Westvleteren 12 Group Brew & Swap

[Bokonon]

I racked my "old school" batch into a keg yesterday. Dropped to 1.012 as planned. I was busy racking 2 other fermenters at the same time so I didn't have a chance to catch a pic. I had a gallon left over so I stuck it in a jug and pitched some bugs in it.

I'll rack my "new school" batch next week when I get back from portland. I'll probably funk out a gallon of this batch too since I should have about a gallon extra of it.

 

[saq]

Hopefully everyone is getting close to the end of the 8 week conditioning period so we can have our tasting in September.

I think to spice things up I think I'll offer up a bottle of Westvleteren 12 to whomever comes the closest, myself excluded of course. I will have at least a 3 person tasting panel. Hows that sound?

 

[KingBrianI]

Hopefully everyone is getting close to the end of the 8 week conditioning period so we can have our tasting in September.

I think to spice things up I think I'll offer up a bottle of Westvleteren 12 to whomever comes the closest, myself excluded of course. I will have at least a 3 person tasting panel. Hows that sound?

no complaints here! do you think they'll be conditioned enough in september?

 

[Saccharomyces]

Hopefully everyone is getting close to the end of the 8 week conditioning period so we can have our tasting in September.

If conditioning means malt in the garage then I'm close. I was going to brew this week, but if you are expecting it to be ready in September I'm gonna have to drop out of the swap. I have been too busy this summer to brew it to this point, and already had a full brew schedule to make the various comps I'm entering into.

 

[saq]

no complaints here! do you think they'll be conditioned enough in september?

Mine will be finishing their 8 week conditioning phase in August, so a 2 week carbonation phase will put it into late August. Perhaps we put it off into October.

 

[saq]

If conditioning means malt in the garage then I'm close. I was going to brew this week, but if you are expecting it to be ready in September I'm gonna have to drop out of the swap. I have been too busy this summer to brew it to this point, and already had a full brew schedule to make the various comps I'm entering into.

Don't have any comps you want to put a kick ass Dark Strong Ale into? I know my final winner of my three (traditional, new world and blended) is going into some comps.

 

[Saccharomyces]

Don't have any comps you want to put a kick ass Dark Strong Ale into? I know my final winner of my three (traditional, new world and blended) is going into some comps.

Next year maybe. I'll add it to my brew schedule for January, and enter it into next summer's comps, that way I can do a full 5 gallons...

 

[juvinious]

Well I had a slow ferment which severely hindered my time. If we can do the swap in October that would give me more time for conditioning/lagering and bottle conditioning. I mean if that's ok with everyone else.

 

[Sigafoos]

+1 please?

I just racked yesterday :/ Slow ferment + out of town + 'where the eff is my tubing' = boo.

Also, after I filled my carboy (right to the top too: oxidation's mah bitch) I noticed that the inside might not have been as clean as I thought. I don't know what the hell this is, but I should realize that no matter how little I want to rerack, it's better than wasting 5 gallons of this delicious (and 11.4%) elixir, right?

Here's what it looks like

Here's a shot of the carboy being filled, and me saying hi in the bucket.

 

[saq]

Now why'd you go and do that? You should take better care to clean & sanitize your carboys before use I'd get it out of there ASAP, but the damage may already be done.

 

[Sigafoos]

Yeah, I know I'm a moron. I finally (this week has sucked) reracked yesterday, after cleaning the hell out of a new carboy, and something that looked similar was near the top again. So I'm just going to set and forget and hope for the best, because constantly reracking is only going to introduce more o2.

 

[juvinious]

Did you at least sample it?

 

[Sigafoos]

Oh yeah, and it didn't taste off at all. The 11.4% is definitely evident, and beyond that I didn't get much because it was the yeasty dregs. Barring anything horrible from this, though, it's gonna be tasty

 

[Jeepnbrew]

Doing the new world style. So I couldn't get the dark candy syrup and got amber crystal 2.0 lbs. So when are you guys adding the dark candy? During the boil or after fermentation? Does it matter?

What times for the hope additions?

