OP
OP
I think I've only done it with Abbey and Abbey Ale II (The current batch is abbeyII)
Belgian Blond Ale Revvy's Belgian Blonde (Leffe Clone)
- Thread starter Revvy
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homebrewdad
Well-Known Member
I had another of these last night, and continue to be impressed with just how darned good this beer is.
OP
OP
Sorry, I don't play with my water, so I can't really help you.
I live in Croatia(Europe) and have extremely hard water suitable only for dark beers. I have to adjust it when brewing lighter beers. Can you,at least tell me (if you know) , the chloride to sulfate ratio of your water so I could copy it.
Thanks again
Thanks again
OP
OP
Sorry, like I said, I don't normally play with water chemistry, so I don't have that info. Best I can do is point you to a thread where folks are discussion the Detroit Water Analysis. Detroit Water Analysis: Thoughts?
Hope that helps.
![Craft A Brew - Safale BE-256 Yeast - Fermentis - Belgian Ale Dry Yeast - For Belgian & Strong Ales - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [3 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51bcKEwQmWL._SL500_.jpg)
This is the second recipe I have done of yours. The Kentucky Common Rye, really good and gone really quick... I just cracked the first bottle of this, amazing. I wish I still had some Leffe around to compare. Both of these are on my list of do overs. My hat is off to you good sir.
homebrewdad
Well-Known Member
Small wonder why I constantly encourage people to try this recipe in the numerous "what should I brew?" threads.
OP
OP
I'm so grateful you guys like those recipes. Both this one and the Kentucky Common, and my vienna lager (which not a lot of folks brew because it's a lager I guess,) were out of the park homers. I wish ALL my recipes turned out as good without a lot of tweaking.
What you don't know about are those recipes that I absolutely strike out on.
homebrewdad
Well-Known Member
What originally lead me to use this recipe was you menioning that you had really done your homework - you looked at the various clone recipes out there for this beer, then you brewed and rebrewed to get it "just right". I figured that you had already done the hard part, that it sounded like the recipe almost had to be excellent.
Others seemed to really enjoy it, and after brewing it, I can say that yes - this is a stellar recipe.
I'm betting that your strikeouts have still taught you some things, yes? You don't learn much by success, whereas failure always has a lesson to teach if you will only listen.
makomachine
Well-Known Member
I need to pick up a bottle of this in the commercial version as I've been on a Belgian kick recently and never had this one. Looks like a winner and the recipe made my mouth water!
I just kegged this after about a month after brew day and all I can say is wow! I picked up a six of the original a few weeks back and I cant tell the difference beween the two. Same spicyness, alcohol is just a bit more prominent in mine but thatll go away in a few weeks I think.
Well done clone!
Well done clone!
makomachine
Well-Known Member
Had the commercial version on Sunday and this is going on the future brew list!
Man I want to make this beer, but I don't have a fermentation cooler and ambient temperature in my fermentation room is around 72-74ish so I'm wondering if this will cause a problem? If so, would pitching WLP500 or WLP550 change the character of the beer too much? Leffe is hands down my favorite commercial beer so if I can make a clone of it I sure will.
homebrewdad
Well-Known Member
Rubbermaid tub + water + ice for a few days while active fermentation is going on. Or swamp cooler.
72-74 would give you active fermentartion temps of 77-84... I think the high end for this yeast is 78.
My ambient temp was lower 60s and this one hit 73 and stayed there for about three days for me.
OP
OP
Yes, just do a simple swamp cooler for the first few days of fermentation and you'll be fine. Freeze some waterbottles and you'll be golden.
I brewed this recipe about 2 months ago. Since the beginning it's had a cidery taste to it. I think the issue may be that my efficiency was low and I added a pound of light brown sugar. After doing some searches on here, a cidery taste can be attributed to adding too high of a percentage of simple sugars to a recipe and not having it balanced with malt. Has this happened to anyone else?
Bamsdealer
Well-Known Member
Think I'm going to give this, or something similar depending on what the brew shop has, a crack for my first Belgian.
I currently have some Ommegang yeast building up as I type this. Think that would be a good sub for the White Labs? My plan was to do a lighter Belgian and use the yeast from that to do a Belgian strong for the winter. This isn't "light" by any means, but it should still work.
I currently have some Ommegang yeast building up as I type this. Think that would be a good sub for the White Labs? My plan was to do a lighter Belgian and use the yeast from that to do a Belgian strong for the winter. This isn't "light" by any means, but it should still work.
Do it. I don't know about a "good sub" but I brewed it with WLP515 Antwerp Ale, and although it didn't taste anything like Leffe (lower attenuation resulted in a little bit thicker, sweeter beer, and a totally different ester profile, whatever) it was really delicious. I think this would come out really nice with any Belgian yeast. Thanks for the recipe Revvy!
Would there be any advantage (or disadvantage) to mash this longer than 45 min ?
Also, I would be inclined to add the sugar to the fermenter after the initial activity slows. Would that make much difference here ?
Also, I would be inclined to add the sugar to the fermenter after the initial activity slows. Would that make much difference here ?
homebrewdad
Well-Known Member
I mashed for an hour, and mine turned out wonderful. Your mileage may vary.
