Belgian Strong Dark
First attempt at a wildly strong vaguely Belgian-style
dark ale. I intended to add a couple pounds of honey
to the boil but in the heat of brew day forgot. It
turned out nice and rich and strong (though not *wildly*
strong) anyway.
***** This is a parti-gyle recipe. *****
Brewer: | Joel Plutchak | Email: | plutchak@uiuc.edu | |||||
Beer: | Belgian Strong Dark | Style: | Belgian Strong Ale | |||||
Type: | All grain | Size: | 5 gallons | |||||
Color: |
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Bitterness: | 51 IBU | |||||
OG: | 1.107 | FG: | 1.027 | |||||
Alcohol: | 10.3% v/v (8.1% w/w) | |||||||
Water: | A milliliter of lactic acid in the sparge water. | |||||||
Grain: | 24 lb. British Pilsner 2 lb. Belgian aromatic 1 lb. Belgian Special B 8 oz. Belgian CaraMunich 4 oz. Belgian chocolate 1 lb. Belgian biscuit 1 lb. Belgian Munich |
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Mash: | 49% efficiency | |||||||
Mashed at 159° F for 105 minutes. Please note: This grain bill was for a parti-gyle brew session-- the first runnings made up the Strong Dark Ale, with the second runnings being a Dubbel on the lighter end of the specs. |
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Boil: | 120 minutes | SG 1.082 | 6.5 gallons | |||||
Irish Moss last 10 minutes of boil. | ||||||||
Hops: | 2 oz. Northern Brewer (7.2% AA, 60 min.) 2 oz. Tettnanger (4.5% AA, 20 min.) 0.5 oz. Saaz (aroma) |
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Yeast: | White Labs Trappist; large active starter. | |||||||
Log: | Ferment at 65F ambient temperature. | |||||||
Carbonation: | 3/4 cup corn sugar priming. Could've used a bit more for higher carbonation. |
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Tasting: | When young, nice thick rich flavor with good phenols and esters. Took a first place at a decent-sized competition. A year later was too oxidized for my tastes, but the last two bottles took Best of Show at a small competition. |
Recipe posted 12/04/01.