 

[juvinious]

From what I understand, the traditional recipe is going to give you the closer tasting version.
Regarding the sugar at the beginning of the boil is going to give you best utilization of the dark color that you want to achieve.
I'd recommend making your own, check out this thread: clicky.

And here is my variation of those above sugar schedules that will yield a deep dark sugar that will do perfectly for this brew.

 

[saq]

I did my sugar addition for my traditional at the beginning of a 2 hour boil and it added color and all kinds of awesome carmelized flavors which IMO are essential to replicating this beer.

 

[Jeepnbrew]

so with 2lbs of candi sugar amber(crystal) with 40 mins to boil... 240 lovibond Think I should add it and be done with it?

Man it smells dreamy!!!

*** edit *** added the sugar with 40 mins to boil. I ended up with a nice dark amber color, nothing like beersmith predicted. I had fun brewing this one and learned a lot.

I did the following different...
-used German style pils 12.5#
-Candi Amber 2# (LHB was out of liquid)
-Wyeast Abbey II (didn't make a starter) Used the smack pack with 100billion directly into 68deg wort (continuous stream of CO2 48hrs into it.)
-Double Hop Additions (2oz each 60,30,3) Didn't notice they were 2oz packs till later..
-Did a 60 min boil, 40 mins with sugar
-158 mash 70 mins, 168, 168 additions
-ended up 1.072 preboil and 1.084 post boil gravity
-48hrs @ 75 degrees, moved to 80 tonight hope to stay close to 80-82 to end of primary.

***edit***
It's down to 1.014 and still going after 5 days. Definitely slowing down from yesterday.
Color is dark amber brown, still not as dark as it should be.
Taste is nutty, bitter and finishes with some hints of spice and a little banana though not much at all.

 

[Sigafoos]

I just want to be sure of something here: this isn't like the 0x.0x.0x swaps where you have to be a paying member, right? I mean I love HBT and owe it the world, but at this point explaining to my wife that I need to donate money to a website so I can trade beers and because they've been cool to me isn't really going to fly. But I've been around for a while now and need IRC to distract me at work so don't worry about me running off with your beer

As long as I'm not not cool enough to do this, when are we swapping?

 

[saq]

You don't have to be a paying member to participate in a trade (though you should be a paying member anyways!!!) as long as a paying member is organizing it (me).

I guess I've put up a prize (bottle of Westy 12) so its more like an unofficial BJCP competition only for 18E, Belgian Dark Strongs.

New thread created! Please post your intention to participate in the judging/swapping in the following thread and you will be added to the list. This thread will remain dedicated to the discussion of brewing this particular beer, please do not discuss swapping or the judging event anymore in this thread.

Westvleteren 12 clone competition & swap - Home Brew Forums

 

[saq]

Please post your intention to participate in the judging/swapping in the following thread. This thread will remain dedicated to the discussion of brewing this particular beer, please do not discuss swapping or the judging event anymore in this thread.

Westvleteren 12 clone competition & swap - Home Brew Forums

 

[saq]

Post it in the thread designated for the judging and swappage please!

 

[KingBrianI]

How many volumes are you guys carbonating to? I can't remember if we've discussed it yet. I think I'll aim for 3 volumes unless someone tells me otherwise.

 

[juvinious]

It's in the first thread at the bottom:

Carbonation
Volumes of carbonation. Unknown, though I think anywhere from 3.0 to 3.3 is probably going to be pretty spot on. Note: This may mean you need stronger bottles. Many 12oz/22oz bottles cannot handle as low as 3 volumes.

 

[saq]

2.8 volumes might also be acceptable. Its hard to estimate, take your pick and we'll let the judging rule out.

 

[KingBrianI]

Cool, also, how much yeast are you guys gonna add back at bottling? I saved a little bit I skimmed off at high krausen before the sugar additions. I'll probably make a small starter with it to get it going again and make sure it's healthy, then pitch a small amount of that and save the rest. But how much?

