AG#27 - Strong Dark Belgian Ale - With Pics (Chimay Yeast)

[leedsbrew]

Some good work there matey! I've been Reading with interest. I've got a bottle of rochefore 8 I was thinking of culturing the yeast from!

On the subject of how long to store, I've not done any Belgians yet but I've got a RIS that is in bottles in the garage that I brewed on 2nd of jan. It's 8% and I'm leaving it till new years eve!

[floydmeddler]

Some good work there matey! I've been Reading with interest. I've got a bottle of rochefore 8 I was thinking of culturing the yeast from!

On the subject of how long to store, I've not done any Belgians yet but I've got a RIS that is in bottles in the garage that I brewed on 2nd of jan. It's 8% and I'm leaving it till new years eve!

Jeeze man, you sure are self disciplined! I live in a very small 1 bedroom flat so have no storage room. Reckon if I had a garage or an attic I could tuck it away and pretend it didn't exist I suppose!

Planning on bottling this bad boy either next week or the week after.

[leedsbrew]

It's not easy mate! I'm having to brew lots of other things to keep my mind off it! It's as the old saying goes, 'Always want what one can't have!'

I did however bottle 4 330ml bottles and dated them April, July, Oct, Dec so I have some periodic sampling dates! I was very pleased with myself when I came up with that! LOL

[floydmeddler]

Well, this ale is now bottled. FG was 1010 which makes it 8.8%

Beautiful red colour. Planning my next Belgian already.

[floydmeddler]

Been in the bottles for over a week and cracked one open to see how it's doing. Not very well! More or less flat which shouldn't be the case. I've rigged my temperature controlling system up to the cupboard and set it to 21c. Looks like it's doing the trick; sediment visible in bottles now.

I swear this yeast is out to get me!

[floydmeddler]

OK, update...

Finally, this beer is ready to be enjoyed and oh what a pint. It has real fruity depth and the alcohol flavour has settled. Gravity is now 1009.

Upon reflection...

Will I culture yeast from a bottle of Chimay again? Yes... but this time I will inoculate a yeast slant and hopefully build up a stronger, healthier and more viable starter by isolating single colonies; I found that this yeast really kicked off well but struggled as the ferment went on. This shouldn't be the case as Chimay beers ferment out in a ridiculously short time! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_sVVOk0njU

Also, although the flavours are wonderful, I would like it to be drier - Barley Water you were right:

I would get the sugar in there... Besides adding a little flavor (depending on exactly what type of sugar you are adding) it will also tend to "thin" out the beer a little and make it more drinkable. The thing you want to watch out for with some of these Belgian strong ales is that they can be so sweet as to be cloying...

Adding less malt and replacing with candi sugar would have given me a drier beer. This can easily be achieved.

Although it has fizzed up pretty well, I would like it to be a little fizzier. Again, easily achieved.

All in all, I've really enjoyed having a stab at Belgian beer brewing. I am currently planning a lighter Belgian beer (as in colour - will be around 8%) and have started preparing my yeast already. Have cultured the yeast from a bottle of Duvel and already I can see it is much healthier than the Chimay culture. Will put my reflection into action with this next one:

1. Use slightly less grain and add sugar later in the ferment. This will give me more attenuation which will result in a drier beer which is characteristic of the Belgian style.
2. Add more priming sugar when bottling to ensure a fizzy beer - essential to the Belgian style.

As for this current Belgian, I will drink them slowly as they can be slightly cloying. Also, at 8.88%, they get a fellow dizzy more or less immediately. Enjoying one at the minute!

Will more than likely do a thread on my next Belgian brewing adventure. I look forward to it!!

Over and out... for now....

[kitwom]

Great pics,

I love the HLT made out of a fermenter. Who needs expensive sight glasses when you can see through the bucket itself.

Genius, I'm going to make one of them!

Hope it turns out great

[floydmeddler]

Great pics,

I love the HLT made out of a fermenter. Who needs expensive sight glasses when you can see through the bucket itself.

Genius, I'm going to make one of them!

Hope it turns out great

Cheers. Cheap and cheerful!