Friday, March 21, 2014

St. Dainius (The Quad)

So here the deal- I wanted to try to make a Belgium quad (similar to Westvletern 12). I used a super easy recipe and 4 pds of candi Syrup (2 pds of Dark and 2 pds of amber). I figured if the monks made their syrup so should I- the method I used was a little DME and base (slacking Lime)added to the sugar. http://suigenerisbrewing.blogspot.ca/2013/09/making-belgian-candi-sugar.html I did modify the method a little- I dislike the hard candy. So once I got the temp back down to 290F I SLOWLY added 1 Cup of water and transferred the candi syrup to two preheated mason jars. The amber came out very fruity- I got lots of cherry, plum, flowery, stone fruits. The Dark about 75 SRM- gave lots of toasted marshmallow, coffee and some chocolate. Tasting the wort (1.089 SG)was amazing!

Monday, March 3, 2014

Dubble Cross

I do enjoy Belgium doubbels but sometimes it is hard to find good examples. Rewind a few years ago while celebrating Valentines Day in Historic Savannah GA with my wife- we found a great craft bar with good food that had a couple of dubbels on tap. Both were US made, I would rather not say which breweries, and both were *in my opinion* poor examples. Both were thin and one had way too many spice additions, when I think of a dubbel- Chimay, Westmale, Ommegang, etc. Fast forward to a couple weeks ago. After much research and several tries at making my own Dark Candy sugar- I think I found the closest way, thanks http://suigenerisbrewing.blogspot.com/2013/09/making-belgian-candi-sugar.html My hope to to try and make several Dubbels using various methods: Up first- Doubble Cross, no candy sugar was harmed in this beer. Pils, pale, caramunich and special B malts only. I hope to check it tonight and move it to secondary. The Yeasties will then munch on some Belgium Enkel (single) till my next whack at the dubbel. My hope is to develope a recipe that is simple(Pils/Pale and candy sugar) and good. Uncarbed tasting notes: Aroma- Light honey, flowery, hints of alcohol and plums App- dark golden color Flavor- SMOOTH, fruity with very little hop bite (uncarbed beer), hint of alcohol, slight earthy. Mouthfeel- Gonna wait till I carb this up. 1.060-1.004 in two weeks! 7.1%