Belgian Special Type Ale Questions

[markp]

I fancy brewing a beer in the Belgian Special Ale style - something along the lines of La Chouffe.
I've done quite a lot of research but I have a few questions if anyone can help?

Although not totally true to style, I intend to make the beer from British 2 row pale - I don't fancy a 4 step mash like the guys at Achouffe use. I think they use pilsner malt anyway :wha:
Yeast - Wyeast 3522 or T58 (dry). Though I may reculture the yeast from a bottle of La Chouffe.
Corriander seeds added to last 15 mins of boil.
Candi sugar will also be added to the boil to get the abv up and it is a traditional ingrediant for Belgians.
My research leads me to believe they use Styrian Goldings to bitter and Saaz for aroma.
Can anyone suggest an IBU level so I can work out how much hops to add?

The yeasts - are these top fermenters? I seem to recall reading somewhere that brewers in this style didn't have a problem with fermentation temps of 30 deg C.

My final question is about bottle conditioning and carbonation.
La Chouffe is bottle refermented and is massively carbonated.
Will I need to re-seed with fresh yeast to achieve successful refermentation or will there be enough residual yeast?
Can anyone suggest how much priming sugar I need to achieve a carbonation that is true to style?
I will be bottling using champagne bottles and cages.

Sorry for all the questions, and thanks in advance.

 

[rabbie]

Try and get yourself a copy of "Brew like a monk", it's less than a tenner on amazon, really good book if you want to brew belgian strong ales.

Are you planning a blonde or dark ale? La Chouffe do both I think. Either way you'll want to use pilsner malt rather than pale ale if you want to be true to those styles, but I'm sure pale malt will make a nice drop anyway.

Sounds like you are definitely on the right track with hops, and definitely use a good measure of candi sugar :thumb:

IBU about 30 seems to be usual for golden/triples and dark ales anywhere from 20 to 50 (from brew like a monk).

I've brewed a dark ale and pitched 2 packs of Wyeast in the primary, and gradually ramped the temp up from 21 to 24C. That worked ok and I got down to 1016 from 1078. I didn't need to use another pack of yeast at bottling, and got good carbonation.

Aim for 2.4 to 3 volumes (upto 8 g/l). If you are using champagne bottles might as well go 3 plus... Only thing I'll say is be careful, if you're going for a 9 or 10% abv you'll need a helper to get through a 750 ml bottle :drink: Or maybe not! I need to stick to 330 ml bottles, especially if I'm drinking on a school night

 

[markp]

Thanks for that rabbie...very useful. Funny, I have been looking at that book you mention.

I will be brewing the blonde version...I'd prefer to remain true to style and use the pilsner malt, but I don't really fancy the 4 step mash. I read a book recently in which the brewer from Achouffe gives a 'walk through' brew with the author....he used a 4 step mash with pilsner malt

One thing I did forget to mention was the water. I'm used to using crs and gypsum to treat my water - i usually brew pales/bitters.
The Achouffe brewery uses soft water and in the 'author brew day' they used untreated bottled mineral water.
I'm not sure what to do....do I use crs to reduce the alkalinity and then get my mash and boil calcium from a source other than gypsum (what though?)......I feel I don't want gypsum in there as I do not want to to emphasise hop charachter. I think the gypsum may leave a salty taste too???

This is definately weekend beer rabbie :lol:
Thanks again for the info :thumb:

 

[rabbie]

I wouldn't get too worked up about how they do it in the brewery, you'll have no problems with a single infusion using pilsner I don't think. Someone better informed than me will chip in too!

Good luck anyway :drink: