Belgian Blond Ale Revvy's Belgian Blonde (Leffe Clone)

[Revvy]

In answer to your first question, yes. Your 60 minute hop addition is 30 minutes into the boil. Can't tell you about the yeast though.

 

[homebrewdad]

Really excited to make this my next brew, but I have two questions:

1. For a90 min boil, I would boil the wort for 30 mins before adding my first round of hops?
2. Any thoughts on how this recipe would work with the YEAST STRAIN: 1388 | Belgian Strong Ale?

Thanks in advance!

1. Yep.
2. The recipe will "work" fine. It's going to have a different ester profile, though. This recipe calls for WLP530, which is the same as Wyeast 3787.

Wyeast 1388 is the same as WLP570, which I have used in a Duvel clone. It's a very nice yeast, just be prepared to give it some serious time - it's slow to finish, and can take FOREVER to floc out.

From my experience, the yeast Revvy calls for has a lot more of a spicy character, combined with fruity notes. 1388 is going to give you little to no spiciness, but a lot of fruitiness - specifically, some very nice pear flavors.

I would think that it would work great with this beer, just relaize that it won't taste as much like Leffe as it will some other Belgian beer.

 

[BungalowBrewBro]

Great! Thanks for the help.

I think I am going to go with the Wyeast 3787. Haven't done a yeast starter before so the Wyeast just seems a bit easier than the whitelabs at the moment.

I'll post how it all works out when I'm done.

 

[homebrewdad]

Great! Thanks for the help.

I think I am going to go with the Wyeast 3787. Haven't done a yeast starter before so the Wyeast just seems a bit easier than the whitelabs at the moment.

I'll post how it all works out when I'm done.

Doesn't matter if you use White Labs or Wyeast - you should pretty much ALWAYS be making a starter when using liquid yeast. Wyeast has neato activator packs, but all they really tell you is that your yeast isn't 100% dead when you get it.

Both companies provide ~100 billion cells in a pack. Typical fermentations really need somewhere between 150-200 billion.

The good news is that starters are WAY easier to make than beer is.

All you do is boil 100ml of dry extract per liter of water (which works out to a little less than half of a cup of extract for a quart of water). For many beers, a 2 liter starter is PLENTY big. Cool this, pitch your yeast into it. Shake it every time you think about it for the next day or so. Congrats, you just drastically improved your yeast count, which will yield better beer.

You don't need a fancy erlenmeyer flask - I just sanitize an empty sweet tea jug. Cover the opening loosely with sanitized foil (you want oxygen in there to help yeast growth).

That's it.

 

[Revvy]

What he said.

 

[moparx12]

just brewed this BIAB with scaled recipe on beersmith. Hit way over on OG. 1.076. i estimated my boil off a bit low and i was only doing a 1.13 gallon batch anyway. should i add a bit of top off water to get the gravity down or just leave it? i am using wyeast smak pack yeast (about half the bag without popping the DME inside) abbey ale I. i want to brew another batch within a couple of days and maybe tweak one or more of the ingredients which is why i only used half.

 

[starman]

Let it ride. A Belgian with more booze is still a Belgian. It may take a little longer to condition.

I'd still pop the smack pack per directions and pour it in a sealable sanitized container that way it's easier to judge volumes. Letting the other yeast sit for a few days or even weeks won't really any different than a starter.

 

[homebrewdad]

just brewed this BIAB with scaled recipe on beersmith. Hit way over on OG. 1.076. i estimated my boil off a bit low and i was only doing a 1.13 gallon batch anyway. should i add a bit of top off water to get the gravity down or just leave it?

Yeah, I did a partial mash and overshot the OG, as well. Still turned out great. Let it ride.

 

[stevemej]

Hi to all on this forum,
I saw Revvy's Leffe Clone recipe about 2 years ago and I saved the link as a favourite so I could come back to it.
So here I go.

It's the first time i've tried brewing from grains and also i'm not sure about some of the terms used and the timings in this recipe.

