Strong Belgian Brown

[disgruntledgoat]

Having been inspired by a lifetimes consumption of Belgian beer, me an d 2 friends purchasing our All-Grain equipment, and the chaotic scenes of brewing a pale ale the night before, (culminating in my cupping my hands around a hacked off funnel in -8c as my fellow brewers poured pans of cold water down the Wort Chiller)... I decided to ditch those two clowns and brew my own Trappist Style Brown ale (always being one to bite off more than I can chew!).

Recipe as follows

Grain:

8 lb. German Pilsner
1 lb. Wheat malt
3 lb. German Munich
1 lb. Belgian CaraMunich
1 lb. Belgian Special B

Went for a 2 step mash, in the classic Belgian style, starting with 12l at 62c for 45 mins then using a stupidly complicated spreadsheet of my own devising to work out I needed 14l of boiling water to take it up to 68c for another 45 mins. Mashed out and boiled for 90 mins with 75g of Willamette (in hindsight probably too much) and added 25g of Mount Hood with 30 mins left. 5 Mins to go I boshed in 500g of Belgian Candi Sugar and 150g of caster, as well as 1kg of Malt Extract.

Cooling was much smoother than the night before, as I held the hose of the Wort Chiller tight against the tap I had just disconnected the washing machine from! Genius.
The yeast was Wyeast 1762 (Rochefort yeast I think) in a 2l starter pitched at 22c. OG was 1.080

Primary is still ongoing, since Sunday afternoon, and has seen the temperature between 24c and 30c (!!). Currently sat at 25c with gravity of 1.016, ABV at a cool 8.4% and AA of a nice, round 80%... Guess I got lucky!

I plan to put it in secondary in the garage at the weekend for 2/3 weeks then referment in the bottle.

 

[Good Ed]

Well done, very ambitious. why such a high temperature to ferment? :

 

[disgruntledgoat]

Hi, thanks for the kind words

The temperature was taken from an amalgamation of stuff cribbed from the web and the chapters on Trappist breweries in Brew Like a Monk. I think the monks usually use a 3 step mash, with a 40 minute rest at something like 55c. Having a 30l, off the shelf, tun, this 1st step was denied to me! So that's why!

The lesson I've taken from all my research is that the 2 keys are patience (over batches, not just fermentation) and good intentions. Taste means more than measurements...
:

 

[disgruntledgoat]

Sorry, just seen you said ferment.

Just decided to let it do what it would on the first outing! The packaging said to pitchat 22c, so I did that and let her rip!

 

[JustBri]

Having been inspired by a lifetimes consumption of Belgian beer, me an d 2 friends purchasing our All-Grain equipment, and the chaotic scenes of brewing a pale ale the night before, (culminating in my cupping my hands around a hacked off funnel in -8c as my fellow brewers poured pans of cold water down the Wort Chiller)... I decided to ditch those two clowns and brew my own Trappist Style Brown ale (always being one to bite off more than I can chew!).

Recipe as follows

Grain:

8 lb. German Pilsner
1 lb. Wheat malt
3 lb. German Munich
1 lb. Belgian CaraMunich
1 lb. Belgian Special B

Went for a 2 step mash, in the classic Belgian style, starting with 12l at 62c for 45 mins then using a stupidly complicated spreadsheet of my own devising to work out I needed 14l of boiling water to take it up to 68c for another 45 mins. Mashed out and boiled for 90 mins with 75g of Willamette (in hindsight probably too much) and added 25g of Mount Hood with 30 mins left. 5 Mins to go I boshed in 500g of Belgian Candi Sugar and 150g of caster, as well as 1kg of Malt Extract.

Cooling was much smoother than the night before, as I held the hose of the Wort Chiller tight against the tap I had just disconnected the washing machine from! Genius.
The yeast was Wyeast 1762 (Rochefort yeast I think) in a 2l starter pitched at 22c. OG was 1.080

Primary is still ongoing, since Sunday afternoon, and has seen the temperature between 24c and 30c (!!). Currently sat at 25c with gravity of 1.016, ABV at a cool 8.4% and AA of a nice, round 80%... Guess I got lucky!

I plan to put it in secondary in the garage at the weekend for 2/3 weeks then referment in the bottle.

that sounds like it will be a real nice brew, i'm a big fan of belgium beers, never tried an all grain one, but on my shopping list this this week is brew like a monk, keep us posted on its progress and i do hope you have some pics for us to view

happy brewing

JB

 

[disgruntledgoat]

Siphoned it off into secondary last night. I salvaged some yeast off the top to keep in a sterile container in the fridge for bottle fermentation. Don't think, at that stage, it would be much use for the next batch in primary... at that temp and attenuation it'll have been beaten up!

Final gravity was 1.013 giving apparant attenuation of 84% and abv of 8.7%, pretty much what I was aiming for!

The colour could bedarker and I could taste a lot of bubblegum and fruit, assuming that's the yeast and that it will back off a bit in secondary.

I'm already thinking of improvements for the next batch... quick question, should I only alter 1 aspect per batch so I can measure the changes?

 

[StubbsPKS]

Only changing one variable per run is the "scientific" way to go about things. It could help you judge what each change does to the outcome.

 

[disgruntledgoat]

Had a little taster off the tap whilst it's in 2ndary. Disappointing.

Colour is insufficiently dark (but i knew that anyway and my 2nd batch will have some chocolate malt in)The nose is all banana and bubblegum and nothing else, the taste is nothing with a very bitter finish. Is this likely to improve or am I back to the drawing board? Will teh in bottle fermentation give me any complexity of flavour?

Also, is it advisable to bottle half and leave the other half in secondary for a while longer to see what becomes of it?

