Belgian Dark Strong Ale |
Type: All Grain |
Date: 8/12/2011 |
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Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal |
Brewer: Edward Nash |
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Boil Size: 7.98 gal |
Asst Brewer: |
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Boil Time: 60 min |
Equipment: Nash Brewing Setup |
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End of Boil Volume 5.98 gal |
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Final Bottling Volume: 5.04 gal |
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Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage |
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Taste Notes: |
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Ingredients |
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Ingredients
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Beer Profile |
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Est Original Gravity: 1.077 SG |
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Est Final Gravity: 1.016 SG |
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Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 8.1 % |
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Bitterness: 27.6 IBUs |
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Est Color: 24.7 SRM |
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Mash Profile |
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Mash Name: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge |
Total Grain Weight: 15 lbs 13.5 oz |
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Sparge Water: 5.99 gal |
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F |
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Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F |
Tun Temperature: 72.0 F |
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Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE |
Mash PH: 5.00 |
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Mash Steps
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Sparge Step: Batch sparge with 2 steps (1.87gal, 4.12gal) of 168.0 F water |
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Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time). |
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Carbonation and Storage |
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Carbonation Type: Keg |
Volumes of CO2: 2.3 |
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Pressure/Weight: 12.54 PSI |
Carbonation Used: Keg with 12.54 PSI |
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Keg/Bottling Temperature: 45.0 F |
Age for: 30.00 days |
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Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage |
Storage Temperature: 65.0 F |
There is alot of "sugar" in the recipe...kicking that ABV up there so it is only natural to have the solvent taste for awhile...
Waiting sucks.....I'm impatient....
Bill,
Mine was solventy too and will mellow with time...these beers should condition 4 or 5 months at least...as for bottling...since your just bottling it to bring to the club I just stuff a piece of 6" tubing in the the tap and overflow the bottle a little and then cap. Your beer won't be in the bottle long enough to oxidize. You just want to keep the CO2 in...
I have a Blichman beer gun and only use it when I bottle to store beer or enter in competition...
Wow...awesome...I envy you...I got a 90 Schilling I want to brew but have to wait....plus I want to do a the poncillo version that you brewed...
yes..why you brewing it again? I am still sitting on three gallons..
Why? I was at a flea market last week on 35th and Ashland and they had the poncillo for $1.50/lb....probably could get it cheaper...
Nice! Chimay is a 9% so your right there...
did you pitch any wine yeast in the boil?
How did the sugar dissolve? I just put another brew session in the log books too...Deception Cream Stout...
yep. we've talked about brewing something at the event as both a talking point, example of the work in action, and as a general attraction. not sure if there is still a plan for a tunkin and fermunkin (havent found a big pumpkin yet), but we should brew something, even if its a SMASH of some sort.
Bill said:
...igz...
Yes i wish I had the Azul recipe before I did my clone...I forgot to add the the brewer says to add the mexican sugar to the kettle while your sparging to begin dissolving...
Not sure if you ever worked with this sugar but it is incredible hard and resistant to dissolving...they are like bricks...LOL..at least some that I bought earlier this year...They remind me of those bullion cubes.
I plan on being there around 2pm...
I'll bring a bottle..
Bill said:
Bill,
Looking at my notes: I brewed on 8/3/11
I kegged it on 9/3/11 - OG was 1.077, FG was 1.022
It had a strong alcohol taste...but is has mellowed out nicely...it's been a month since I kegged it and I anticipate it would be its best around Christmas....I pull a sample maybe once a week to see...I also added gelatine to the keg..
Bill said:
Bill,
The awesome thing about brewing is taking a recipe and tweaking it to see if you can improve it..no worries...my all grain is a tweak on the extract above...
Couple things...about the sugar...the original uses lyle golden syrup...which is just inverted sugar, which is just sugar combined with citric acid...the acid breaks down the the sugar to simple sugars which are easier for the yeast to use. Belgian Sugars are also inverted sugars...
I made my own and cooked it a little longer to get more caramel out of it...
Here is the recipe I used and this chef explains the benefits of using inverted sugar in cooking...
http://www.chefeddy.com/2009/11/invert-sugar/
Second...here is the link to the original Chimayo Azul recipe....You can see the difference between the two..the one I posted won the Gold Medal...Notice the base malt and other grain additions between the two...including the gravities
http://azhomebrewers.com/w/Recipes:Chimayo_Azul
Third...here is the original thread that got me started on my Chimay Cloning...its alot to read but you will see alot of people trying different ingredients...
