# Belgian Dark Strong Ale



## Fuggle (30/1/11)

Hi Guys,

Friday I ordered the grain bill for a BDSA from Colin @ The Brew Shop.

I decided to tackle Jamil Zainasheff's version.

The recipe calls for Special B, but he didn't have it, so I left it out.

It should also only have 70 grams of Hallertauer. I brought a 90 gram pack, so I chucked the last 20 grams in @ 20 minutes as well as a Whirlfloc. I threw a whole tablet in this time, just for the hell of it,,, boy did it frough up lol...

6.80 kg Pilsner (Weyermann) 
1.30 kg Munich Malt 
0.45 kg Aromatic Malt
0.45 kg Caramunich Malt 
0.25 kg Melanoidin 
0.25 kg Wheat Malt
70.00 gm Hallertauer [4.70 %] (60 min) Hops 23.9 IBU 
20.00 gm Hallertauer [4.70 %] (20 min) Hops 4.1 IBU 
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 20.0 min) Misc 
0.50 kg Candi Sugar, Dark (275.0 SRM) Sugar 5.00 % 
1 Pkgs Abbey Ale (White Labs #WLP530) Yeast-Ale 

Brew day,

I added 20 litres of water into my mash tun @ around 73c.
I doughed in @ 71c
I mashed @ 65c for 60 minutes
After 60 minutes I raised the temp to 67c for 10 minutes
I lautered as much as I could, which was around 15 litres
I then added another 9 litres of water @ around 90c for another 15 minutes
I lautered again and took about 4-6 litres or wort.

Fired up my kettle and boiled for 90 minutes.

15 minutes to go I added my copper immersion chiller and cooled the wort down to about 35c.
I let it sit over night in my glass carboy, and this morning I pitched the yeast.

I took a gravity reading this morning temp @ around 24c and got a reading of 10.80

Cheers


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## raven19 (30/1/11)

Nice one, keep us posted when you start sampling this bad boy! Yeast choice looks good.


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## Barry (30/1/11)

Col ask me about the special B later that day. Caraaroma is a good (not identical) replacement for future reference. All the best with BDSA, I have one aging in bottles at present.


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## Fuggle (31/1/11)

Woke up this mornin,

Checked my belgian, and had a blow out. lol

What a mess, anyway, Cleaned it all up and ran a thicker clear blow off tube into a litre of diluted star san

Alls good this arvo.


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## DanRayner (31/1/11)

Made a Belgian strong dark recently (from Jamil's book) and it too went nuts:







I had a little trouble getting it to attenuate - so I added a little wort (at the end of another brewday) with some champagne yeast called "killa" or something to the keg and I've been blowing off the pressure relief valve every day since (seems like a totally unrepeatable brew but ... meh...)


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## Fuggle (31/1/11)

Haha,

What yeast did you use ???

Mine was lagging all day on Sunday, I was a bit worried something went wrong.

Cheers


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## argon (8/2/12)

Considering doing a Belgian Dark this weekend with the basis being the same recipe as the OP, from Jamil. Wouldn't mind some feedback from those that are more familiar with the style.

Some changes i'm considering making are:
- subbed out sugar for Belgian Candi Syrup 
- will use WY 3522 Ardennes i've got and will fire up tonight.
- subbed out Hallertau for Saaz i have and added a 20min addition for some hop spiciness
- lower the sach temp from 67C to 65C

Ferment at 20C up to 22C
Bottling half in champagne bottles and half in 500mL bottles

Probably do a single batch for the first time in 2 years. Although would be nice to have more to age. But considering it's my first attempt at the style would like to nail it first before doing a big batch. 

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Belgian Dark Strong
Brewer: Argon
Asst Brewer: 
Style: Belgian Dark Strong Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0) 

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 29.62 l
Post Boil Volume: 23.62 l
Batch Size (fermenter): 22.71 l 
Bottling Volume: 22.71 l
Estimated OG: 1.080 SG
Estimated Color: 21.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 36.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU 
5.22 kg Pilsner (Bohemian) - Floor Malted) Malt Grain 1 64.0 % 
1.04 kg Munich I Malt (Weyermann) (7.1 SRM) Grain 2 12.8 % 
0.35 kg Aromatic Malt (Dingemans) (19.0 SRM) Grain 3 4.2 % 
0.35 kg Caramunich I Malt (Weyermann) (45.7 SR Grain 4 4.2 % 
0.35 kg Special B (Dingemans) (147.5 SRM) Grain 5 4.2 % 
0.18 kg Melanoidin Malt (Weyermann) (35.5 SRM) Grain 6 2.2 % 
0.18 kg Wheat Malt Pale (Weyermann) (2.0 SRM) Grain 7 2.2 % 
0.50 kg Belgian Candi Syrup - Dark (80.0 SRM) Sugar 8 6.1 % 
60.00 g Czech Saaz - HD 2010 [5.00 %] - Boil 60. Hop 9 30.2 IBUs 
20.00 g Czech Saaz - HD 2010 [5.00 %] - Boil 20. Hop 10 6.1 IBUs 
1.0 pkg Belgian Ardennes (Wyeast Labs #3522) [12 Yeast 11 - 


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 8.15 kg
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time 
Mash In Add 27.08 l of water at 69.6 C 65.0 C 60 min 

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun, , 10.20l) of 90.0 C water
Notes:
------


Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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## black_labb (8/2/12)

Looks like a good recipe argon. Keep the yeast healthy, a big starter and maybe a pinch of DAP if you have it. The higher mash temp is fine if you mash for the 90 mins instead of the 60, though I'm probably not the one to listen to. I don't know how long my thermometer has been wrong for. Just got a new one a couple brews ago.


