Belgian beers can be especially
intimidating to the new home brewer.
They often have frighteningly foreign sounding names and complex tastes.
The good news is that much of this taste, however, comes from the yeast. Yes,
yeasts are the stars of Belgian style brewing, and (luckily) they’ll do most of
the work for you. Belgian yeasts are fantastically complex – typically
finishing with fruity and spicy notes.
If you already have a favorite
Belgian beer, you may want to try harvesting the yeast from the bottle for your
own brews. You’ll be surprised how much of the flavor is attributable to the
yeast. For this brew, I used yeast harvested from a bottle of La Fin du Monde.
Furthermore, this recipe is as
simple as any other beginner’s recipe with one simple caveat: steeping grains.
I would always recommend steeping grains for in extract brewing. They’re a
great way for a beginner to get a feel for dealing with less refined
ingredients, and a fantastic option for anyone looking to customize an off the
shelf kit.
Ingredients:
9.5 lbs Pislner stlye malt extract
.75 lb Belgian candy sugar (I’ve
used table sugar with good results, too)
1 lb Carapils
2.5 oz Mt Hood Hops
Belgian Yeast (I recommend Wyeast
1214)
6 gallons of quality water
7.5 oz (for carbonating)
Additional Hardware:
A second fermenter for clearing and
conditioning
Although I don’t always make a
starter for my yeasts, I do recommend it for this brew. Start at least 24 hours
before hand (if you choose to use a starter). There is a lot of work for the
yeast to do here, and you want it to hit the ground running. If you detest
starters, use two (or three) vials of wet yeast instead.
Put
three of the six gallons of water (in a sanitized container) into the
refrigerator. Later, you’ll use this water to cool down the wort. Next, take
your carapils and put it into a grain bag (pair of panty hoes, silk bag etc).
Put the remaining three gallons of water into a five gallon pot, place the
grains into the pot and put the heat to it. Make sure that your grains aren’t
resting against the bottom of the pot.
When
the water reaches about 150 degrees, cut the heat. If you’ve got a lid for the
pot, put it on. Allow your grains to steep for about a half hour. After the
half hour has passed, remove the grain bag. Allow the bag to drain, but don’t
squeeze! This will release more astringent flavors into the wort. Bring the
wort to a boil.
Once
you’ve reached the boil, add your hops and two pounds of the malt extract. Of
course, stir to avoid scorching. Boil for forty-five minutes before adding the
remaining 7.5 lbs of malt and the Belgian candy sugar. Stir to integrate and
boil for another 15 minutes.
After
the 60 minute boil has finished, place the pot into an ice bath until it cools
to about 90 degrees. You can hasten the cooling process by adding the cooled
water to a fermenter and mixing in the hot wort. This is what I did, but I used a plastic fermenter. I wouldn’t recommend this method for
glass carboys – they’ll crack if faced with extreme temperature changes.
At
this point, you can take a gravity rating if you wish. I didn’t, but you should
expect something between 1.07 and
1.08. This is a strong beer. Add your yeast and ferment at around 70 degrees.
Fermentation times may differ, but
use gravity readings to tell when primary fermentation has stopped. Gravity
readings measure fermentable sugars, and when you get the same number over
several days, no more fermentation will occur without the addition of more
fermentables.
When fermentation has stopped,
transfer to a secondary fermenter. This adds time to the process, but it clears
the look and taste of the beer. Allow the beer to sit in a cool, dark space for
another two or more weeks. Bottle using 7.5 ounces of corn sugar, boiled and
mixed into the fermenter before bottling. Make sure to use sturdy bottles, as
this recipe is highly carbonated.
This
is one of my favorite beers to brew. I brew this recipe (or one close to it) often,
but my family and friends are always drinking it as quickly as I can brew it.
The basic hops/grain elements of the brew are solid, but (again) the yeast is
the star. I use this recipe whenever I want to test out a new Belgian yeast. I
can compare more readily in light of the fact that these ingredients are widely
available and consistent in potency and quality. Feel free to experiment, and
happy brewing.
Another great recipe by Matt Jones..writer and homebrewer. Cheers Matt from the gang at Brewtoob!
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