taste.

 

[LordHumungus]

It was still at 1.030 last Monday. That same day, I added some yeast nutrient and stirred the wort. I'll check the gravity again tonight.

Have a 1.026. Local Homebrew Shop told me to apply more started yeast.

 

[JAStout]

It's still at 1.030. How big of a starter should I make for this?

 

[LordHumungus]

Just got my batch into the primary fermenter last night, with a OG 1.076. Had to use Karos syrup, and used White Labs Trappist yeast. Can't wait!

Day 4 - Still bubbling at a healthy level but definitely slowing. Added another 16 oz of Karos (total 32) per brew shops advice.

Day 7 - Stopped bubbling, transferred to secondary but probably too early. Gravity 1.026. May need to repitch, but will wait 10 days.

Day 14 - Tastes quite good. Fruity, ever so slightly bitter aftertaste. Gravity steady at 1.026. Anyone think I need to repitch?

Day 17 Added another vial of White Labs Trappist yeast last night. Bubbling every 6-10 seconds, hopefully that will get my FG down to where it needs to be. A little worried about low oxygen, but I guess much of the fermentation is anaerobic at this point.

 

[adagiogray]

Keep in mind, I'm relatively new myself, but I'll relay what I've come across so far.

You may have racked it off too early. Just because it's not bubbling away doesn't mean the ferment is done, especially if the krausen/head was still up. Especially with the big beers, only 1 week in the primary is probably not long enough. I did this recipe without a secondary, just leaving it in the primary a full month. It's ok to let it sit on the trub a few weeks, it's not going to give it off flavors. So long as your gravity in the primary is still dropping, it's not time to rack it. I just racked right to the bottling bucket, and both batches I've done have been pretty clear. Chimay is a yeasty, cloudy beer, and I dare say mine was clearer than Chimay without racking at all to a secondary.

 

[LordHumungus]

Ugh, I was thinking the same thing. It's down to 1.020, which is encouraging.

The flavor is evolving, but it has a bitter bite to it. Frustrating because of the long conditioning time may yield cap, but you have to take bold steps sometimes to get better!

 

[adagiogray]

Ugh, I was thinking the same thing. It's down to 1.020, which is encouraging.

The flavor is evolving, but it has a bitter bite to it. Frustrating because of the long conditioning time may yield cap, but you have to take bold steps sometimes to get better!

Yeah, my second go at this ended up finishing at 1.018. It seems to have a little of that alcohol harshness, but it mellows quite nicely in 4-8 weeks. Was your white labs yeast the WLP500 Chimay or did you go with a different one?

 

[LordHumungus]

Yeah, my second go at this ended up finishing at 1.018. It seems to have a little of that alcohol harshness, but it mellows quite nicely in 4-8 weeks. Was your white labs yeast the WLP500 Chimay or did you go with a different one?

It was the Chimay, and I only started with one vial but added a second. I went to the local homebrew place (again) and we identified the bitter taste as acetaldehyde, which will go away with time.

 

[shanlmt]

After 2 weeks in primary, 5 weeks in secondary, and 2 weeks in the bottle, I couldn't stand it anymore and had to taste one. The taste was nice, still a little hot and no carbonation yet. I'm really hoping that over time it gets some carbonation. I guess I will have to be patient and wait at least another month

 

[LordHumungus]

After 2 weeks in primary, 5 weeks in secondary, and 2 weeks in the bottle, I couldn't stand it anymore and had to taste one. The taste was nice, still a little hot and no carbonation yet. I'm really hoping that over time it gets some carbonation. I guess I will have to be patient and wait at least another month

Oops I lied. I used the Trappist Yeast.

 

[LordHumungus]

It was the Chimay, and I only started with one vial but added a second. I went to the local homebrew place (again) and we identified the bitter taste as acetaldehyde, which will go away with time.

Corrected: I used Trappist yeast.