Last weekend I've decided to brew this beer again. I had all of the ingredients on hand, so why not. Back then, this recipe was actually my first AG ever and I wasn't really satisfied with the results. It was 'ok', but far from the beer I had hope to brew. With the knowledge I have today I know I made a lot of mistakes back then; no starter, too much spices, a lot of splashing/shaking of the beer and no proper maturation time.
The recipe I used is as follows:
3.1 kg (6,8 lb) Pilsener
500 g (1.1 lb) Clear candy sugar
30 g (1.05 oz) Styrian Goldings @ 60 min
15 g (0.53 oz) Saaz @ 15 min
2.4 g Grains of Paradise
2.4 g Fresh grated ginger
7.2 g Coriander seeds
(All added at 10 min)
Mash: 10 @ 52C, 45 @ 62C, 30 @ 70C, 77 mashout.
Yeast: Wyeast 1388 Belgian Strong Ale
Sparged untill 16L was collected. Pre-boil gravity of 1.048, boiled it down to about 12.5L and a gravity of 1.061. Didn't added the sugar yet. I used only one yeast. The Wyeast 1388 should be the same as the WLP570. Calculated the desired yeast count and made a 1L starter two days in advance. Added half of the sugar, 250 g on day three of primary and the other half on day four. With the starter combined I ended up with 13L in the fermenter.
I kept the temperature the first two days at 19C/66F. After adding the first sugar, I let the temp rise. It kept itself at a steady 24C/75C. The temp started to decrease slowly around day 7 or 8. Today, day 10, it sat at 21C/70F. The gravity now is 1.009.
Racked it to a 10L glass flask, and bottled the rest. As the picture shows, it was still quite cloudy. The bottles will be used for a comparison between bulk and bottle conditioning.
I didn't use the second yeast because I want to collect and reuse this yeast (and I didn't had the S-04 on hand ). The S-04 is only used to get to the low gravity right? I've use this strain of yeast before in a Duvel clone and that one ended at 1.006, so no worries. Adding the sugar in stages during fermentation also supposed to reduce the stress on the yeast and therefore results in a lower gravity.
The taste is actually quite nice, fairly light and sweet with a smell of pineapple. Most of my Belgians at this stage are more or less disgusting, so I'm confident it will turn out nice.
PS: Some of you may wonder why I used candy sugar. Well, simply because it is sold in the grocery stores here and it cost only a wee bit more than regular sugar. I don't think it matters in terms of taste, but as far as I understand candy sugar is easier digested by the yeast (less stress, lower FG).
The recipe I used is as follows:
3.1 kg (6,8 lb) Pilsener
500 g (1.1 lb) Clear candy sugar
30 g (1.05 oz) Styrian Goldings @ 60 min
15 g (0.53 oz) Saaz @ 15 min
2.4 g Grains of Paradise
2.4 g Fresh grated ginger
7.2 g Coriander seeds
(All added at 10 min)
Mash: 10 @ 52C, 45 @ 62C, 30 @ 70C, 77 mashout.
Yeast: Wyeast 1388 Belgian Strong Ale
Sparged untill 16L was collected. Pre-boil gravity of 1.048, boiled it down to about 12.5L and a gravity of 1.061. Didn't added the sugar yet. I used only one yeast. The Wyeast 1388 should be the same as the WLP570. Calculated the desired yeast count and made a 1L starter two days in advance. Added half of the sugar, 250 g on day three of primary and the other half on day four. With the starter combined I ended up with 13L in the fermenter.
I kept the temperature the first two days at 19C/66F. After adding the first sugar, I let the temp rise. It kept itself at a steady 24C/75C. The temp started to decrease slowly around day 7 or 8. Today, day 10, it sat at 21C/70F. The gravity now is 1.009.
Racked it to a 10L glass flask, and bottled the rest. As the picture shows, it was still quite cloudy. The bottles will be used for a comparison between bulk and bottle conditioning.
I didn't use the second yeast because I want to collect and reuse this yeast (and I didn't had the S-04 on hand ). The S-04 is only used to get to the low gravity right? I've use this strain of yeast before in a Duvel clone and that one ended at 1.006, so no worries. Adding the sugar in stages during fermentation also supposed to reduce the stress on the yeast and therefore results in a lower gravity.
The taste is actually quite nice, fairly light and sweet with a smell of pineapple. Most of my Belgians at this stage are more or less disgusting, so I'm confident it will turn out nice.
PS: Some of you may wonder why I used candy sugar. Well, simply because it is sold in the grocery stores here and it cost only a wee bit more than regular sugar. I don't think it matters in terms of taste, but as far as I understand candy sugar is easier digested by the yeast (less stress, lower FG).