Messed up Belguim Ale?

[bhdail]

I went out on a limb and brewed my first extract batch of my own creation. I looked at various Belguim Ale recipes and bought ingredients that are variations of several of those recipes. I had 6lbs of Briess Gold LME and steeped 1 1/2 lbs of grains and then had my hops. Some of the recipes also add around 1lb of sugar, I actually bought the sugar to add during the boil and forgot to put it in. Now I'm wondering if I have enough fermentables for the yeast. My OG was 1.042. Can someone please tell me what my OG should be and if I have a problem on my hands?

 

[Gropo]

If you were going for a Tripel, you'll miss those fermentables....at least your ABV will be lower than anticipated. If you used a Trappist style yeast, you'll probably end up with something close to a Belgian style beer anyway, but it's going to be a bit different, since your malt/hop balance will be off. Don't stress though; just enjoy what you end-up with, and chalk it up to experience.

 

[Brewham]

You don't have a problem - whatever happens you made beer. As it stands right now you'll probably end up with an ABV of 4.2%. If you want to boost that and get your recipe back to where you started, boil some water and add that extra sugar to the fermentables. Adding it later is just fine.

 

[MalFet]

Different styles have different starting gravities. 1.042 is pretty standard for a lot of styles. It may not fit within the specifications of any particular style, but it will definitely be beer! Nothing to worry about.