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f71/easy-chimay-blue-clone-73965/
Hope this all helps!!
Edward
The trappest yeast gives this beer its fruity, banana flavor/aroma...not sure if the abbey will do the same....plus make sure it can handle the higher alcohol...
Bill said:
Bill...
Sorry for the delay...but as you found out the wine yeast acts a yeast nutrient since this is suppose to be a 9% ABV brew.
I do not know enough about the malts to give you options....
My recipe was converted from the extract above...and I used a 51% efficiency. I just got a grain mill and was playing it safe...
I am not sure how close this one will be cloned...Right now it is kegged and lagering at 42F...it has smoothed out after several weeks..but I bet it will be ready in 8 to 12 weeks...I can probably bring a bottle of it Saturday...you can taste it...But i think it is a little too young...Here is a picture of it...
It's been a long time since I had a Chimay Blue...but I do have a bottle of it in my fridge and i will pop it open when I think my clone is ready...to compare...
On a side note: The following Recipe won gold at the Homebrewers Convention this year in San Diego for Belgian Strong Ale. This recipe is in the last issue of Zymurgy and it is called "Chimayo Azul". He uses 5# of piloncillo. That is that unrefined mexican sugar you see in the shape of cones. Hence the Spanish name...
I'll probably brew this next time...as I would love to try that sugar...
Chimayo Azul
Recipe Type: All-Grain
Batch Size: 6 Gal
Original Gravity: 1.091 SG
Final Gravity: 1.022 SG
SRM: 13
IBU: 38
Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Grain/Extract/Sugar
Amount Name
15.0 lbs Belgian Pils Malt
0.5 lbs Special B
2.5 lbs Piloncillo Sugar
.25lbs Wheat malt
2.0oz Carafa Special II
Hops
Amount Name Alpha % Boil Time
.88 oz Magnum 12% 60 min
0.5 oz Styrian Goldings 5.25% 15 min
0.5 oz Styrian Goldings 5.25% 1 min
Additional Additions
1 Whirlfloc tablet
Yeast
White Labs WLP550 - Trappist Ale (2400ml starter)
Directions
Single-infusion mash for 60 minutes at 149. Boiled 90 minutes. Chill to 68F for pitching. Aerate well, Hold at 68F for 48 hours and let it free rise to 80F at a rate of 3F a day.
Notes
I got the piloncillo at Food City but any Mexican market should have it. I've also seen it referred to as panela some places.
It is basically an unrefined solid cane sugar so it could probably be substituted with plain sugar and molasses if it can't be found.
Not to complicate things, but how would you feel brewing that at the cider event?
...igz...
Ths sounds sexy. Lemme know how it turns out. Gotta do some reading on the wine yeast as I believe it may have some intrinsic qualities in ales.
Chimay blue is within my top 5 of faves, so I wouldn't mind trying it.
...igz...
There is amber malt in there too, of which there is 4.5# of it...so there is not a total of 15# being mashed.....the most important thing is to mash at 156F....beer smith just calculates the temp based on what type of mash tun your using so I would ignore that...
Here is the extract version...
Recipe Type: Extract
Yeast: White Labs WLP 500 Belgian Trappist
Yeast Starter: Yes
Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter: N/A
Batch Size (Gallons): 5
Original Gravity: 1.068
Final Gravity: 1.0110
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60 mins
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 5 days @ 68F
Additional Fermentation: N/A
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 10 days @ 68F
Tasting Notes: Remarkably similar to Chimay Blue
Steep the grain in 3 gallons of water at 156F for 40 Minutes:
32 oz Munich Malt
8 oz Special B
8 oz CaraMunich
4 oz Belgian Aromatic
8 oz Torrified Wheat
Remove the grains and add another gallon of water and add:
3lbs Munich Malt Extract
4 lbs Amber Malt Extract
1 oz Hallertauer (60 mins)
1 oz Styrian Goldings (30 mins)
16 oz Lyle's Golden Syrup at 45 mins
2 packets dried wine yeast as nutrient at 45 mins.
1 Whirlflock tab at 45 mins
Cool wort to 75F and pitch yeast starter. Cool to ambient temperature and remain throughout fermentation. Bottle.
weirdness! There's no base malt in this recipe! Munich I guess it close, but... I'm not doubting it's good, mind you. And do you really end up with a temp of 156 from adding 171 degrees water to 15 lbs of grain?! Am I reading this wrong?