Bamsdealer
Well-Known Member
I brewed this up a week ago and all went well. With the exception of a wheat, this will be my first attempt at a Belgian. Even with a nice sized starter this one is still shooting through the blowoff a week later. I did end up with a higher gravity though. 5.1 gal of 1.077 wort... So this may not exactly fit the blond guideline, but who am I to complain about someextra sugar
If this finishes dry, it may be pushing 8%.
Any good recipes for a Belgian strong or quad I could use this yeast for?
If this finishes dry, it may be pushing 8%.
Any good recipes for a Belgian strong or quad I could use this yeast for?
Bamsdealer
Well-Known Member
Btw, the ommegang yeast didn't work out. Pitched 530 as recommended. Still haven't decided if I want to keg or bottle this... I'm leaning toward bottling since a higher og might make some bottles good for aging.
starman
Well-Known Member
It does age very very well. You really can't go wrong with a 6+ month old bottle of this stuff. It probably would bulk condition and be equally amazing kegged but be prepared to let it sit.
OP
OP
Yeah. I've had the same issue the homebrewdad did with this current batch for some reason (I used second generation abbey ale yeast that I didn't wash) that it's taken time time mellow. It was also the first batch I kegged in my new keezer, so I also think that had something to do with it. But it's FINALLY mellowing out and coming along. It's been in the keg for 5 weeks now.
starman
Well-Known Member
Should have mentioned, the inaugural 10g batch was split 50/50 keg & bottles on 7/25. I guess there will have to be painstaking side by side comparisons starting next week. The bottles have been sitting at around 73-75 due to the heat. The hydro test was pretty harsh so I left the keg out for a week before putting it on gas.
I only have a simple regulator and a 3 way manifold so not sure if the kegged version will get 3 volumes at the expense of the other beers. Did you bump your co2 up?
I only have a simple regulator and a 3 way manifold so not sure if the kegged version will get 3 volumes at the expense of the other beers. Did you bump your co2 up?
OP
OP
Nah, I decided to, since it was my first kegged beer, to carb it at 12psi for 40 degrees f.
I'd can't wait to hear your comparison between kegged and bottle conditioned. Not having any bottled I can't do it, but this does taste different kegged then it ever has bottled.
Bamsdealer
Well-Known Member
I'll probably just stick with the routine I've had since I started kegging. The first gallon gets racked onto sugar in a one gallon jug and the other 4-4.5 gallons goes into a keg. This is just enough for ten 12oz beers for comparison/aging and a few ounces to sample. If you have flip tops, all the better since the beauty of kegging lies in it's convenience. A capper and caps are one less thing to deal with.
To start, thanks for this recipe Revvy. Like I stated in an earlier post I love Leffe and was greatly looking forward to brewing this up. Yesterday I wrote a post describing my brew process this past Saturday, the problem I was having, and a request for suggestions. Well, not sure what happened but either A) I'm retarded and hit preview post instead of post, or B) the forum ate my post...I am leaning toward A as the answer to that issue lol. Anyway, long story short I brewed up the ingredients, cooled, tossed into fermeter and dumped the vial of yeast on Saturday. No fermentation at all as of yesterday morning and I was concerned, headed to bew store after work to get another vial of yeast and wife called to tell me it was gurgling away and fermenting nicely so problem solved! I did change the ingredient list slightly since my LHBS online ordering system wouldn't let me order in increments like 9lb 13oz pilsner, so I had to get a full 10lb of the grains and my ingredient list looked more like:
10 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 81.4 %
1 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 2 8.1 %
6.0 oz Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 3 3.1 %
4.0 oz Melanoiden Malt (20.0 SRM) Grain 4 2.0 %
10.6 oz Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 5 5.4 %
1.50 oz Styrian Goldings [5.40 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 25.1 IBUs
0.75 oz Saaz [4.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 7 7.1 IBUs
1.0 pkg Abbey Ale (White Labs #WLP530) [35.49 ml] Yeast 8 -
I don't think the the added grains will have much of an impact other than a tad more sugar if my efficiency was good, which it calculated at 73.2% Brewhouse Efficiency based on 1.068 SG, but I do think the bittering from the additional hops, especially the Styrian may make a difference. Lesson learned on this brew session, my second AG, make a starter.
10 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 81.4 %
1 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 2 8.1 %
6.0 oz Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 3 3.1 %
4.0 oz Melanoiden Malt (20.0 SRM) Grain 4 2.0 %
10.6 oz Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 5 5.4 %
1.50 oz Styrian Goldings [5.40 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 25.1 IBUs
0.75 oz Saaz [4.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 7 7.1 IBUs
1.0 pkg Abbey Ale (White Labs #WLP530) [35.49 ml] Yeast 8 -
I don't think the the added grains will have much of an impact other than a tad more sugar if my efficiency was good, which it calculated at 73.2% Brewhouse Efficiency based on 1.068 SG, but I do think the bittering from the additional hops, especially the Styrian may make a difference. Lesson learned on this brew session, my second AG, make a starter.
