HBC Belgian Double

[Flyerstarter]

So for my Brewday today I'm having a go at the HBC Belgian Double mash kit. It's my first mash kit as I'm normally content following a "from scratch" recipe or making my own but at a 20% off price in a recent sale I couldn't miss giving it a go. It's a 5kg+ grain bill with candy sugar, hops, whirlfloc and yeast included - I think it cost around £18.

The kit instructions are pretty basic so I wouldn't recommend this for a newbie.

To be continued.



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[IainM]

I brewed one of these three weeks ago. I was surprised by how few hops there were in the pack, even compared to the tripple. I used two packs of T-58 and it dropped from 1.078 to 1.006, giving 9.5%! I'm going to try to keep it conditioning as long as possible.

 

[Slid]

Belgian beers seem to me to be more yeast forward than my US 05 beers. The only Belgian yeasts I've used to date are Belle Saison and the Brewferm yeast that cones with the Xmas ale.

At the moment, I'm drinking a partial mash brew made with the Xmas ale yeast (re-used slurry). Very good indeed and not as immediately weird tasting as a saison.

 

[Covrich]

Belgian beers seem to me to be more yeast forward than my US 05 beers. The only Belgian yeasts I've used to date are Belle Saison and the Brewferm yeast that cones with the Xmas ale.

At the moment, I'm drinking a partial mash brew made with the Xmas ale yeast (re-used slurry). Very good indeed and not as immediately weird tasting as a saison.

Yeah, belgians seem to rely less on the hops..

The belgian witbier, I tried the starter decant and it had that phenolic funky taste but in the wit it blended well with orange and coriander..

I think these sorts are a bit marmite..

What yeast came with this kit? Flystarter?

 

[Slid]

Yeah, belgians seem to rely less on the hops..

The belgian witbier, I tried the starter decant and it had that phenolic funky taste but in the wit it blended well with orange and coriander..

I think these sorts are a bit marmite..

What yeast came with this kit? Flystarter?

Good question on the yeast. I did some research, at the time, but not sufficiently diligently to yield any answers. I have one more stored yeast bottle, in the fridge from February's Xmas brew. I am very tempted to add this yeast to tomorrow's pale ale and propogate again.

 

[Flyerstarter]

Yeah, belgians seem to rely less on the hops..



The belgian witbier, I tried the starter decant and it had that phenolic funky taste but in the wit it blended well with orange and coriander..



I think these sorts are a bit marmite..



What yeast came with this kit? Flystarter?

The yeast that came with the kit was Safbrew T-58, from what I've read it should be a good match.

 

[Flyerstarter]

I brewed one of these three weeks ago. I was surprised by how few hops there were in the pack, even compared to the tripple. I used two packs of T-58 and it dropped from 1.078 to 1.006, giving 9.5%! I'm going to try to keep it conditioning as long as possible.

That's pretty good efficiency there mate. Mine came out at 1.066 however my volume was more than the planned 20 litres, I got 24 litres.

 

[Flyerstarter]

All done and packed away in the fermenter now.

Here's the brew sheet if anyone is interested.

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[Flyerstarter]

This went into the secondary yesterday, down to 1.012 and smelling great. I'm going to give it around two weeks to clear down nicely before bottling.


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[622billy]

Thanks for that post - just ordered 3 x AG kits from them, not previously aware of that company.

 

[Flyerstarter]

After a good while conditioning this turned out to be a smashing brew. My brother in law is a big Leffe fan and loves it.

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[IainM]

Looks good! I tried mine a couple of months ago when it was three weeks in the bottle, but it was still green. The idea was to hold off until Christmas but I guess I should give it a try, purely for research purposes you understand.