Leffe Blonde Clone - The Move To A Semi-decent Homebrew

[blakie21]

Yeah only 2 Brewcraft shops I think. I'm out near the hills and have very limited choice so this has made me try and be self sufficient and have more on hand than I need. Just part of the hobby really.

Must have it worse than us then! At least if you buy lots at once you are *forced* to use it while its still fresh, what a shame! more beer :icon_cheers: .

Might give the bibra lake a shot and just get it posted, would probably cost me 8 bucks in petrol there and back anyway . Have you guys used that shop before?

 

[mfeighan]

Must have it worse than us then! At least if you buy lots at once you are *forced* to use it while its still fresh, what a shame! more beer :icon_cheers: .

Might give the bibra lake a shot and just get it posted, would probably cost me 8 bucks in petrol there and back anyway . Have you guys used that shop before?

yeah TWOC is good, worth the drive, except its like a trip to bunnings i leave with more than i planned to. I guess the best thing is its open sundays

 

[blakie21]

yeah TWOC is good, worth the drive, except its like a trip to bunnings i leave with more than i planned to. I guess the best thing is its open sundays

Oh awesome - sundays is always good since i work saturdays! Cheers for the advice.

 

[blakie21]

Being impatient i cracked one of these just now..
Undercarbonated to be expected for 4 days but amazed that its almost completely clear!

Pretty impressed! Tastes very crisp and clean but a little yeasty still. Cant wait until it ages a little!

NOTHING like a leffe, as discussed earlier - wrong yeast. It is just a crisp clean lager which seems to be decent even when fermented at around 18 degrees.

 

[yum beer]

go blakie,


looking at your recipe I would imagine you will get yourself a decent brew, in 8 to 12 weeks....it may be earlier and
I get that you are keen to get into it. Thats fine just leave some bottles to age so you can try them further down the track and taste the difference.
It really is worth the wait with kit beers. :icon_cheers:

 

[CONNOR BREWARE]

Being impatient i cracked one of these just now..
Undercarbonated to be expected for 4 days but amazed that its almost completely clear!

Pretty impressed! Tastes very crisp and clean but a little yeasty still. Cant wait until it ages a little!

NOTHING like a leffe, as discussed earlier - wrong yeast. It is just a crisp clean lager which seems to be decent even when fermented at around 18 degrees.

Nice work Blackie, welcome to Ahb.
TWOC is great but if doing k&k bayswater may do you. Welshpool is a grumpy bugger but sometimes has some pro culture liquid yeasts in.

Good luck

 

[mfeighan]

they still have pro culture? god ur right about the grumpy bugger @ welshpool

 

[enuun]

hey blakie,

I am sure you will enjoy your brew. Do not be afraid to try new stuff. I always have a carton or 2 of leffe brune or blonde around as I am a big belgian fan. Although your recipe is too far and wide to be near the profile, I am sure your brew will come out good. Keep on brewing.

PS: If I do not make sense its cos I am on my 4th fullers IPA after chugging a lot of imperial stout from my new keg set-up

 

[blakie21]

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys (I am also a big belgian fan!)

Very into it now and have started my hoegaarden Kit clone already for some quick drinking goodness (hopefully) So i can let the lager age a bit more since from what you guys say and I have read, lagers tend to need more aging.

Also have a cider and a JAO on the go haha so you could say ive taken a bit of a leap into things!

Now that I have a second Primary I am planning to make a Leffe Blonde clone with;

Muntons Blonde kit
1kg DLME
500g Dextrose
15-25g Saaz (Also have some Hallertau if this would be good?)
Wyeast 3787 (eagerly awaiting in the fridge :lol: )

Hoping ill get some of those delicious belgian flavours that I missed out on with this yeast! Any suggestions for changing/adding some basic stuff for a better brew would be appreciated. Otherwise ill give it a crack and let you guys know how it goes for me!

One thing I am not sure about is whether 500g dextrose will give me the 6+% that Leffe blondes have.

 

[Nick JD]

One thing I am not sure about is whether 500g dextrose will give me the 6+% that Leffe blondes have.

Aim for 1.065 OG.

 

[petesbrew]

As the recipe is exactly the same as your first, this is going to be a good one for you to taste the differences between the yeasts.
All the best Blakie

 

[blakie21]

Aim for 1.065 OG.

How do you guys work out the expected OG with the kits?? Sorry if its a noob question.
I have the brewmate program which would help me estimate with all extracts but the kits dont say what proportions they have in them.

