What to do with a harsh belgian style ale (8%)

[MrFancyPlants]

I think I put too much honey in the recipe, and did a massive hop stand, and this stuff is just kind of harsh. Any tips for saving the beer? Maybe blend it with a rich mild mashed high with lots of crystal?

 

[m00ps]

harsh like alcohol burn? Any strong belgian can be aged pretty well IME. Just let it sit. Try one in a month, then a month after that

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Alcohol and bitter. It is drinkable, but it takes me a while to get through one glass and I don't even feel like drinking a second. This fermented in October. I guess i don't mind sitting on it for a while longer to see if it improves. Should I try pitching some bugs, or do you think that will take it from bad to worse? It does have great head retention and a beautiful golden haze to it.

I just brewed a good 14G of a 5.5% ESB that I am looking forward to having on tap for a while (or a big party). Looks like I'll get to refill the 15.5 sankey

 

[Dirt_McGirt]

Eh. I bottled a big pumped up saison (8.8%) last week that tasted like banana-flavored rocket fuel near the end of fermentation. By the time I crashed and bottled it 4-5 days later, it had already mellowed quite a bit. As posted above, I plan to taste in after it's been in bottle for a month and see how it's doing, but don't expect it to be fully mature until 2 months.

Long story short, don't be hasty and just give it some time for the flavor to improve.

EDIT: Fermented in October? Hmm. Might be a different story. I'd still say worth giving it another month or two, tho.

 

[z-bob]

Mine tasted really good after it had aged about 6 months. Why oh why did I drink all but one bottle while it was still too young?

 

[GHBWNY]

Any strong belgian can be aged pretty well IME. Just let it sit. Try one in a month, then a month after that

I agree with this. I brewed an 8% Belgian around the end of July. Waited 4 weeks to even taste and it was very boozy. A month later a little less, but still like drinking beer-flavored Scope (minus the mint). 5 months later, it's leveled out and is REALLY good.

 

[lookwow]

just let it sit. I brewed a Triple back in march and it ended up just a little harsh. Yeast character was just to intense. In the last month its become one of the best ive had of the style. Bitterness will fade with time and the beer in general will mellow.

 

[LostBoyScout]

That definitely sounds like it will improve with some age. Both the bitterness and alcohol will mellow, you might find you really dig it in 6 months.

 

[secondbase]

Depending on your pitching rate and fermentation temps, the hot alcohol could be fusels which wont go away. The bitterness will certainly fade with time. I find my bigger Belgians start to get good around the 6 month mark. Stash them away and try one every month to see how it's coming along. My dubbel I brewed in August is finally tasting good.

 

[beergolf]

Depending on your pitching rate and fermentation temps, the hot alcohol could be fusels which wont go away.

This^^^^^.

If it is fusels it will not go away. If it was fermented at a good temp and it is just a strong alcohol taste, that will mellow with age.

At this point all I can suggest is to set it aside to age and see what happens.

One of the early Belgians I did I fermented too hot and got terrible fusels. It never went away. The only upside is that is was good to cook with. I braise Duck legs and thighs in that Belgian dark with dried cherries and leeks... Yum.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

I don't think that this is a issue of fusels, but perhaps too thin of a body to support the level of alcohol and bitterness. I used once ounce of magnum for bittering along with a sizable glacier hop stand in the 8G batch. I was wondering about pitching a couple of extra bugs to help with the aging process.

What if I moved 3 of the 4 remaining gallons into a glass 3G carboy along with a quart of good belly coconut water and some Orval dregs? I would think that the brett could help tone down the hop flavor over time. I am less sure if the Lactobacillus plantarum from the good belly, would be able to survive for long in the well hopped beer, and/or how the coconut water would contribute to the flavors or body once the sugars were fermented out other than a small increase in acidity already present in the product.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

This has mellowed out some with time. I haven't worked up the courage to pitch bugs, but I may yet.

 

[Fathand]

You mentioned you added honey. How much? If it was a large percentage I agree that aging might improve the flavor; i.e. aging a mead.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

This batch was about 20% honey. I keep trying to work honey into my recipes, but I've been having trouble balancing the resulting thinner body with the desired hoppiness. Next time it will just be a small ammount of caramelized and/or scorched honey.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

I pressure transferred the remaining 3 gallons into a 3 gallon corny and pitched some Orval dregs. Any Idea if Orval will cause the beer to go through any "sick" phases, or should it just get progressively more funky over time?

 

[tagz]

Nope. Sick phase is pedio. It will just get funky and super dry. I have had issues with cheerio/mousey flavors after bottling Orval dreg beers though.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

This beer really turned a corner. I really enjoyed what the Orval brought to the table after a couple months of ~70f temperatures in the keg. It's funny I didn't actually care for the Orval itself a it was a 2014 bottle and was just too much funk, but when the brett flavors are just starting to take over it mellows out the hops and brings a ton of funky fruityness. I mixed one of the brett'd belgians with a can of DC Brau Corruption, and I could barely taste the IPA over my own creation.

 

[Homercidal]

Nice save!