First Belgian Strong Ale recipe

[katmeefer]

Ello,
I wanted to post my recipe for a Belgian Ale and see what some people had to say. This is all very preliminary of course, after all, this is my first attempt at this style.
I'm not huge on Belgian yeast, I picked up this strain on accident, but I wanted to create a simple, alcoholic, esther-y beer, remaining somewhat true to the style, but still palatable to me.
Anywaaaay

Batch 5 gal

Malt
9# belgian pils
6oz midnight wheat
4oz special b

Other fermentables
2# candy sugar
(too much?)

Hops
(need input)
1oz halltertau 60
1oz halltertau 30
2 oz tettnanger 10

Flameout addition
Grapefruit zest

Yeast
WLP545

Thanks guys let me know what you think!

 

[bethebrew]

Seems a little heavy on the sugar. I'd probably go 1.25 lbs.

For the hops, it's not to "style" in terms of the late hopping, and seems like a lot of hops for 5 gallons. But hey, it comes down to what you like as well. The noble hops part is all good, I think I would add some tett to the initial boil and save some hallertau for later.

 

[sweetcell]

looks like a fine recipe. personally - and this is just my preference - i would increase the special B to 8 oz. and yeah, 2 pounds of sugar is on the high side. i like bethebrew's suggestion of 1.25.

what OG does this give you?

 

[motorneuron]

Are you going for lighter or darker here? In particular, is that plain (clear) candy syrup, or is it dark? I know the Special B and midnight wheat are dark, but on their own, they don't produce the "right" kind of darkness for a dark strong or dubbel--those beers really require dark sugar to get their flavor right. Similarly, the grapefruit zest and late hops are at least somewhat more in style for a golden strong than for a darker beer.

So I'd make the decision based on your sugar. If it's dark sugar, I'd say you're probably good, though you could consider not using the grapefruit zest or the late hops. OTOH, if you have clear sugar, you might consider nixing the midnight wheat.

2# is a fair amount of sugar, though it wouldn't be as extreme if you had more base malt. Any strong Belgian, whether dark or light, could have an OG of at least 1.060, and certainly even higher, up to 1.080 or more. So 9# of pils seems on the low side to me.