How does this Belgian Dark Strong (or Belgian Black?) look?

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syd138

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I was just messing around with some grain I had on hand. I did a .75 gal test batch. This is what it would look like for a 5 gallon. Any thoughts?

Btw I think if I did this for a 5 gal, I would definitley use WLP570.. Im just using dry yeast cause its cheap.. and T-58 is as close as you can get for a dry Belgian style yeast.

6.00 lb Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 52.75 %
2.00 lb Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 17.58 %
1.00 lb Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 8.79 %
0.75 lb Wheat, Torrified (1.7 SRM) Grain 6.59 %
0.13 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 1.10 %
1.50 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] (60 min) Hops 20.1 IBU
1.50 lb Candi Sugar, Amber (75.0 SRM) Sugar 13.19 %
1 Pkgs SafBrew Specialty Ale (DCL Yeast #T-58) Yeast-Ale

Est Original Gravity: 1.084 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.021 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 8.19 %
Bitterness: 20.1 IBU
Est Color: 21.9 SRM
 
So Im thinking of brewing up a 5 gall of this tomorrow.

The only thing that is questionable is the torrified wheat. What will this do to the beer.

I've seen it in a few other Belgian recipes.

Will it make it cloudy? Very wheaty?
 
Will it make it cloudy?

No, the Munich should have enough surplus enzymes to convert it.

Do spend the extra bucks on the liquid yeast. Srsly.

If I brewed this recipe for 5 finished gallons at 72%, I'd get 1.073 OG.:confused:
 
imho that's too much aromatic malt, I'd probably cut it in half if I were brewing it. That and I'd do a pound of dark candi syrup instead of the amber candi rocks. you can either make your own (it's on this site somewhere, or google it) or there is a great company called dark candi inc. that makes good syrups, sold in 1.5# jars.
 
So what do you think the problem will be with having too much Aromatic? I've made a barley wine before using 3lbs of Belgian Aromatic.. it was very malty.. but I like that.

As far as the amber candi.. I made it myself, so thats all I have.. it actually is more on the dark end. Very caramelly.
 
If you're going for an authentic Belgian, you might want to substitute in some Pilsner extract. If you like the maltiness (as I do), then keep it as is.
 
Im not looking for anything too authentic.

Belgian Dark Strongs and Belgian Blacks (Darks) don't have as clear of guidelines as do Dubbels, Tripels etc.

1554, Trois Pistoles, Chambly Noire, Chimay Blue, etc. are all completely different from one another.

So Im prety much looking for a strong malty beer.. but with a good Unibroue-ish flavor. So Im thinking of going with Wyeast 1388 or WLP570
 
So I just bottled this up.. tried a little bit.

Not bad. Pretty black.. looks kind of like 1554.

But even with all the Munich and Aromatic that should have given it a good malty taste, its still a little dry. Probably because of the yeast, but also because of the Chocolate.

I think Im going to completely cut that out and maybe at some Special B?
 
Cracked open a bottle of this the other day. It's been bottled for about a month.

Not bad.

Tastes kind of like a darker tripel .. the t-58 is starting to really give a good belgian trappist-ish flavor to it.

Probably too much candi sugar.. it is very alcoholy tasting.

Not bad.

I will definitely be using 500 or 570 next though.
 
Gonna age this beer for a long while? At the end of this summer I'm gonna do up a batch of dark strong that I hopefully can set aside for atleast a year.
 
+1 to aging, the "alcoholy" taste would be from a lack of aging, these stronger belgian ales which are heavy on the candi syrup/sugar need aging, certainly longer than a few month.
 
Oh yeah.. I'll definitely age it when I do a full 5 gal.

This was just a 1 gallon test batch.

Still though from what I've read in Brew Like a Monk it generally seems like many recipes use 10% sugar.. mine is closer to 15%. Might cut it down .25-.5 lbs in candi sugar.

But just a side note, I used dark/amber candi sugar I made myself.. and its seemed to work just as well as stuff I've bought.
 
How are you gonna do your starter? I'm gonna brew a belgian blonde with white labs trappist ale yeast and then brew a belgian dark strong and pitch right ontop of that cake. Shouldnt be overpitching because it's such a big beer.
 
How are you gonna do your starter? I'm gonna brew a belgian blonde with white labs trappist ale yeast and then brew a belgian dark strong and pitch right ontop of that cake. Shouldnt be overpitching because it's such a big beer.

probably just do some light DME in 16oz keep it at 1.040
 
what do you think.. 32oz?

But from what I've read, 1.040 is where you want to be.
 
I'd do a 1L starter, minimum. and that's only because belgian brewers have a tendancy to underpitch to bring more esters out. some would tell you to do a 2L starter, but I'd probably do a 1L.

Oh, and 1.040 is right on.
 
i actually disagree about the size of the starter. I make high-gravity belgians almost exclusively, and I've never had a problem with 12oz or 16oz starters, even with beers finishing around 12% ABV. I think temperature is more important when it comes to achieving full attenuation.

Pitching too big a starter reduces the level of esters and phenols that you want in this style.

Also, up to 2 pounds of sugar is fine; just keep the fermentation temperature down for the first couple of days to keep the hot alcohol flavors restrained.
 
I think temperature is more important when it comes to achieving full attenuation.

Pitching too big a starter reduces the level of esters and phenols that you want in this style.

Also, up to 2 pounds of sugar is fine; just keep the fermentation temperature down for the first couple of days to keep the hot alcohol flavors restrained.

So what do you think.. 70 degrees good for the first few days?
 
I'm gonna be using this recipe from brewing classic styles

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
13.25 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 65.43 %
3.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 14.81 %
1.00 lb Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 4.94 %
1.00 lb Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 4.94 %
1.00 lb Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 4.94 %
0.50 lb Melanoiden Malt (20.0 SRM) Grain 2.47 %
0.50 lb Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 2.47 %
3.00 oz Hallertauer [3.00 %] (60 min) Hops 30.8 IBU
1 Pkgs Trappist Ale (White Labs #WLP500) Yeast-Ale


And adding some cane sugar as ferment slows down
 
But if Im looking for a bit of a fruitier taste, would it make sense to do it a little warmer?
 
i like to start at 68, let it rise to 72 or so during the active phase, and then as soon as the bubbles begin to come more slowly i bump it up towards 80. the extra warmth towards the end of fermentation gives them the little boost they need to finish dry.

Another great trick for brewing these beers: the ratio of sugar to malt affects the dryness. for a 9% ABV beer, 2 pounds of sugar gives a dryer result than 1 pound.

It helps let the fermentation begin with only malt in the wort. Then, when the bubbles in the airlock begin to slow, heat and dissolve 1-2 lbs of sugar in two cups of water. Cool it down and add it to the fermenter. The yeast will kick back into overdrive and fully dry out the beer.
 
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