Due to my dodgy thermometer reading 7+ degrees higher than the actual temperature my belgian dark strong was overattenuating like most of my brews that used that thermometer. A belgian strong shouldn't be finishing at 1008

I steeped 550 g of mixed crystal (specb, cararoma, bb dark crystal and caramunich II) and added some treacle to the liquor. I reduced that down and caramelised it for a while until it was back to the consistency of treacle. The idea was to reduce the fermentability even further. I added roughly half to each fermentor and I hope that this adds some sweetness to the now very alcoholic dark strongs.


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## bkmad (8/2/12)

I've done Jamil's dark strong twice now. I think the addition of candi syrup might be a bit much. There is already a lot of flavour in there. Either that or reduce the spec malts a little. 

I should say though that the first version I made ended up without any sugar due to higher than expected efficiency (OG1.104) so was an all malt beer. It did still attenuate down to 1.020 so should still be a reasonable representation of the original recipe. The second version I haven't tried as I made it for my dad who hasn't felt the need to share it with me yet. That version included the sugar.


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## argon (8/2/12)

bkmad said:


> I've done Jamil's dark strong twice now. I think the addition of candi syrup might be a bit much. There is already a lot of flavour in there. Either that or reduce the spec malts a little.
> 
> I should say though that the first version I made ended up without any sugar due to higher than expected efficiency (OG1.104) so was an all malt beer. It did still attenuate down to 1.020 so should still be a reasonable representation of the original recipe. The second version I haven't tried as I made it for my dad who hasn't felt the need to share it with me yet. That version included the sugar.



Interesting in regards to the candi syrup. Probably best just to stick with the original sugar addition for the first one. Good to hear from someone who's actually done the recipe.


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## winkle (8/2/12)

argon said:


> Interesting in regards to the candi syrup. Probably best just to stick with the original sugar addition for the first one. Good to hear from someone who's actually done the recipe.


Don't forget to give the yeast a decent start - use double the amount of yeast nutrient (if you're using any) and oxygenate well.


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## argon (8/2/12)

winkle said:


> Don't forget to give the yeast a decent start - use double the amount of yeast nutrient (if you're using any) and oxygenate well.


Yeah i'll step up via the stir plate with the 3522 sample i have with plenty of nutrient (as i always do when stepping) to 2L as per Mr Malty.

What about progressive feeding of the simple sugars? I note in JZs notes he doesn't say anything. But i've done a Belgian Golden before that attenuated well when i did it.


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## winkle (8/2/12)

argon said:


> Yeah i'll step up via the stir plate with the 3522 sample i have with plenty of nutrient (as i always do when stepping) to 2L as per Mr Malty.
> 
> What about progressive feeding of the simple sugars? I note in JZs notes he doesn't say anything. But i've done a Belgian Golden before that attenuated well when i did it.



Yep, that helps as well, just after high krausen :icon_cheers:


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## Mikedub (8/2/12)

how much impact does the dark candi syrup have on the colour of the brew? would it be a great deal lighter if dark syrup was not used?


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## WarmBeer (8/2/12)

argon said:


> Interesting in regards to the candi syrup. Probably best just to stick with the original sugar addition for the first one. Good to hear from someone who's actually done the recipe.


I gave the same grist a go late last year.

I used the 1388 (Belgian Strong Ale) and ended up with an FG of 1.010. Gave one a taste test about a week ago, and while it is still very, very young, the aroma is far too boozey. I'm hoping that with another 6 months or so, things might meld together a little, but at the moment, it's far too alcohol driven to be a pleasant drink.

Good luck, hope yours works out. Let us know in 9 months or so


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## argon (8/2/12)

winkle said:


> Yep, that helps as well, just after high krausen :icon_cheers:


Cool thanks mate



Mikedub said:


> how much impact does the dark candi syrup have on the colour of the brew? would it be a great deal lighter if dark syrup was not used?



With the dark candi it ends up at 21.9srm. Without 17.2srm, which is still in style about midway. From my reading, Belgian Dark is not really black, just darker than blond



BJCP said:


> BJCP
> Appearance: Deep amber to deep coppery-brown in color (“dark” in this context implies “more deeply colored than golden”). Huge, dense, moussy, persistent cream- to light tan-colored head. Can be clear to somewhat hazy.





WarmBeer said:


> Good luck, hope yours works out. Let us know in 9 months or so



Yeah hope it's not too hot, hopefully the progressive simple sugar addition helps. Should be good about the time of QABC at least.

Edit: links


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## winkle (8/2/12)

argon said:


> Yeah hope it's not too hot, hopefully the progressive simple sugar addition helps. Should be good about the time of QABC at least.



I hope BD likes it :icon_cheers:


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## argon (8/2/12)

winkle said:


> I hope BD likes it :icon_cheers:


just feed him up with flu meds and he'll love everything... till midnight on the email that is h34r:


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## manticle (8/2/12)

Got this one aging at the moment: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=57359

I had more than 20 L (aging in 20L glass demijohn) so prior to the addition of the dark candi, I ran off about 8L and chucked some cacao nibs and raisins in there to make a dubbel thingy.

A few months later and it's tasting delicious which bodes well for the main brew.


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## argon (9/2/12)

Bugger it, i have the ingredients, so i'll do a double batch and do half as 3522 Ardennes and half on 3787 Trappist. Will age in a couple of kegs at cellar temp (13C) till around Christmas or so and see how she develops. Should have enough champagne bottles by then. Will prep tonight and get the Ardennes stepped up prior to Sunday.


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