 

[Jeepnbrew]

Not sure about the yeast, I didn't save any from the original. But I am thinking of washing the yeast when I transfer to secondary for the lagering for the next 8 weeks. So I will have some on hand to try a couple different versions of this beer...

I'm interested in what tasting notes are from everyone around day 7.

 

[saq]

Did a little bit of taste testing today with my girlfriend, since I got these new awesome Carbonator Caps and I can force carbonate a small amount at a time.

My 9 week old (now "finished") New World recipe tasted pretty killer! MUCH more interesting than when I tasted it about 3 weeks ago where it seemed kind of boring and lifeless compared to the traditional recipe & the real deal. I think its much closer to the real deal than the traditional now.

My 7 week old Traditional recipe was interesting, with some major burnt banana ester going on and a little bit of alcohol burn in the background. Super carmelly action, probably from putting the belgian candi syrup in the boil at the start, a little biscuity aroma, but practically no chocolate. The color is getting closer too.

With my remaining samples I did a 3-1 mix of new world & traditional and it tasted amazing. I think the lesson for me here is two-fold.
1: The monks probably use a decoction or two in the mash.
2: They use VERY dark sugar with some roasty/burnt characteristics, when it blends in with the rest of the beer it probably gives some of the chocolate flavors.

I highly recommend the Carbonator Cap btw. I'm bringing 20oz of my westy blend and 20oz of The Minstrel in water bottles to the park for bocce and they will stay pressurized.

 

[saq]

I had a glass of the new world recipe yesterday after it was fully chilled and carboned in the keg. It is drinking mighty nice! The chocolate flavors have really developed significantly, and also strangely in the traditional! I'm going to chill & carb the traditional before too long so I'll get a good comparison.

In a related note, who wants to start a Cuvee De Tomme clone? Cuvee De Tomme is their quadrupel, Judgement Day, which is then taken and put in a bourbon barrel with some of the bugs from their sours like duck duck gooze, with sour cherries added as well. The end result is an absolutely amazing beer which IMO is one of the best I've ever had.

I'm thinking I take my revised Westvleteren 12 traditional recipe (darker sugar, double decoction) and add a sour blend like WLP655, roeselare or wyeast 3278 to it, some sour cherry juice and aging it with some bourbon char and letting it sit down for a year or so.

Anyone else down for the next project and wants to go the distance?

 

[KingBrianI]

Alright, I've never had the real thing, but my clone is great. I tried it back to back with a westmalle dubbel and preferred mine. It's very interesting in how it is dry, but has the sweetness of the candi syrup, with the rich caramel flavor and slight chocolate roasty flavors making an appearance in the finish. I'm excited to put a few of these away to age for a while!

 

[saq]

Due to a grain mishap at the LHBS, I wasn't able to brew Hopinator v4 today as planned so I decided to call an audible and brew The Pious v3 as I had just gotten in my D2 dark candi syrup.

Here is the runsheet. *** The original post for this recipe got subsumed for my Cuvee De Tomme project, the real The Pious #3 recipe has been updated below (minor adjustment)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 8.27 gal
Estimated OG: 1.092 SG
Estimated Color: 33.8 SRM
Estimated IBU: 35.2 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
8.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) Grain 42.11 %
8.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 42.11 %
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (90 min) Hops 25.7 IBU
1.00 oz Styrian Goldings [4.10 %] (20 min) Hops 7.0 IBU
0.50 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker [2.80 %] (20 min)Hops 2.4 IBU
3.00 lb Dark 2 Belgian Candi Syrup (160.0 SRM) Sugar 15.79 %
1 Pkgs Abbey Ale (White Labs #WLP530) Yeast-Ale
1lbs sugar added to beginning of boil, 1lbs added to last 5, 1lbs added in secondary.

Mash Schedule: Decoction Mash, Double
Total Grain Weight: 16.00 lb
----------------------------
Decoction Mash, Double
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
10 min Protein Rest Add 32.00 qt of water at 137.5 F 132.0 F
30 min Saccharification Decoct 8.79 qt of mash and boil it 151.0 F
30 min Saccharification Decoct 4.85 qt of mash and boil it 159.0 F