Long time Drinker, Soon to be first time Brewer

[TrilliumLT]

Greetings everyone. 2 years ago I was introduced to Trappist beers by a friend and I've been drinking it on the regular ever since. Being in Ontario Canada it is not easily purchased here or cheap. To cut down my expenses, I have decided to try my hand at brewing a good substitute.
I was telling my brother of my brilliant plan and it just so happens he has a brand new system sitting at his place still in the box. Deal is i can use it but he would like 10% of the brew produce (seems more than fair). It's a Anvil Foundry All Grain Brewing System 18 Gallon. Ive been busy gathering all the main stuff to start the process, except the Ingredients because I wanted to run it by the people in the know. I have spent several days reading and watching vids but I think research time is over and it's time to start the practical part.
Normally people kinda ignore the intro portion of the forums, so thank you for giving it a read.
Colin (aka TrilliumLT )

 

[lumpher]

Welcome, Colin. That sounds like a fair trade. Those Anvil 18g systems cost about $800 US, and that $800 you save will make a lot of beer.

 

[TrilliumLT]

Welcome, Colin. That sounds like a fair trade. Those Anvil 18g systems cost about $800 US, and that $800 you save will make a lot of beer.

For my first go I'm only planning to produce about 5 gallons. Hate to screw up a larger batch. I have a recipe ive made with what easily available at the local supplier. I'm sure this is a good a place as any to do that.

A belgian quad style.

Grains
15 lbs. of Superior Pilsner Malt
3 lbs. of Bestmalz Best Dark Munich Malt
1 lbs. of Victory Malt
1 lbs of Chateau Special B Malt

Sugars
2.5 lbs. Belgian Candi Sugar
1 lbs. of Brown Sugar

Hops
1 oz of Hallertau Pellet Hop
1 oz of Saaz Hops

Yeast
Belgian Ale Yeast - M41. 10g per 6gallons of Wort

Others
Escarpment Laboratories - Yeast Lighting Yeast Nutrient
Whirlfloc Clarifying Tablets

Brewing Process
7.75 gallons of Strike Water ( Spring Water )
Heat strike water to 74C
Mash at 68C for 60min ,recirculate water
Mash out at 77C for 10min, recirculate water
Boil wort at 77C and add Hallertau Hops for 60min
Add Belgian Candi sugar and Brown sugar in the last 15mins, also add the Saaz Hops
Add Whirlfloc tablet and yeast nutrient in the last 10min
Cool Wort to 20C as fast as possible
Transfer Wort to fermenter and pitch yeast
Ferment at 18-28C

Please correct any flaws you see

Colin

 

[lumpher]

Belgian Quads aren't my specialty, but I'd cut that Special B down to .5 and double the hops.

 

[Kickass]

Welcome! I’m not familiar with the Anvil 18gal setup. Just make sure it doesn’t have a minimum volume for your 5 gallon batch.

I also think 1 pound of special b is a lot.

What’s your calculated OG? That seems like a lot of fermentables in a 5 gallon batch, even for a quad.

 

[mac_1103]

Welcome. Big dark beers like quads and imperial stouts often benefit from a good bit of aging. Might not be the best choice for your first batch since you (and your brother) will probably want to drink it right away. But if you're into delayed gratification, knock yourself out! But that's a really big beer - depending on your efficiency it's going be somewhere between 11.5% and almost 14% ABV. And yeah, you really don't need all that Special B.

Also, there is a recipe section on the forum that you might want to consult.

 

[TrilliumLT]

Welcome. Big dark beers like quads and imperial stouts often benefit from a good bit of aging. Might not be the best choice for your first batch since you (and your brother) will probably want to drink it right away. But if you're into delayed gratification, knock yourself out! But that's a really big beer - depending on your efficiency it's going be somewhere between 11.5% and almost 14% ABV. And yeah, you really don't need all that Special B.

Also, there is a recipe section on the forum that you might want to consult.

I'm ok with waiting. I'll check out the other recipes. I have no real formula, just kinda what I saw in other recipes online. I felt that it was too much grain and the special B was also too much. I'll cut that back to a half pound for sure.

 

[Ramjet]

Welcome and good luck with your first brew.

 

[wallyLOZ]

Welcome to HBT!

As @mac_1103 said, check the recipe section. I use it regularly.

Good luck and keep us posted how it turns out.

 

[Zadkiel]

Boil wort at 77C and add Hallertau Hops for 60min
Please correct any flaws you see

Almost certainly a typo on your part as I'm sure you know what the word 'boil' means but that's not at 77C

I second this not being a great choice for a first beer, it's going to want at least 3 months to condition to develop its true flavour, and your first beer you're gonna want to drink! Start with something that will be good to go in 2-3 weeks, and then do your quad recipe and you've got the other beer to satisfy that 'want to drink my own beer' urge for a while.

 

[wdavis2003]

Welcome! Very ambitious first brew. Just remember, producing the wort is the easy part, but getting the fermentation right is going to determine if the beer is any good or not.

 

[Brockness Monster]

Welcome @TrilliumLT. I hope your first brew went well (if you have brewed it already. While you are waiting for the quad to age, I would suggest a Belgian Blond or Dubbel to work out the kinks in your brewing process. Alternate between a couple of those and you'll have a bunch of beer to drink and understand your system better. Happy brewing

 

[TrilliumLT]

Welcome @TrilliumLT. I hope your first brew went well (if you have brewed it already. While you are waiting for the quad to age, I would suggest a Belgian Blond or Dubbel to work out the kinks in your brewing process. Alternate between a couple of those and you'll have a bunch of beer to drink and understand your system better. Happy brewing

Funny you say that, because that exactly what I'm making right now.
Also I tossed out the random brewing recipe and went with a known Belgian brews. I did have to substitute because some products were unavailable here in Ontario

 

[madscientist451]

Welcome to HBT! Brew what you want! Just be advised you are starting out with a somewhat advanced brew. As others have said, a simpler beer would perhaps be a better choice, but you gotta learn somehow, just jump in and do it. Most Belgian beers are very simple, recipe wise. It’s all about the yeast, somewhat about the process and the right ingredients can really make it shine. I recommend the clone recipes at candy syrup.com and Stan Hieronomous’ book on Belgian beers, “brew like a monk”.

 

[TrilliumLT]

Done now. Hopefully we have a decent beer in a month
I used a recipe from brewfather website

 

[Brockness Monster]

Love to see it. Can't wait to hear how it turned out.

 

[TrilliumLT]

Its off gassing pretty good now