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

[Crohnnie]

Here's info.

Thanks for the recipe, it's absolutely excellent. Leffe is my favorite beer, and making it by the gallon makes me a happy camper.

 

[stever1000]

Here's info.

Wow that is super cool. I guess my only concerned is the short contact time (1 min pour?) vs 7 days in the keg?

 

[Revvy]

Wow that is super cool. I guess my only concerned is the short contact time (1 min pour?) vs 7 days in the keg?

For fruit a fresh hop burst of flavor it's pretty intense and fresher than if you left it in the keg. Plus you don't have to split your batch up- you just fruit up what you want, when you want it.

It's 6 of one half dozen of the other.

 

[stever1000]

For fruit a fresh hop burst of flavor it's pretty intense and fresher than if you left it in the keg. Plus you don't have to split your batch up- you just fruit up what you want, when you want it.

It's 6 of one half dozen of the other.

Very true. I won't have time to build one immediately (those housings are expensive or hard to come by here) but I will order the parts for the next batch

 

[spittybug]

The uncarbonated tastes/numbers are in....wow. With Lallemand Danstar Abbaye yeast, the FG was 1.011 and the Belgian funky taste finished with a nice fruitiness. The M27 Mangrove Jack ended at an incredible 1.002 and was, understandably, much drier and a bit 'hot'. Both of these fermented the same amount of time at the same temperatures. Started at 1.066. This looks like 7.2% and 8.4% ABV respectively. 83% and 97% attenuation respectively. WOW..... M27 is a BEAST.

I also learned that my TILT values are way off....Good for seeing when fermentation is done, but poor on the absolute levels. Need to figure out if I've got a calibration issue or if it is a limitation of the product.

I have put 30 lbs on these guys as they cold crash, so carbonation will be pretty quick. More tasting notes to follow.

 

[spittybug]

I built a pump driven carbonator are carbed these guys up today. AWESOME!! Both very drinkable. The difference in taste between the two of them has diminished other than the very noticeable fruity finish with the Danstar. The M27 is drier, more alcoholic and less complex in its flavors. It might make a great base for dry hopping and going for a Belgian IPA recipe... hummmm

 

[stever1000]

kegged 2.5 gallons with priming sugar to naturally carb (kegerator is full)
kegged the other 2.X gallons with 2lbs raspberries (in the fridge)

 

[Revvy]

kegged 2.5 gallons with priming sugar to naturally carb (kegerator is full)
kegged the other 2.X gallons with 2lbs raspberries (in the fridge)

Lemme know how the naturally carbed version (well both actually!) comes out, I can't recall if I've ever done it like that in a keg for this recipe- I know I've done it for the Kentucky Common- and used CBC-1 Cask and bottling yeast for fun, and it was awesome, but not sure if I've played around with nat carbing this one. :rockin:

 

[stever1000]

Lemme know how the naturally carbed version (well both actually!) comes out, I can't recall if I've ever done it like that in a keg for this recipe- I know I've done it for the Kentucky Common- and used CBC-1 Cask and bottling yeast for fun, and it was awesome, but not sure if I've played around with nat carbing this one. :rockin:

I will let you know for sure

 

[griffi]

After a little attenuation issue with 530, thrilled to have this on tap again! This time pretty well nailed the color and taste of Leffe. Clarity not quite up to Leffe out of the bottle, but it's only been kegged a week. I should always keep this one in the keezer!

 

[davidens]

Thanks a lot for the recipe. I was looking for that one.

 

[ICThruU]

Hi Revvy and fellow hobbyists. I'm a long time lurker/ first time poster. I luv Leffe blonde and decided to try this clone. I rounded off to the oz on the grain bill and used said yeast. Cold crashed/gelatin after approx 1 month in primary and kegged. Og and fg are spot on and beer cleared nicely but flavor is mediocre w no banana like leffe. Fermented~ 70 and ran up to 74 according to stick-on thermometer kept in basement 68 deg. 2nd time using a Belgium yeast with not so Belgium results. Any help is appreciated. Been brewing 20 years but w/o this forum I don't think I ever would have progressed to all grain or built a keezer. U guys rock.

 

[stever1000]

kegged 2.5 gallons with priming sugar to naturally carb (kegerator is full)
kegged the other 2.X gallons with 2lbs raspberries (in the fridge)

Poured a glass of the raspberry today and all I can say is...wow

Haven't tried the naturally carbed one yet

 

[kiwipen]

I tried searching in this thread, but I could not find what temperature to ferment at. So what temperature have you used?

 

[dmenace86]

I fermented it at my ambient room temp, at the time of year it was in the low 60's so I didn't need to do anything.

I can't recall where I got the 158 for 45 minutes mash....it probably came through my research into the style.