1. firstly i'm just about to order my grains. Should I get whole or crushed grains?
2. For the recipe timings is this correct:
1. 4 grains added to water at 14q water at 178F
2. maintain at 158F for 30 mins before adding golding hops
3. maintain temp for a further 15 mins
4. add 4.5g water at 168F and maintain temp a further 15 minutes
5. add second hops and maintain temp for 15 mins before adding sugar.
6. maintain temp for a final 15 mins.
7. ferment until it stops (3-4 weeks)
3. For the yeast is there anything special I need to do (create a starter) or do I just throw it in?

thanks in advance

 

[homebrewdad]

Hi to all on this forum,
I saw Revvy's Leffe Clone recipe about 2 years ago and I saved the link as a favourite so I could come back to it.
So here I go.

It's the first time i've tried brewing from grains and also i'm not sure about some of the terms used and the timings in this recipe.

1. firstly i'm just about to order my grains. Should I get whole or crushed grains?
2. For the recipe timings is this correct:
1. 4 grains added to water at 14q water at 178F
2. maintain at 158F for 30 mins before adding golding hops
3. maintain temp for a further 15 mins
4. add 4.5g water at 168F and maintain temp a further 15 minutes
5. add second hops and maintain temp for 15 mins before adding sugar.
6. maintain temp for a final 15 mins.
7. ferment until it stops (3-4 weeks)
3. For the yeast is there anything special I need to do (create a starter) or do I just throw it in?

thanks in advance

1. You want crushed grains if you don't own a mill/crusher. Otherwise, you'll get awful efficiency... like 25% or something like that.

2. Here's the proceedure (which is largely good for most all grain beers):

Add all grains to your mash tun. Add your strike water (14q @ 178 degrees).

Hold at 158 degrees for 45 minutes (most beers hold for 60 minutes... you won't hurt this beer if you do that).

Drain the first gallon or so until it runs clear. Carefully pour this back in so as to not disturb the grain bed. This is called "vorlaufing".

Drain all liquid into your boil kettle.

Sparge (rinse) the grains with 4.5 gallons of 168 degree water. Drain/vorlauf again, until all of the wort is in your boil kettle.

Bring the beer to a boil. Boil for 30 minutes, then add your bittering hop addition: 1.36 oz Styrian Goldings [5.40 %] (note that for most boils, you'd add the bittering hops at the beginning of the boil. This beer uses pilsner malt, which must be boiled for 90 minutes, not 60).

Boil for 30 minutes, then add your next hops 0.71 oz Saaz [4.00 %].

Boil for 30 more minutes. Chill the beer to ~70 degrees (a bit cooler is better). Move to fermenter, aerate, pitch yeast. Leave it alone for 3-4 weeks.

 

[ChrisL_]

It is Saturday night, the kids are in bed and I am drinking a Leffe Brun while brewing up this Leffe Blonde. Life is good!

Thanks for sharing the recipe Revvy. I am looking forward to drinking this one, which will have a an extra bonus of being the first batch to go into my fathers day gift, a cobra kit/keg

 

[ayupbrewing]

Didn't brew today but drank plenty of the fruit of my labor. That's good enough for me!

 

[BungalowBrewBro]

Brewed Revvy's Leffe Clone this afternoon and hit my target Original Gravity exactly!

How long have you guys been keeping this in the fermentor? 1 month? Anyone put this in a secondary fermentation or just straight in the bottle?

 

[duboman]

Brewed Revvy's Leffe Clone this afternoon and hit my target Original Gravity exactly!

How long have you guys been keeping this in the fermentor? 1 month? Anyone put this in a secondary fermentation or just straight in the bottle?

Mine went into the bottles at 20 days and carbonated in about 2 weeks but the beer was really at its best at about 90 days fully conditioned it's been kicked for awhile, time to brew more

 

[homebrewdad]

Brewed Revvy's Leffe Clone this afternoon and hit my target Original Gravity exactly!

How long have you guys been keeping this in the fermentor? 1 month? Anyone put this in a secondary fermentation or just straight in the bottle?

Mine did a 4 week primary, no secondary... but I normally secondary everything. It took a good 8 weeks in bottles until it started to really hit its peak (was carbed when I first checked at 4 weeks, but was still pretty green).

I think I have two bottles left... time to brew this again!

 

[stevemej]

Sorry for being a bit blond here. Can you clarify one thing for me. After the mashing of the grain is the liquor seperated from the grain before boiling with the hops or is the grain left in place as the hops are added?

As i don't have seperate vessels for mashing and boiling I will carry out the mash in my 34l pot then remove the liquor to my fermentation (plastic) tub then add back to the pot for the boil.

