Is it too late for my Chimay Clone

[jturman35]

Hey guys I made a dumb mistake back last May when I brewed a Chimay Clone which came in at 10%. I kept thinking the beer would just take time to meld and come together but it’s been over 8 months.

I went back and looked at my notes and realized I used the wrong water profile (Yellow Dry) for some dumb reason. I build my water from distilled. Should I go ahead and play taps as I pour this out or is there anyway I can add salts to fix this in the finished beer?

 

[Jag75]

What's it taste like?

 

[RPh_Guy]

You can add CaCl and/or NaCl to it at any time.

Consider a bench trial.

 

[isomerization]

+1 to titrating a small amount before treating the whole batch.

 

[Big Monk]

Hey guys I made a dumb mistake back last May when I brewed a Chimay Clone which came in at 10%. I kept thinking the beer would just take time to meld and come together but it’s been over 8 months.

I went back and looked at my notes and realized I used the wrong water profile (Yellow Dry) for some dumb reason. I build my water from distilled. Should I go ahead and play taps as I pour this out or is there anyway I can add salts to fix this in the finished beer?




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Forget the water for a minute: what is it you want to meld? Can you describe the flavors and why you think they are undesirable?

 

[JimRausch]

Forget the water for a minute: what is it you want to meld? Can you describe the flavors and why you think they are undesirable?

Agreed. What's wrong with it?

 

[bovine_OB]

Uh oh, wrong water profile but everything else checks out? Probably ruined. I'd dump it, but it should be inspected by a seasoned beer drinker. Better send it to me to be sure

 

[jturman35]

I’m not good at describing flaws, but it does not come across as very smooth and malty. The water seems to be the only screw up that I could find. A friend gave me this recipe and his 7yr old version was fantastic.

I just happened to stumble through my notes last night as I bottled the last of the keg and saw “Yellow dry” and said wth was I thinking when I did this. How bad will this profile throw off the balance?

I’m not opposed to sending a beer to someone who can give me constructive feedback.

 

[Big Monk]

I’m not good at describing flaws, but it does not come across as very smooth and malty. The water seems to be the only screw up that I could find. A friend gave me this recipe and his 7yr old version was fantastic.

I just happened to stumble through my notes last night as I bottled the last of the keg and saw “Yellow dry” and said wth was I thinking when I did this. How bad will this profile throw off the balance?

View attachment 604664

I’m not opposed to sending a beer to someone who can give me constructive feedback.

That profile isn’t out of whack enough to raise my eyebrows. Sulfate is a bit higher than I would use but not excessive.

Can you take a shot at describing it?

 

[Big Monk]

I’m not good at describing flaws, but it does not come across as very smooth and malty. The water seems to be the only screw up that I could find. A friend gave me this recipe and his 7yr old version was fantastic.

I just happened to stumble through my notes last night as I bottled the last of the keg and saw “Yellow dry” and said wth was I thinking when I did this. How bad will this profile throw off the balance?

View attachment 604664

I’m not opposed to sending a beer to someone who can give me constructive feedback.

I was re-reading this and as a general aside, are you sure the deficiencies you read aren’t recipe based?

You stated it’s a Chimay clone but the recipe is very busy and you used the Duvel yeast. Could it be that comparing it to Chimay Grande Reserve is yielding something different then what you expected?

 

[jturman35]

RPI Scotty you could be correct could be recipe or my process that is flawed. I was assuming the water was the culprit. It’s really hard to drink a full glass of this. No it’s not even close to Chimay but it comes across minerally.

 

[Big Monk]

RPI Scotty you could be correct could be recipe or my process that is flawed. I was assuming the water was the culprit. It’s really hard to drink a full glass of this. No it’s not even close to Chimay but it comes across minerally.

I guess maybe the culprit could be the relatively high Sulfate compare to the hopping.

The absolute value of Sulfate isn’t THAT high but we are talking about a beer with only about 21 IBU.

My sfate values are typically in the 69-70 range for all my beers that have similar values for IBU.

That could be it. It could also be a combination of all those different grains, lower (ish) pH, and all the spices. I personally don’t get along with bitter orange peel. I use the Sweet variety instead.