Orvalish

[wilfh]

Orvalish

This is my attempt to get near Orval.
There are a number of firsts in this one for me, namely water treatment and Brett and possibly a step mash.

I haven’t decided whether I should do a step mash or not. I have read in some articles that a step mash is not necessary as the malts are now fully modified however I have also read conflicting reports that its a good idea as it improves the flavour profile. Any suggestions about the improvement in flavour?

Water treatment: This is one big grey area for me and I don’t understand most of it however based on a Salifert test I have a CaCo3 level of 137mg/l which means that I think I need 13.76 of CRS in the to treat my water (??) (to reduce it to 57mg/l) and 0.7g/l of DLS to bring the calcium up to 180 mg/l.

Any advise greatly received as I am not sure about this at all.

The recipe is something I pulled together from Brew Like a Monk and the internet

Og 1.054
Belgian pilsner malt 5.4kg 82%
Carravienna 800g 11%
Sugar 7 %

HALLERTAUER 40g 70 minute boil
STYRIAN GOLDINGS 20g 20 min
20g 5 min
45g dry hop

I wanted to use WPL510 but can’t get hold of it so will use WPL 500 instead.

Protein Step mash at 55 for 20 min
Low mash 62 35 min
High mash 73 25 min
Mash out 77 5 min

I am not actually sure whether I have the capacity to do the full mash in the cool box I have so may have to draw some off and heat that up a bit.
Plan was to boil water and use that to raise the temperature unless there are better suggestions. Is this too crude a method?

The intention is to ferment at ambient temp (cos I have no other option) for two weeks and then rack into a secondary for 3 weeks with 45g of Styrian Goldings

I will bottle with the dregs of two Orval bottles and leave for say 3-4 months.

What y think?

Cheers
Wilf

[Goulders]

LancsSteve did something on Orval quite a while ago here that may be worth a read

[Belter]

I suggest you get in touch with Jean-Marie Rock the brewer. I met him a while back and he's a really sound, talented, enthusiastic brewer. I'm sure he'd be willing to help out then you could repost and I can brew it

Jmr@orval.be

He said to email him if ever in Belgium and he'd show us round the brewery. I asked him a few questions based on what I'd read in Brew Like a Monk and he said it was all wrong. For instance the amount of times they reuse their yeast... They don't

[super_simian]

I have found, when seeding bottles with Orval dregs, the Brett takes a seriously long time to reach a noticeable threshold - OK if you are disciplined enough to store them for ages. But I find the dregs from Green Flash Rayon Vert make themselves known on a much shorter timescale - 6 weeks, versus 6 months.

[Belter]

I suppose it depends what you're after but Jean-Marie said he mainly uses Brett to extend shelf life. I asked him if Orval was better fresh or after a period of time and he said fresh was better (as in before Brett change the flavour of the beer). He said he could taste the Brett in the bottle we were drinking though.

[wilfh]

Interesting stuff. I think I might just prime half the batch with Brett to compare.

Does anyone have any comment on the water treatment? Am I doing it right?
Wilf

[wilfh]

Brew is on. a stepmash with 40 c fro 20 mins 50c for 20 min and 66 C for 50 min. Boil now on and halatuer now added, looking good so far although everyone else has gone to bed. Its going to be a late one.

[wilfh]

Just put the hops in for a week. It finished at 1.008 which was good. Unfortunately I got delayed after the first racking and I managed to get a film yeast in there.. I dosed it with campden tablets so that should do the trick and will bottle with dregs of the 2 Orval bottles on the week end. I will reseed with the WPL500 which is currently in the fridge waiting for another batch in case the campden took those out as well as the film yeast.
It smells great especially with the 42g of Styrian goldings which have gone in. I will have to sit on my hands to let the brett do its magic.

Wilf