The Devout - Golden Quad

[saq]

A while ago when I managed to hang out at olllllo's for a bit we drank an Allagash Tripel Reserve, which everyone present agreed. The fantastic fruity spicy profiles mixed in with some complex malt characters while still being highly drinkable was quite a treat. Sadly we forgot to capture the yeast that day to culture up for use.

Recently I got my hands on a bottle of Allagash Tripel Reserve and I made it a point to capture the yeast and culture it up for future brews. I started kicking around some recipes for a tripel and then I had a thought, why not turn it into a Golden quad based on my delicious dark quad, The Pious Traditional. I thought it was a great idea and so The Devout was born.
Take The Pious Traditional recipe, sub out some granulated beet sugar for the D2, and use the Allagash yeast instead of the Westmalle yeast and BAM! Golden quad.

Heres the numbers

The Devout
Batch Size: 5.75 gal
Boil Size: 7.81 gal
Estimated OG: 1.092 SG
Estimated Color: 5.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 31.4 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
8.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) Grain 44.44 %
8.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (1.7 SRM) Grain 44.44 %
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (90 min) Hops 23.2 IBU
1.00 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker [2.40 %] (15 min)Hops 3.0 IBU
1.00 oz Styrian Goldings [4.10 %] (15 min) Hops 5.2 IBU
2.00 lb Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (0.5 SRM) Sugar 11.11 %
1 Pkgs Tripel Reserve (Allagash) Yeast-Ale

Mash Schedule: Decoction Mash, Double
Total Grain Weight: 16.00 lb
----------------------------
Decoction Mash, Double
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
30 min Infusion Add 28.00 qt of water at 153.7 F 146.0 F
30 min Saccharification Decoct 5.00 qt of mash and boil it 156.0 F
10 min Saccharification Decoct 8.25 qt of mash and boil it 170.0 F

Notes: ------
water treatment: 1g gypsum, 1.5g epsom, 2.5g cacl2
ionic profile: 48.3ppm CA, 7.8ppm MG, 2ppm NA, 0ppm HCO3, 60.3ppm SO4, 63.7ppm CL
Going to add the sugar gradually during the boil to prevent scorching since its in powder form.

 

[Saccharomyces]

I'm looking at this and having visions of a Temptation-like brew out of this grainbill... In fact, I think that the Roeselare pack I have left in the fridge might meet some Allagash yeast cultured from the Allagash Confluence which has both their brett and sacc house strains. Commence drooling...

 

[saq]

Brewed this yesterday, one of the hoses on my pump came loose and I lost some beer, but my gravity was on and I got 5.25g so it really was fine. It's going like a BEAST right now. Wort tasted pretty good, it'll be interesting to see what the beer ends up like, the fermenter smells pretty awesome.

 

[saq]

Allagash yeast is a beast! I'm fermenting it same way & temp and its still at 79f without a blanket and ambient temp is 70f. Westmalle yeast was struggling to hit 77 and I had to put on a blanket to get it up to 82f.

 

[saq]

Did a gravity reading today, 1.016. More or less 81% attenuation, not bad but a little less than expected. Its still a little cloudy so it might not be done yet, I'll give it another week.

The aromas and flavors are awesome. I got pretty much all of the yeast esters and characters I had hoped to get from harvesting the yeast. Candied spicy banana, very nice fruity and spicey esters. Not too shabby for just over a week old!

 

[saq]

I just filtered this beer tonight. It is REALLY good, the filtering greatly improved the beer overall, belgian yeast really puts a damper on the flavor. Its a little hazy right now but REALLY clear unlike the above picture. Its also not completely carbonated yet so this is only a mini review.

Aroma: Firm lightly sweet malt base with a BIG spicy/peppery/fruity estery/phenolic nose. Notes of honey, lavender, sugar cookie, pepper and earthiness.

Appearance: Clean golden color, opaque, low head. I expect this to improve in a day or two to brilliantly clear and well carbonated as per the style.

Flavor: Similar to the aroma. Firm sweet malt base with big fruity/spicey/peppery phenols. Honey, fig, lavender, pepper, sugar cookie come back into play. Very nice.

Mouthfeel: Its a big beer, but its doesn't feel that big. 81% attenuation means there is still a little bit to chew on, but overall it is well balanced on the palate.

Overall: This is similar to what I set out to brew. I wanted a bigger and badder Allagash Tripel Reserve and I feel like thats what I got. It has more complex malt characters, bigger flavors but has all the really yummy yeast character that I wanted.

In two days I'll take a good picture and see if there is any aspect of this I would revise.

Update: It is nice and carbonated now, a little lacking in head retention. Still hazy.

Really loving this beer. In the future I think I will drop the hersbrucker and switch to an all pils malt bill. Probably add in a half ounce of maltodextrine for head retention.

 

[saq]

I just won a first place ribbon in NHC Southwest first round with The Devout entered as a Tripel. I just cracked open a bottle Sunday and its brilliantly clear now and quite nice! I still think I would prefer to change it up to an all Pils base malt with maybe a touch of caramunich. Probably a slightly lower gravity too.