 

[MaltyHops]

You need ianh's spreadsheet tool for kit brewing - see here.

... and also MS Excel as well tho.

T.

 

[drtomc]

G'day Blakie,
Just to add my 2c...
For about 2 years my house brew was a tin of wheat kit with dry malt and dex fermented with T-58. I liked it and a couple of mates urged me to give up my day job.
Ultimately I switched to AG to brew Belgian styles better. Saison, dubbel, tripel. Love them all, and attenuation (fermentability) along with the right yeast is essential to good results. As others have said, switching to AG needn't be expensive, but it might be worth sorting temperature control first, sine you'll need that sorted whether you're doing kits, partials, or AG.

Good luck!
T

 

[blakie21]

Cheers for the spreadsheet link! Extremely helpful for my second attempt .

For this one i went for

Muntons Blonde kit
1kg Dried Light Malt extract
1kg Dried Amber Malt extract
300g Dextrose
15 g Saaz
Wyeast 3787

Seems to tick all the boxes in the spreadsheet Hits a nice OG of 1.066 too. I wonder why brewcraft recipes estimate such a high alcohol percentage when they clearly dont get 6.6% out of 1kg LME and 500g dextrose according to the spreadsheet. Or maybe I shouldn't wonder from what I have been hearing about brewcraft haha
What do you guys think of this recipe?

Will let you guys know how it goes anyway.

 

[blakie21]

Just an update on this recipe i posted last.

Bottled this last week and tried yesterday. For a young beer this really does taste amazing.
Different to the original (more banana) I am assuming because of the highish fermentation temperatures (up to 22 degrees) but I really do not mind it at all as its not overpowering.

Now completely sold on liquid yeast!

Does anyone know how long to mature a beer like this? I enjoy it now but am not sure if being an estery beer it will be like a wheat where it is good to drink young or better aged?

 

[manticle]

My experience of my more successful belgians (some great, some ordinary, some horrible) is that age helps, whether pale/blonde/tripel or brown/dark/dubbel.

Drinking a low alc Belgian pale right now that improves each week I try it (one of my more successful attempts.)

Good lagering time is essential in my experience.

 

[blakie21]

My experience of my more successful belgians (some great, some ordinary, some horrible) is that age helps, whether pale/blonde/tripel or brown/dark/dubbel.

Drinking a low alc Belgian pale right now that improves each week I try it (one of my more successful attempts.)

Good lagering time is essential in my experience.

So hopefully it will taste even better soon . I am already happy with it so i can't wait. Cheers for the feedback, still quite new to brewing.

When you say lagering time is essential do you mean it is better to age them chilled? I have already bottled so I have been leaving them at room temperature. Would you suggest putting as many in the fridge as possible?

It is unbelievable how much a semi decent beer can change in a couple of weeks! my lager which I made due to being given the wrong yeast tastes so much better 3-4 weeks after bottling.

 

[manticle]

By lagering, I mean ageing/maturing cold in bulk, so prior to bottling.

However if already bottled AND carbonated to the level you want them, you will get a similar effect by fridging them. Wait until carbonated before fridging though if they are not already.

When lagering in bulk, you then rack to bottles or kegs and leave behind a lot of the crap that drops during the process. If you bottle, then lager you take that crap with you to the bottles. If pouring carefully etc you will still leave a lot of it behind so don't sweat.

I find bulk maturation is better in general.

 

[blakie21]

By lagering, I mean ageing/maturing cold in bulk, so prior to bottling.

However if already bottled AND carbonated to the level you want them, you will get a similar effect by fridging them. Wait until carbonated before fridging though if they are not already.

When lagering in bulk, you then rack to bottles or kegs and leave behind a lot of the crap that drops during the process. If you bottle, then lager you take that crap with you to the bottles. If pouring carefully etc you will still leave a lot of it behind so don't sweat.

I find bulk maturation is better in general.

Ahh okay I figured you might have meant chilling it in a secondary. Unfortunately I have no spare fridge for bulk lagering yet so I am stuck with bottling or leaving in primary at room temp. I left this one for a good 2 and a half weeks in the primary.

Good to know I can improve the brews though when I get some more brewing gear.

Ill have to do a little experiment putting some in the fridge and some maturing at room temperature (as I can't fit all in the fridge anyway, unfortunately food is more important haha)

Cheers for the advice.