Four Kilts Clueless - Belgian Strong Ale

[BlackDuck]

After the Super Bowl, Inkleg, Beer-lord, RedBEERd and I started to play a "Let's Write A Recipe" game. Basically, we went around the room and each of us named an ingredient, how much of it, and when it needs to go in. And where ever the ingredients took us, that's where the recipe went....This was so much fun to do, we didn't pick a style, so it kind of evolved after each ingredient was added. After a few rounds around the table of naming ingredients, this is what we ended up with.

I present to you a Belgian Strong Ale by Four Kilts Clueless Brewing:

9.25 bs Pale Malt
3 lbs Vienna
12 oz Special B
8 oz Aromatic
8 oz CaraPils

.5 oz Columbus - FWH
.75 oz Helga - 10 min
.50 oz Palisade - 5 min
1 oz Helga - 0 min
Wyeast 3787 or WLP500 - Belgian Trappist Ale
2 Lbs Candi Sugar added as two seperate post fermentation sugar feedings.
Inkleg will use D-180, Beer-lord and RedBEERd will use D-90 and I will use D-45 candi sugars.

Steve and Swen weren't at the house when we did this, Swen is going to brew this with clear candy sugar. Steve is going to surprise on the types of Candi Sugar he will use. So each of us will change this up slightly by using different Candi Sugars.

I'll post the actual BeerSmith recipe with all the specs later on this week.

[Brewbirds]

Now that right there is way cool. What an awesome idea. Bet ya'll have a blast brewing, sharing and reviewing this one.

[Kealia]

That is crazy-cool.

Have fun with that one as I'm sure you'll enjoy tasting the differences. That's an RCE on steroids!

[Dawg LB Steve]

That is crazy-cool.

Have fun with that one as I'm sure you'll enjoy tasting the differences. That's an RCE on steroids!

The other cool thing is nobody was trashed when this was conceived! About the only thing overdone Sunday was with fantastic food!

[Dawg LB Steve]

I have my sugars, don't know when I will get to brewing, don't have any keg room at this time and someone keeps shaking the damn snow globe and wind chill @ 30 below. Will post my recipe version once I get the ingredients together.

[BlackDuck]

I hear you on the cold....I'm getting tired of it. I'm not sure when I'll get to this either. I've got to get a batch of my Four Point Pale Ale in sometime soon. It's been too long since I've had that in the rotation. Then it's either this one or the RCE Cream Ale with Jim. The nice thing is that he Cream Ale will go in the ferementation fridge to control the temps, so that can be going at the same time as one of the others.

No rush Steve, get it done when you can.

[Beer-lord]

Likely be spring before I get to thus one but it will get done.


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[Kealia]

I've got to get a batch of my Four Point Pale Ale in sometime soon.

My name is Ron and I approve of this message.

[jimjohson]

[Inkleg]

I present to you a Belgian Strong Ale by Four Kilts Clueless Brewing:

9.25 bs Pale Malt
3 lbs Vienna
12 oz Special B
8 oz Aromatic
8 oz CaraPils 11 oz Munich
8 oz Cherry Smoke malt

.5 oz Columbus - FWH
.75 1 oz Helga - 10 min
.50 1 oz Palisade - 5 min
1 oz Helga - 0 min
Wyeast 3787 or WLP500 - Belgian Trappist Ale
2 Lbs Candi Sugar added as two seperate post fermentation sugar feedings.
Inkleg will use D-180, Beer-lord and RedBEERd will use D-90 and I will use D-45 candi sugars.

I'm in the process of brewing this with 20 minutes left in my boil. I have made my changes to this beer above. Munich, because i didn't have any Carapils and the Smoke malt is my one allowed substitute and I had it lying around. Upping the hops, well just because they are evil and must be tossed in the boiling wort.

[Inkleg]

Here is the 4KC Belgian Strong I brewed yesterday.
I pitched 250mL of White Labs WLP500 Monastery slurry from the Belgian Blond I brewed a few weeks ago. I have thumping in the blow off jar this morning. I will be adding 1 pound of D-180 dark candy syrup in a few days and then another pound a day or two after that. Just plan to pour it in straight from the bag as fermentation slows a little.
Remember as you look at my volume numbers, that I want a full 5 gallons in the keg plus some extra to save for starters.

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Nashville Belgian Ale Tweeked
Brewer: Naked Cat Brewery
Asst Brewer: Four Kilts Clueless
Style: Belgian Specialty Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (0.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 8.53 gal
Post Boil Volume: 7.28 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.079 SG
Estimated Color: 36.8 SRM
Estimated IBU: 27.0 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 83.8 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
10 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 57.3 %
3 lbs Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 2 17.2 %
12.0 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 3 4.3 %
11.2 oz Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 4 4.0 %
8.0 oz Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 5 2.9 %
8.0 oz Smoked Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 6 2.9 %
0.50 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - First Wo Hop 7 18.3 IBUs
2 lbs Candi Sugar, Dark (275.0 SRM) Sugar 8 11.5 %
1.00 oz Helga [6.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 9 5.2 IBUs
1.00 oz Palisade [7.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 10 3.5 IBUs
1.00 oz Helga [6.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 11 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg Trappist Ale (White Labs #WLP500) [35.49 Yeast 12 -


Mash Schedule: BIAB, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 17 lbs 7.2 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Saccharification Add 38.65 qt of water at 158.5 F 152.1 F 75 min
Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 7 min 168.0 F 10 min

Sparge: If steeping, remove grains, and prepare to boil wort
Notes:
------


Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com
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[mashani]

Never have I put smoked malt into such a beer, although I have been considering it. Because honestly will give it some character of an old trappist brew from the time of the holy roman empire. Because they would have kilned their grain over a fire. Except they didn't brew them that strong back then, a 6% beer was for the Abbot, everyone else drank 2-5% beer.

[Inkleg]

Looking back, Smoke malt was part of the original recipe, just not as much. More like 1.5 oz, but I had 8 left over from my Smoked Porter so that's what I put in. It will be interesting to see how it plays with the yeast.

[Inkleg]

Noticed chugging in the blow off jar had slowed so I checked the gravity just now. Had gone from 1.066 on Saturday to 1.020.
Time for a sugar feeding. I ferment in buckets, so I just gently poured it in straight from the bag and gently swirled with a long sanitized slotted spoon. Took another reading and looked like 1.026 or 28, hard to tell. But either way puts it close to the BeerSmith numbers. I'll feed it again tomorrow or Wednesday.

@mashani, I started fermenting at 66 and have it at 68 now, should I raise it on up to 72 or so? Thanks

[mashani]

It might spike a bit after the feeding, so it may go to 72 on its own unless you are under a temp controller. But yes, if you are under a controller and going to raise temps, now is a good time. I would not raise them much above 72 with that yeast unless you like goodly amounts of banana and bubblegum. So keep that in mind. If you were using 3787/WLP530 then I'd say to slowly raise it up to 74-76, and then into the 80s by the time your second feeding has started to settle down. But not so much with WLP500... (says the person who intentionally let his WLP500/Bella hybrid batch get up to 76 or so, but I knew what I wanted flavor wise).