Belgian Smash (almost)

[awall]

Hey all, I've got a lot of Galaxy hops that i want to use up so i thought I'd do a relatively simple single malt and single hop. A mate of mine wants me to brew something Belgian so I'll use T-58 yeast (still sticking with dry yeast atm) to make it a bit interesting. Then i thought in keeping with the Belgian theme, I'd aim for a big beer and add some sort of sugar during fermentation.

Here's what i was thinking,

For a 14L batch. 70% efficiency, 1.072 SG and ~45-50 IBU

4kg of pale malt. (89%)
500g of clear candi sugar added after a couple of days fermentation. (11%)

15g Galaxy (12.3% AA) @ 60 mins
30g Galaxy @ 10 mins
30g Galaxy @ 0 mins

Fermented with Safale T-58 yeast.

I'm thinking (hoping really ) the later Galaxy additions will compliment the Belgian yeast nicely. Plus I like a fair whack of bitterness in my beers so I want the IBU's up there. What I don't have a clue about is which sugar to use, and how to add it? Should i go with a clear candi or mix it up and add some sort of darker sugar too? Also do most of you add all the sugar during fermentation, or should I add half in the boil and half during fermentation?

Any thoughts or help would be greatly appreciated. I've never tried brewing anything like this so I need all the help I can get.

Cheers :beerbang:

 

[gap]

You could use ordinary white sugar.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Run the T58 at about 20-22 degrees. I got it (this time) throwing some bubblegum, whereas previously all I could get was clove only.

 

[angus_grant]

I was told to add the candi sugar a few days into the ferment. You want the yeast to munch away on the more complex sugars provided by the wort before being lazy bastards and gobbling up the simple sugars in the candi sugar.

I recently brewed an 8.5% Belgian triple: strange thing is that is is nice out of the keg but very hot alcohol out of 2 the 12 bottles or so that I sampled. Will let the bottles and keg sit for another month and then see how they go. Maybe the bottle conditioning upped the alcohol a bit more than expected and just needs to sit for a bit to mellow out a bit.

Lots of banana during ferment and out of the keg. That was with a liquid yeast though (Wyeast 1214 Belgian Ale) :icon_drool2: running at 20 if memory serves me correctly (which is rarely does)

 

[awall]

Thanks for all the info.

@gap, I'll stick with clear candi sugar as I've read some sources that say plain table sugar can possibly add some unwanted flavours. I thought about using something darker to give it some extra colour and flavour, but i'll keep it simple and let the yeast and hops shine.

@lord raja, I'm always cautious of fermenting too warm so i'll start it at 18c and let it free rise up to 20-22c and try and keep it around there. A bit of bubblegum does sound like it would work well with the Galaxy hops.

@angus (great name ), I'd read about yeast only eating the simple sugars and finishing too soon when the sugar was added early, but wasn't sure if I should add any at all to the boil. I'll just throw the lot in after it's nearing FG. Thanks.

Cheers again for the help. I'll brew on Sunday and keep this thread updated as I go along. I'm looking forward to the results of this one.

 

[bradmccoy]

A little off topic - but if you add sugars during fermentation, how do you get an accurate idea of the amount of fermentable sugar in total? Can you take three SG readings and work out the ABV (i.e. original gravity before fermentation, a gravity reading just before adding candi sugar, then the final gravity)?

 

[AndrewQLD]

I'd use the Mangrove Jacks belgian Ale yeast, it's a corker.

The galaxy is going to be very noticable, i'd stay clear of the final 2 additions if you want to keep a belgian type character