Chimay Blue Clone recipe to share

[lobedogg]

Hey all, just thought I'd share this recipe as it is a winner even at this very early stage after bottling only two weeks ago.

I was trawling the net for a simple Belgian Ale recipe a little while back when I stumbled across Lethaldog's Chimay Blue clone on another site.
Very simple ingredients and basically a two-step brew. Highly recommended! It's honestly the best tasting thing I have had straight out of the fermenter, and I couldn't resist sampling a bottle this week less than two weeks in. Was not disappointed!

Very simple ingredients and basically a two-step brew. Yeast-driven beer so make sure you go for the Wyeast Abbey Ale or make a starter out of a Chimay Blue.

See below for Lethaldog's original recipe which was for 15L. Measurements are a bit simpler for 15L, but I've scaled it up to 22L so I can fill some extra bottles and am going to put a second batch down tonight. It comes out at a lazy 9% so be warned!

Lethaldog claimed you could sit this side by side with the real deal and not tell the difference. Whilst I haven't done this just yet, it tastes just as good to me.

Anyone else tried this or similar?

Enjoy!

15L

"
ldme 2.3kg
black grain (crushed) 30g
soft dark brown sugar 400g
blended honey 250g
bittering hops hallertau 40g
bittering hops goldings 20g
if you can get hold of a bottle of chimay blue label then make a starter out of it but if not just use a good ale yeast eg. safale or wyeast abbey ale "


20L

ldme 3.373kg
black grain (crushed) 44g
soft dark brown sugar 586g
blended honey 366g
bittering hops hallertau 29.33g
bittering hops goldings 58.66g
Wyeast Abbey Ale/Chimay starter





Boil all ingredients except yeast and grain for 40 min. Steep grain in hot water for 1 hour. Then strain in and sparge. Done!

 

[Rod]

1 question -- what is the black grain

1 comment ---- in the 20l upscale are the two hops visa versa

also did you want your brew to have finished alcohol @ 8.7 % ( calc by brewmate )

but , sounds worth a try

 

[Hoppers]

And...is this 20L or 22L ???

 

[shacked]

Nice looking recipe mate!

T58 might also be a good yeast for this one

 

[lobedogg]

1 question -- what is the black grain

1 comment ---- in the 20l upscale are the two hops visa versa

also did you want your brew to have finished alcohol @ 8.7 % ( calc by brewmate )

but , sounds worth a try

Rod, thanks for your q's and noticing the mixup on the hops. Quantities are indeed reversed on the scaled up version. Threw the post together quickly and didn't notice until brewing the bigger batch last night! Needless to say, this batch will be a little different!

Black Grain is just crushed Black Malt I grabbed from LHBS. Mainly for a bit of colour.

ABV of close to 9% is perfect. The real deal is bang on 9%. If you or anyone want more of a quaffer, just brew with the 15L quantities and top up to 22L.

 

[lobedogg]

And...is this 20L or 22L ???

Thanks Hoppers, upscaled version is for 22L. Not 20L as incorrectly listed.

 

[brad81]

What's the AA% of the hops you are using mate?? I'm keen to not over/under bitter my beers any more by not taking this into account Looks like a simple recipe. Have a few mates that like this, so I'm keen to give it a go.

 

[lobedogg]

What's the AA% of the hops you are using mate?? I'm keen to not over/under bitter my beers any more by not taking this into account Looks like a simple recipe. Have a few mates that like this, so I'm keen to give it a go.

Brad, tbh I just cowboyed this one and didn't check AA% on either batch. I only had the original recipe to work off which made no mention of AA in the first place. Don't think you can go wrong if you stick to the 2:1 Hallertau to Goldings ratio though mate.

Having said that, I got mine mixed up a bit when I scaled the recipe up and had to adjust a bit last night as I didn't have enough Hallertau on hand. Sure it'll turn out well regardless.

Can double-check what AA they were tonight if that helps though.

 

[manticle]

Aa will make a big difference to bittering hops regardless of ratio. Are the goldings kent or styrians?

Aim for around 20 ibu

 

[lobedogg]

Aa will make a big difference to bittering hops regardless of ratio. Are the goldings kent or styrians?

Aim for around 20 ibu

Kent. Duly noted.

 

[lobedogg]

Checked the AA% on hops. Hallertau were 2.9% and Goldings were 4.6%.

By my calculations this should have given me an IBU of about 21. Right around the 20 mark you suggested Manticle. Sound about right?

 

[manticle]

Spot on. Aa will differ season to season so you may need more or less for rebrews.
There's more to hops than just aa of course but getting the bittering right in this kind of beer is very important for balance.

 

[panzerd18]

Thanks Hoppers, upscaled version is for 22L. Not 20L as incorrectly listed.

Good idea to edit your original post then.

 

[manticle]

Probably exceeded the eit window time limit.

 

[panzerd18]

Probably exceeded the eit window time limit.

Didn't even know there was a time limit. Not a good idea for obvious reasons.

 

[lobedogg]

Yeah error wasn't picked up in time I'm afraid.