Belgian Blonde (Zot like)

[Peatbogbrewer]

Been thinking of knocking out a Belgian blonde which is reminiscent of Bruges Zot. Apparently it feature 4 malts and two types of hops so I've come up with this:
3kg Maris
1.5kg wheat
400g carapils
200 belgian aromatic
400g cane sugar

mash at 65 degs for 1 hour
30g EKG at 60 min
20g saaz @ 15
20g saaz @ 5
20g coriander @ 5
20g orange peel @ 5
1 star anise @ 5

Either wlp500 or mangrove jack belgian ale yeast.

What do folk reckon? I'm having second thoughts about the aromatic malt and don't know if i've over done the anise. Which recipes have you made that turned out zotty?

[BrannigansLove]

Not a huge fan of Zot, but I would go with the liquid yeast. I know Mangrove Jack have diversified their Belgian range recently, but their original Belgian yeast only really worked in saisons for me.

[Peatbogbrewer]

Cheers for that, I've had some good results with mangroves bavarian hefe and the belgian ale in a gallon tripel i've down. Anybody else tried to do a belgian blonde?

[BrannigansLove]

My favourite belgian yeast is the Westmalle one (WLP530). I've used it in pale and dark beers alike, and it produces great flavours. I overbuild starters, and keep the excess in a jamjar in the fridge. Then use the spare yeast to build a new starter next time I want to use it.

[Peatbogbrewer]

Think i may give that ago, do you use a solution of dme to overbuild?

[BrannigansLove]

Yes, just the standard 100g of DME for 1L water ratio.

I use the yeast calculator on Mr Malty to work out what size starter I need for the volume/strength of beer, then add 0.5L on top. I tend to err on the high side with starter size, just because I'd rather overpitch than underpitch.

[Barley Water]

I have a lot of experience with WLP500 and if you are not careful with that stuff you will get excessive fruity/banana and sometime bubblegum flavors (which is of course a subjective judgement on my part). I agree with the poster that said WLP530 is nice; I have had better results with that strain because it is less aggressive in that regard. By way of full disclosure I should add that most of my experience comes from making Dubbels not Blonds so take that for what it's worth.

[Peatbogbrewer]

Great stuff, duly noted. What sort of temperature are you fermenting WLP530 at? A Dubbel is on the cards. Have you a tried and tested recipe recipe for one Barley Water?

[BrannigansLove]

I've generally just used it at room temp (up until my current batch I've had not temp control), so between 18 and 21c.

[Barley Water]

What I like to do is start the fermentation at about 65F and once it gets going after a couple of days let things drift up to about 70F just so things finish the way I want.

I need to look at my brewing notes because I haven't made the Dubbel in some time however my version involves running some raisins through a blender then carmelizing them along with some first runnings on the stove (yeah, it can get a little crazy sometimes when I make Belgian inspired beers). I may have a go at it again later in the spring. That also gives me an opportunity to make a Single just to build up a big yeast cake to make things easier when I get to the bigger beers.

[Peatbogbrewer]

cheers chaps....

[Kp2]

Ummm, Bought a box for chrimbo. Here's what I did a little while back..

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