Do you think this would work: 1. initial mash with 14q water at 158F for 45 mins. Remove a gallon (to my plastic bucket) then extract the remaining sugar from the grain with 3 lots of 1.5gal water at 168F for 15 mins each.
2. take the combined liquors (1gall + 1.5gal + 1.5gal + remaining liquor) and put back into the cleaned pot.
3. boil and add styrian goldings for 30 mins
4. add saaz hops and boil for 30 mins before cooling for fermentation stage.

@Revvy - sorry for murdering your 'very meticulous' instructions but I only have 1 metal pot with heating

thanks in advance for all your advice.

 

[ChrisL_]

Sorry for being a bit blond here. Can you clarify one thing for me. After the mashing of the grain is the liquor seperated from the grain before boiling with the hops or is the grain left in place as the hops are added?

As i don't have seperate vessels for mashing and boiling I will carry out the mash in my 34l pot then remove the liquor to my fermentation (plastic) tub then add back to the pot for the boil.

Do you think this would work: 1. initial mash with 14q water at 158F for 45 mins. Remove a gallon (to my plastic bucket) then extract the remaining sugar from the grain with 3 lots of 1.5gal water at 168F for 15 mins each.
2. take the combined liquors (1gall + 1.5gal + 1.5gal + remaining liquor) and put back into the cleaned pot.
3. boil and add styrian goldings for 30 mins
4. add saaz hops and boil for 30 mins before cooling for fermentation stage.

@Revvy - sorry for murdering your 'very meticulous' instructions but I only have 1 metal pot with heating

thanks in advance for all your advice.

stevemej,

I suggest you read up on BIAB (Brew In A Bag). The basic process is to put a mesh bag into your pot, add the grains for your mash. When the mash is done you simply lift out the bag of grains, let them drip for a bit (some will squeeze the bag to get the extra wort out of the grain) and then start your boil. It is much simpler process that allows for the use of one vessel.

Chris

 

[starman]

You are correct, don't boil the grain. Sparging run off into a secondary vessle, BIAB, or creating a new mash tun are all viable options that will result in beer.

Your described way may be a longer brew day as you still need a way to heat sparge water. Small pot on the stove? BIAB is a pretty good system for one pot households that have limited space. However I prefer to mash in a cooler as the timeline is compact and still can be done with a single burner and pot.

Also wanted to say that yesterday we brewed the households 200th gallon of RevyLeffe.

 

[Revvy]

Also wanted to say that yesterday we brewed the households 200th gallon of RevyLeffe.

Holy cap that's more than I've even brewed of it!!!

 

[Locus415]

Brewed this up on Saturday. Thermometer was busted so my mash temp was off, first too high then too low... Like a reverse step mash. Still hit the numbers within 3 points. Pitched a little over 1L of starter at 68 degrees. It is now going strong and free rose to 72 degrees. Entering this one in my local brew club competition in mid-July. Hope it will be keg conditioned by then.

 

[ChrisL_]

You did better then I did. I mashed to high and ended up at 1.050. Fermentation is going well in my new temperature controlled chamber. It will be interesting to see how it turns out. I love Leffe for a drink or two maybe, but I personally do not find it very sessionable. Maybe I will accidentally create a sessionable version of this beer?

 

[homebrewdad]

Do doubt that Leffe isn't really sessionable... it will sneak up and knock you on your butt! Heh, I missed my numbers a bit when I brewed it, but I came in heavy on the OG... ended up right around 8%, as I recall.

Still an awesome beer.

 

[stevemej]

You are correct, don't boil the grain. Sparging run off into a secondary vessle, BIAB, or creating a new mash tun are all viable options that will result in beer.

Your described way may be a longer brew day as you still need a way to heat sparge water. Small pot on the stove? BIAB is a pretty good system for one pot households that have limited space. However I prefer to mash in a cooler as the timeline is compact and still can be done with a single burner and pot.

Also wanted to say that yesterday we brewed the households 200th gallon of RevyLeffe.

Thanks so much for the reply. i will have a go and report back.

steve

 

[stevemej]

Just ordered my ingredients and i am VERY VERY excited.

 

[dickproenneke]

Easily the best beer that I've made. Thanks for the absolutely delicious recipe Revvy.

