Citrusy Belgian Blonde

[mashani]

I mashed up some "juice" to use in multiple beers that was a mix of 1# 2 row, 8oz Dingmans Cara 20, 6oz aromatic malt, and 6oz torrified wheat and a pinch of amylase enzyme to be sure.

So I froze half and threw the other half in this.

For 3 gallons:

I added

3# MoreBeer Pilsner LME
4oz dextrose

30 minute boil.

Added:

1oz of French Armais hops (10% AA) @20
8oz of Belgian Wit Candi Syrup (coriander and bitter orange flavored) @5
1/4oz ground Sweet Orange Peel @5
1/8oz ground Grains of Paradise @5

This gave me a 1.056 wort which tasted fab.

Put in my "mini cooper" and pitched a full pack of SafeBrew Abbaye

Will ferment in 70s.

And that's about it.

[John Sand]

Looks great. I was just thinking about spices for my future Belgian Split. I plan to go light on spice in the boil on the idea that too little is easier to correct than too much. I'll have to check my notes to see how much I've used before.

[mashani]

This should be somewhat light on the spices. That candi syrup was pretty mellow tasting, which is why I added some sweet orange (I could have used more of the candi syrup, but I wanted to save some for a batch of "wit" beer). The amount of GOP I added should just blend in as a background flavor, it won't be in your face peppery. I don't like to use a lot of it, but I like a little bit in just about anything Belgian or Saison or Wheat like.

[John Sand]

I'm glad to see your recipe, and hear your views on spicing Belgians. You've been a great help to me.

[mashani]

So I bottled this at 1.008.

It tastes like a young witbeer, except without the wheaty sweetness. It looks like it will be straw colored and crystal clear. Citrusy is accurate. It is somewhat tart, and slightly spicy. GOP is not too much by any means. If anything might be too much it is the citrus but I will reserve judgement until it conditions. In any case, it should be very refreshing on hot summer days. I wouldn't have minded a bit more residual sweetness then it has, so the 4oz of dextrose wasn't really necessary and/or I could have shortened the boil a bit more for a bit less IBUs. But I like tart, so I will be good with it either way.

[John Sand]

Good. The Belgian Pale that I thought lacked character conditioned well. My next batch will be a split, using spices.