 

[unclepumble]

Had a little taster off the tap whilst it's in 2ndary. Disappointing.

Colour is insufficiently dark (but i knew that anyway and my 2nd batch will have some chocolate malt in)The nose is all banana and bubblegum and nothing else, the taste is nothing with a very bitter finish. Is this likely to improve or am I back to the drawing board? Will teh in bottle fermentation give me any complexity of flavour?

Also, is it advisable to bottle half and leave the other half in secondary for a while longer to see what becomes of it?

when did you start this brew 7th or 8th sept?

if so 6 days in is no indication of the final beer, at 8.7% it will need at least 2months conditioning and more like 6 months for a true indication of finished flavour, it is still very young and will change dramaticly.

UP

 

[philip5660]

Had a little taster off the tap whilst it's in 2ndary. Disappointing.

Colour is insufficiently dark (but i knew that anyway and my 2nd batch will have some chocolate malt in)The nose is all banana and bubblegum and nothing else, the taste is nothing with a very bitter finish. Is this likely to improve or am I back to the drawing board? Will teh in bottle fermentation give me any complexity of flavour?

Also, is it advisable to bottle half and leave the other half in secondary for a while longer to see what becomes of it?

From my limited experience of kit brewing I can tell you that nothing tastes good after that length of time - you'll taste something that resembles beer, it'll be boozy and have alot of "flavours" but until it's done and conditioned you can't really judge - Even the difference between bottle conditioning for 2 weeks or 4 weeks is like night and day.
Stick with it, get it brewed and get it well conditioned.

 

[phettebs]

While Belgian yeast strains can handle higher temps, I usually pitch no higher than 18c and hold it for three days before letting it rise up into the range you mentioned. The bubblegum and banana you are getting are probably from your high fermentation temps. You may have some fusel alcohols in there from that also.

I will usually leave a beer that big in primary for 3-4 weeks so the yeast can clean up after themselves. I then move to secondary for at least 2 months and usually longer. That's just my process and it's worked well for me with all the Belgians I make. Your mileage may vary. I would just give this one some time.

-baz

 

[disgruntledgoat]

Fair enough, I think I'm forgetting the cardinal rule of Belgian brewing (especially with rudimentary temp control): patience

I'll draw off and bottle half of it after two weeks and bottle condition it for 2 more. The rest I'll leave in secondary for another 2 weeks and bottle con. For 2 weeks.

I've another batch brewing next week so can try baz's process then!

 

[disgruntledgoat]

Just had my first bottle of this off the batch that did secondary for 2 weeks and bottle conditioned for 2 weeks (one hot, one cold). Some observations

1. The banana nose is still there and can be tasted too, it's quite overpowering when the beer is chilled, but blends in with a more malty and even a bit of a fruity flavour when the beer is a bit warmer.

2. It's more of a Dubbel than a strong brown. ABV is 8.5% and the colour is a dark ruby red, a little cloudy but not overly so.

3. The head isn't what I'd like, but I think I need to use more sugar than the 60g I put into a 25l batch for bottle conditioning... More like 7g per litre needed.

4. It has a very bitter finish... becuase I went a little too wild on the hops. It's not a Kentish ale, to clarify, but it's definitely there!

 

[disgruntledgoat]

Right the first batch has now finished its 'cold' phase of bottle conditioning and is a much better beer as a finished product.

The colour has darkened, the banana nose and flavours have diminished a bit, best of all the carbonation has completed and it has an impressive, but shortlived head. Its full bodied, has banana, malt and burnt toffee flavours with a dry, bitter finish where you can taste the 8.5% booze too!

I'm pretty bloody chuffed for a first swing, especially with an apparant attenuation of 84%.

 

[disgruntledgoat]

Just had first bottle out of the month aged stuff, and I'm thrilled with it!

The banana has mellowed into vanilla, there's burnt toffee on the nose too. Keeps its head really well, colour is the darkest of dark red's. If the next experimental batch tops it, it'll be something special.

This was my first AG on my own, and I seem to have brewed a massive belgian dubbel which is almost exactly to my tastes. Flukeamendous.

Just shows that by following good advice and sound techniques, even a dunce like me can design and make a great brew. In their garage!

 

[rickthebrew]

: sounds great, its hard but patience is the key, the difference in a beer over a few weeks can be very suprising.........

 

[phettebs]

Nicely done DG! :thumb:

I too have a Belgian double now that I'm itching to taste. It dropped from 1.080 to 1.006! :shock: Needs some cold conditioning and aging before I bottle it.

What's up next for you?

 

[disgruntledgoat]

Thanks Baz,

Next up, well... I've got an abortive darker version of it in secondary for another 10 days. That one didn't really work, gravity was 1.075 and I didn't check gravity prior to siphoning it, so its too sweet and only about 6%.

I made that one again last weekend which came out at 1.083 (I'm putting the slight variation down to some extra pilsner and chocolate malt). That's still in primary and after 5 days was down to 1.026 last night.

those will be the last for a while, as we're moving up to scotland middle of feb.

The bottle conditioning worked a treat with one week hot and one week cold. For the hot week I stuck it ontop of the Dog's cage that he sleeps in in the kitchen. Constant 22c!

 

[Dunfie]

those will be the last for a while, as we're moving up to scotland middle of feb.

Wise move. :clap:

Where about are you moving too?

 

[disgruntledgoat]

I have a new job near Paisley. So Renfrewshire/Paisley/Glasgow. Going househunting tomorrow

Can't make any more Belgian until we get settled either

On the plus side, I've a wheat beer planned and a hankering for some dark mild...

Oh and my works leaving do is a tour round Jennings with a 2 hour free bar!