Cheers!

 

[stevemej]

Just ordered my ingredients and i am VERY VERY excited.

Well the wife is away with her friends in Spain for a few days so I had my brew day.

It was slightly more complicated than I thought it would be:
My pan, which I thought was 34l, actually turned out to be only 22l when I got it out of the attic. This was ok for the mash as my mash consisted of 14q followed by 3 X 1.5 gallon for 15 mins for the 'sparge' section of the mash.
I simply used an electric kettle to boil 3 x 2l water then topped up with 800ml to bring the vol to 6.8l (1.5gal) and 70C. I have solar panels and the sun was out so it didnt even cost me anything for this energy.

For the 90 min boil I used my 22l pot and a 9l pot from my still. The boil was not a rolling boil but a gentle simmer.

My final OG came out at 1.058 which is a little under the target of 1.068 but I'm quite happy with this. The theoretical abv will turn out at about 7.5% which is not too far away.

The temperature of the mash did go higher and lower than the target temps (as I learnt how my stove behaves). For the first part of the mash the temp went up to nearly 80C at one point for maybe 5-10 minutes.
At the 2nd part I would say the temp was 70C +/- 4C for most of the 3 x 15 mins.

My boil volume was spot on with 29l I have now put the liquor in a plastic 25l fermentation vessel and also a glass gallon demijohn. Both are now happily bubbling like mad. I have a heated pad around my vessel and the temp is set to 25C.


I need to start cleaning my cooker and kitchen now. The floor is sticky as hell and the cooker covered in dried liquor. My wife comes back in 5 hour so I'd better crack on.

Thanks for the recipe Revvy. Just a couple of questions:

1. I'm considering using the 1gallon to make a fruit beer. Do I just rack it on top of fruit when it stops fermenting?
2.How much fruit (I'm going to make frambosen (raspberries))
3. Also how long do i leave the beer on the raspberries and
4.do i crush the berries first or just leave them whole?
5. When I finished the final boil I left the dead hops in the liquor overnight whilst it was cooling. is this ok or will it impart too much bitterness?
6. I filtered the wort before putting in the fermentation vessel. Is this correct or should i have just placed the whole lot in, hops and all?

 

[stevemej]

Just woke up and found that the fermentation in my plastic tub has stopped (and it is starting to settle). Temp is still 24C.

any ideas?

 

[Revvy]

Just woke up and found that the fermentation in my plastic tub has stopped (and it is starting to settle). Temp is still 24C.

any ideas?

What do you mean by fermentation has stopped? You don't mean airlock bubbling do you? Please say you don't mean airlock bubbling, please say you know an airlock is a vent and not a fermentation gauge, that airlocks stop and start for all manner of reasons, and that airlock bubbling is just excess co2 being released, and that it doesn't mean fermentation has stopped, just because the airlock has. And that fermentation can still be going on without excess co2 needing to vent out the top.

 

[stevemej]

What do you mean by fermentation has stopped? You don't mean airlock bubbling do you? Please say you don't mean airlock bubbling, please say you know an airlock is a vent and not a fermentation gauge, that airlocks stop and start for all manner of reasons, and that airlock bubbling is just excess co2 being released, and that it doesn't mean fermentation has stopped, just because the airlock has. And that fermentation can still be going on without excess co2 needing to vent out the top.

Yes i mean airlock bubbling (but it does seem to be settling). I think i made a mistake by putting a jacket around my vessel (I have turned it off now!). the temperature has more or less been 75F for the last 2 days and did touch 80F. SG is 1020. hopefully it will continue fermenting .

Should I just take the sg in a week and see if its come down? What is the answer if it doesnt come down?
thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Revvy]

Yes i mean airlock bubbling (but it does seem to be settling). I think i made a mistake by putting a jacket around my vessel (I have turned it off now!). the temperature has more or less been 75F for the last 2 days and did touch 80F. SG is 1020. hopefully it will continue fermenting .

Should I just take the sg in a week and see if its come down? What is the answer if it doesnt come down?
thanks in advance for any advice.

I really didn't want to give a brewing 101 lesson in a recipe thread, especially of something we answer at least 50 actual threads about it from nervous brewers every day. This thread is supposed to be about discussing the recipe itself. Read THIS , and leave your beer alone for a few weeks. It's fine.