Belgian Dark Strong Ale Recipe

[Cman]

Hey guys

I have really been loving these beers lately and am keen to have a go at a Belgian Dark Strong Ale, ala Chimay Blue, Rochefort 10 etc. Hopefully shooting for 9-10% abv.

I gather there can be a few challenges such as doing a nice big starter, closely controlling/ gradually ramping up the temp, progressively adding some simple or candi sugar, achieving bottle carbonation etc and will keep reading up on that stuff.

As a starting point though, has anyone got any good tried and tested extract or partial mash recipes they could share or any other tips?

I would really like to get across how to brew this style well, particularly given the cost of eg Chimay down at my local.

Cheers

C-Man

 

[sp0rk]

My tips (I'm kegging my dark strong tonight),
Make some candi sugar (I just added all of mine in the boil), it's easy to make and adds delicious flavours
Use a good liquid yeast (I used Wyeast Belgian Strong) and build up a fairly large starter
I thought I had the recipe on my work PC but apparently not, pretty sure I used Hallertau and Goldings for hopping
I'll grab the recipe when I get home

 

[The Judge]

sp0rk can you expand on making your own candi sugar? I could google it, I know, buuuuuuuuuut, meh, I wanna hear you tell us.

 

[sp0rk]

Weeeeeeeell
I used 2kg of sugar (was making enough for 2 batches), juice from a large lemon (or 1/4 of a teaspoon of cream of tartar per kilo) and enough water to make a thick syrup, oh and a good thermometer that will measure up to at least around 160 degrees
Put the sugar and water into a large pot and begin to heat it to dissolve the sugar
Once the sugar has completely dissolved, add the lemon juice or cream of tartar to invert the sugar
Cook at between 126 and 135 degrees C for 20 minutes to invert the sugar and start evaporating off the water
If the temp starts to rise and get close to 135, chuck a few tablespoons of water in to bring it back down to just above 126
At this point you'll now have invert syrup and you can use this as is if you really want
That or you can keep cooking to add colour and start caramelizing
I went up to a mid amber colour, but next time I'll probably go a deep amber maybe red or even mahogany
You can now bring the temp up to 150 Degrees to bring it to the hard crack stage and then turn off the stove
Pour out onto paper lined baking trays and allow to cool and harden
I broke mine up with a meat tenderiser, dusted with icing sugar, divided into ziplock bags and put them in my keg fridge
They did eventually form a big blob, so I may not have let it change to the hard crack stage properly
My second kilo has just gone into a Baltic Porter, so I'm keen to see how that will go too

This is a good instructional if my directions are a bit crap
http://joshthebrewmaster.wordpress.com/2010/11/27/how-to-make-belgian-candi-sugar/

 

[The Judge]

Holy jesus, that sounds good. I have so many more questions though! Well, two actually.
1. Does the sugar increase the boiling point of the solution so that it can actually boil at 135C?
2. Will this completely ruin SWMBOs cooking pots?

 

[sp0rk]

Holy jesus, that sounds good. I have so many more questions though! Well, two actually.
1. Does the sugar increase the boiling point of the solution so that it can actually boil at 135C?
Yes
2. Will this completely ruin SWMBOs cooking pots?
No

Sugar doesn't really have a definite boiling point, but the point at where it's bubbling and boiling along like water can be anywhere from around 120-160, into the higher parts of this range, it's starting to decompose (not so much boil)
I've just read something that said to chuck your setting sugar into a cold freezer ASAP once it's in the pans to get it nice and hard
As long as they're stainless/aluminium pots (not teflon lined or whatever), I can't see it ruining them

 

[Cman]

Thanks sp0rk. Would be keen to check out your recipe.

 

[Dave70]

Get some date syrup in there. You don't need much.
Don't process whole dates however and try to steep the beer on it. I did. With explosive results.
Ruined the whole batch. Made a terrible mess.

 

[manticle]

My take:

Belgian pils malt to about 1070.
Touch spec B
Small amount dextrose (say 200g for 20 L final volume)
Touch Caramunich
Touch belgian biscuit and aromatic (just for kicks - love the toasty/nutty aspect they give - these are optional if you want to keep the grist simple).
Rochefort 10 has a touch of coriander too - use fresh, crushed, lightly toasted indian coriander seed if you want.

Hochkurz style mash.

Hallertauer and styrians to low 20s.

Healthy pitch of 1762.


Start at 17 ish and let rise to 22-24 over a few days.

Add d2 syrup about 2-300g at a time, allow to ferment out then add in another till 1 kg ish total reached (per 20 L final vol).
If the 1762 stalls, add an active starter of 1388 to finish it off.

Cold condition for 3-4 weeks then age (cool) for 6-12 months.

 

[sp0rk]

Cold condition for 3-4 weeks then age (cool) for 6-12 months.

Mine's just finished CCing for 3 weeks and I'll be kegging it on the weekend
Here's hoping I can hold out and leave it alone for 6 months...