BeerBorg

It's too hot to make an Oktoberfest. It's also too hot for me to make a Mocktoberfest. The only thing I can brew for the next few weeks are Belgians and Saisons still.

So, I decided if a Franco-Belgian farmer in the Ardennes region wanted to make an Oktoberfest and it was too hot, they might make something like this:

For 2.5 gallon target:

Mash at 154:

1.50# Munich (Weyermann)
1.00# Vienna (Weyermann)
0.25# Abbey Malt (Castle) - which is Aromatic malt renamed for some reason.

60 Minute Boil.

Late additions (@10)

1.5# MoreBeer Pilsner LME
0.5# 5L Candi Syrup

1/4oz French Armais (7.2%AA) @60
1/2oz French Armais @20

Lid on pot @10 to keep brett out. That means I will still get a slight bit of aroma from the Armais.

Cool / pitch the other half of the starter of Belgian Ardennes I made for my previous batch which I saved (I made 1600ml, only used 800ml in last batch). It's very fresh, only a week old, so I just pitched it as is.

OG was 1.054
IBUs should be around 24
SRM should be 11 or so

Taste will be ??? I'm sure it will taste great to my tastes, but how festbier like is hard to say... Ardennes is "subtle" for a Belgian strain at moderate temperatures, but my temps are pretty warm, it will be hitting 78 at least... which is like authentic abbey temps, not home brewers who want subtle Belgian temps... so we will see.

Well, I bottled this at 1.011.

It tasted great. It does seem very 'festbier' like. But it does obviously have some fruity esters and some spice that would 'ding' it if I tried to enter it into a comp as a festbier. But really it's all actually pretty subtle, which surprises me because I was out of spec high with fermentation temps that got up to 80. (which is not truly out of spec - my peak temps were actually more authentic then the spec as far as abbey style brewing). The fruitiness comes across as a light plum flavor/aroma. The spice is mysterious. Maybe less with age/carb.

I'm going to enjoy drinking this regardless. If you want to make a festbier and can't get temps below 70, this is a good way to go. The Ardennes yeast is a good choice here as it's mellow for a Belgian strain. WLP500 (Chimay) would not be so good a choice. Would seem totally wrong that way.

Congrats on the creation.

Do you think it might mellow over time? With young beers, I feel like I can almost taste each individual ingredient. Aging helps the flavors blend. You think that could happen here given your yeast choice?

Most certainly, although I don't think they will ever go away completely. You'll always know that this isn't quite right (to style guidelines). I think the fruity esters will mellow slightly more then the phenols with age. It will be interesting to see how much the perception changes when cold and carbed too.

I opened one of these. Spices are more intense now with carb. Seems drier too. So it seems more "Belgian" now then when it was flat and warm. The more it warms up, the more it gets closer to festbier territory, but it's never going to make it there. But I pretty much expected that. I like it but it would not score well as a festbier LOL. I think 45L candi syrup instead of the 5L would improve it, as a bit of caramel and vanilla would smooth it out. If I do this again that would be my first tweak. Maybe a bit more Munich too.