1.5L stir starter - ~36-48 hrs prior.
Mash @ ~156
I have some spare clear candi sugar to use. I rarely make trappists so it will go to waste otherwise
Pitch @ 68, let free rise to 70. Add some Fermaid K at ~48 hours in.
After a week I'll throw it in my fermentation closet which stays at 74.
[...]
Ordering stuff now, will update in a month or so when it's ready...
Okay! Reporting back and answering this (better late than never!). The beer turned out decent after 3 weeks, was missing some phenol and fruity esters I thought, but it got a 36.5 (guessing a 38 and 35) in the one comp I entered... but I never saw a scoresheet, emailed the organizer to no avail >/
So now those bottles have cellared for almost 9 months, the beer is very tasty, no surprise for a Belgian strain. I don't think I would brew this again without planning on bottle conditioning, it just seems style appropriate. Since these were 500ml bottles I threw some in my precision hydrometer (as I did prime them a tiny bit). FG was 1.011 (156 mash) after primary. Granted that hydrometer broke, but this one reads 1.010.
So here's my take:
Good recipe, my execution was mediocre, beer was better around the 2 month mark.
Appearance - darker than leffe by a few SRM, great rocky head after conditioning.
Aroma - missing the 4vg phenol (clove), but lovely dried fruit / fig / raisin esters. Nothing off when served at 42, but brought up to room temp I got solvent.
Taste: I like the dryness, I dislike the moderate midpalate bitterness I get, even 5 minutes after the last sip. I'd dial the Goldings down to 18-20 IBU and mash at 158 as recommended. (156 was by mistake, undershot February grain temp in the cooler) to finish around 1.013 ideally.
Mouthfeel: pretty spot on, it's just like leffe. On the thin end, lovely effervescence in a refreshing Belgian way.
Flaws: I think I'd dial back the biscuit + Munich if I was going to cellar it again, there's a kind of cloying and unfitting toasty malt note that wasn't there 6 months ago. I bet the color would be perfect with a 60 min boil less some Munich. The only offensive off flavor I get is ethyl acetate, which to me says I stressed the yeast out. Within the limit, this should taste like pear - perfect to style, yet at room temp it's clearly solventy.
Looking forward to brewing again with a few small tweaks.