But the reason is that Beta Amylase enzymes denature at 158. This leaves more unfermentable long chain dextrins, you will have more "weight" and more mouthfeel with the 158f mash temp but about the same starting gravity. The Beta Amylase enzymes denature at 158. the final gravity will be higher as well.

You get more mouthfeel so that when you add the table sugar to the boil, you get the gravity boost but it's not "thin and cidery" there still is decent mouthfeel and even great lacing on the glass from the proteins.

Post #14

 

[Abrayton]

Finally set up for all grain. Planning this for my first ag batch Easter weekend. I have a 10g igloo for a mash tun. Do I need to make any adjustments from the OP recipe or am I good to go?
Cheers

 

[kiwipen]

What is the reason for a 45 minute mash instead of 60 minutes?

Is it just that the starch conversion is done, and an extra 15 minutes is unnecessary?

 

[Uncruliar]

Category 18a Belgian Blonde.

Revvy's Blonde
Brew Type: All Grain Date: 4/25/2010
Style: Belgian Blond Ale Brewer: Michael
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Volume: 6.41 gal
Boil Time: 90 min (Pilsner malts)

Revvy, apologies in advance if this is answered elsewhere in this thread but I don't remember seeing it. I just wanted to check that your recipe is for 5 US gallons so that I can scale it to Imperial gallons for my own use. Thanks in advance.

 

[Uncruliar]

Well, I used the percentages given in the recipe to tweak it to my preferred brew size and target efficiency and then brewed it up last night. I didn't hit my target efficiency so I ended up with an OG of 1.060. We'll see how it goes.

 

[Mihkelj]

I brewed this on May the 8th. I had an OG of1.072, but also way overshot my mash temperature at the beginning. 163F instead of 158 for the beginning of the mash. I added cold water to get closer to 158, but was maybe still a little high. I pitched two packs of rehydrated Mangrove Jack's M47 Abbey ale. A week later, activity seems to have stopped and SG has been at 1.022 for three days. I'm going to leave it for at least one more week anyway, but do you think that'll drop any further? I'm at 68% attenuation, while the yeast specs are 73-73%.

Also, was planning to rack some of the beer onto some strawberries or raspberries. Would the fruit help fight the sweetness or accentuate it?

 

[Abrayton]

Just cracked my first bottle and this is definitely close to the original! Great recipe that will go in a permanent rotation!

 

[Kharnynb]

Making a batch of this again today, trying with mangrove jack's M47 for a change.

 

[Albionwood]

Making a batch of this again today, trying with mangrove jack's M47 for a change.

I've used their dry Saison strain - used to be M27, now M41 (apparently) - to very good effect with this recipe. M29 would probably also be a good choice. Will be interested to know how M47 works out; it will probably be a very different beer than Leffe. M27 gave a spicy/peppery profile that was (I thought) a pretty good match for Leffe. M47 is likely to be more fruity/bubblegum.

 

[Kharnynb]

revvy uses wlp530, and as far as I know, M47 is the closest dry sub for that.

 

[GurraG]

Making a batch of this again today, trying with mangrove jack's M47 for a change.

Any updates on this would be much appreciated. Ferm temp, attenuation, and of course flavour!

 

[Zver]

Any updates on this would be much appreciated. Ferm temp, attenuation, and of course flavour!

Just cracked my last bottle, used M47 - what can I say? Defenetly, grainbill&hops are spot on. Mine turned out a little bit more phenolic than original - I haven't used M47 earlier, so can't say - may be this due to low temp at the begining of fermentation - I started at 66 and kept it for 2 days then raised to 71-72.

For sure, will brew this recipe more, thanks Revvy!

P.S. Attenuated 77%, pitch rate - 0,66m cells/ml/°P (consider 1 gr=20billion cells, works fine)

 

[Kharnynb]

M47 is def the go to dry yeast, it tasted pretty much the same as previous batches using 530 and I kept it smooth going at 22 celcius for 3 weeks before bottling. bonus is that it floc's better than 530.

 

[Abrayton]

Brewed this for the second time. First batch flavor was spot on. Second batch is overly malty with almost no yeast flavor. It’s actually not bad but definitely not Leffe like. Guessing I fermented to low on this one with the first use of my new (used chest freezer) temp control chamber.

 

[Revvy]

M47 is def the go to dry yeast, it tasted pretty much the same as previous batches using 530 and I kept it smooth going at 22 celcius for 3 weeks before bottling. bonus is that it floc's better than 530.

I still haven't tried any Mangrove Jack stuff...the one store that carries that line it seems to always be out of all their stuff. I guess if I luck out one day and they have it in stock I'll snag some even if I don't brew this for awhile.

 

[Abrayton]

Just cracked my second bottle. Even without the Belgian yeast profile this is still a great beer. Almost a nut brown flavor to me. Very good and can still go into Christmas six packs that almost became Christmas four packs!