Brew Like A Monk

[pbrosnan]

Hi All,

I can't recommend the people at Brewers Association enough. I ordered Brew Like A Monk (BLAM) & Farmhouse Ales through their website and both duly arrived, or so I thought. Not until a week or 2 later did I realise that they'd sent me WildBrews instead of BLAM. So I emailed telling them what had happened and they replied saying that they'd send me a copy of BLAM and there was no need to send anything back.
And today BLAM arrived and as far as I can make out they have sent it gratis! And for those sceptics, this was not a scam and would probably result in very bad karma if it was.

 

[peas_and_corn]

Amazon is pretty ordinary... I ordered 6 books about international relations last month and they sent me an email two days ago saying the first one (about the case for palestinian statehood) had just been sent.

 

[mikem108]

AM about 2/3's of the way through BLAM and am finding all the titbits of info very inspiring...Although its summer I can feel some Belgian style brews coming on...

 

[n00ch]

I'm reading Farmhouse Ales at the moment and i also have had a bit of inspiration. Next brew will be a saison i think.

 

[warrenlw63]

I'm reading Farmhouse Ales at the moment and i also have had a bit of inspiration. Next brew will be a saison i think.

[post="97773"][/post]​

n00ch if you plan to use Wyeast 3724 (Belg. Saison) don't be in any hurry to try your brew. Mine's been sitting at between 25-27 for 12 days now and still doesn't look like finishing and it's as cloudy as heck. A real exercise in patience. <_<

Warren -

 

[n00ch]

I'll be sure to keep that in mind. I'm not to worried if it sits there for a while though. No real hurry just never made this style before and really keen to give it a go.

 

[warrenlw63]

n00ch

My recipe is here.

Warren -

 

[n00ch]

Thanks for that Warren i'll have a look over it and might steal a few of you ideas. Might finally use the candi sugar i have had for a few months!

 

[warrenlw63]

Actually n00ch that's a part I forgot to change on recipe specs.

I ended up giving the candi the flick, at nearly $10 per kilo it seemed steep for a minimal flavour contribution. I wound up using the equiv. weight in dextrose. (About 400g IIRC).

But hey, if you've got the candi use it by all means. :beerbang:

Warren -

 

[nonicman]

For some reason Brew Like a Monk helped to form the idea that for the lighter coloured Belgiums, dextrose makes sence over the hassle of candi sugar.

 

[warrenlw63]

LOL! :lol: That book's enlightened me like a monk too NM.

Warren -

 

[n00ch]

Fair enough Warren. I think i'll keep the candi sugar until i get up to reading brew like a monk. I'm sure i'll get some inspiration to use it when i read that.

 

[barfridge]

Hnady hint: instead of candi sugar, go to your local asian shop and get some rock sugar (sometimes called lump sugar). It's pretty much the same stuff, and costs me less than a dollar for a 500g bag.

I used 500g in my tripel, which is in primary as we speak.

 

[warrenlw63]

Barfridge.

IIRC Chinese yellow lump sugar is basically the same as raw sugar. :unsure:

Warren -

 

[Borret]

Yep I have a pack in the cupboard..... rock candy/ lump sugar is cane based. (mine is anyway)

Borret

 

[johnno]

Picked this up in the city yesterday at a bookstore.
What's the consensus?
Is it helpful? Can it really help you to brew like a monk?
I want to make some Belgians this year.
I may be a bit harsh here as I have only generally flicked through it, but so far it seems like a piece of junk.
I'll chuck it on the bookshelf and hopefully get around to it one day/month/year.

johnno

 

[Barry]

Good day
Jez lent me this book and I found it most interesting. Great reference if you want to make Belgians. Just one thing I discovered was many of their yeasts are multi-strained so I used a Whitelabs special that was a combination of three Belgian yeasts. The tripel and dubbel are less than two weeks in the bottle but seem to have more "Belgian" character than my previous attemps.

 

[johnno]

Thanks Barry,
Good to see you have found it useful.
I don't have any robes bu do have a brand new crisp lab coat.
Hope that helps.

johnno

 

[tangent]

some interesting advice in there about underpitching yeasts - great book!

 

[warrenlw63]

Nah, I found it fairly helpful Johnno.

Trick is not to get so much information from the book per se. It's more a case of getting inspired. :beerbang:

I've made quite a few Belgian styled beers over the years and I reckon this book gave me some insights.

Primarily I used to pitch high and ferment high and run the gamut of fusels. BLAM states that you pitch at normal temps, say 18 degrees and let the ferment warm itself up over the course of the first 48 hours.

May have paid $35 for it but at least I learn one thing new. :lol:

Warren -