What makes a good Belgian!?

[RichardG]

No, not a question about the Country, or it's population. I'm making the move to AG (hopefully soon!) and have been thinking and reading alot about recipes etc. In the main I like the idea of trying to formulate my own recipes. Once I have a bit of experience I'd like try doing something 'Belgian', if only because the idea of it intrigues me and there seems to be an almost endless variation. However, is there such a thing as a 'standard' Belgian ale? I mean that in it's broadest sense, but is there a combination of ingredients, or even an individual ingredient that is a signature of Belgian ales? Obviously there is yeast, and it seems there is a fair amount of usage of candy sugar, but anything else? Standard type of hop and hop rate? Any type of malt one should generally use?

[steve_flack]

Predominantly it's the yeast and the fermentation.

[RichardG]

Quick reply! Many thanks. Could you expand on the fermentation bit? I'm assuming you mean temperature; or is it something else?

[steve_flack]

Let's put it this way. You could start with a 100% pilsner malt grist, an OG 1.048 mashed fairly low (64C ish). Hop it to around 25-30IBU with hallertau with a touch of late hops. You could ferment it at 10C with a lager yeast and you'd have a typical German Lager. Ferment it with WLP 500, 530 or 550 starting at 20C until its' going (around 24hours) and raise it gradually (or just let it free rise) to maybe 26C and you'd have a Belgian Blonde ale.

It's all down to the fermentation in this case.

In the stronger Belgians it's often a case of using enough sugar (cane sugar in pale beers) to get the dryness and/or using proper dark candi syrup in the dark beers (Westvleteren 8 and 12 are apparently just pils malt and dark candi syrup fermented very warm and that seems quite popular - I'm not sure but there might be some white sugar in there as well).

Of course there are plenty of Belgian beers using crystal etc malts as well.

[Barley Water]

Yeah, then you can start to have some real fun and add wild yeast and or bacteria. Then there is the wood aging as well as using various fruits, spices and wierd sugars. On top of that, you might indulge in some blending, just like the guys that make Scotch. Hell, it's like the Disneyland of beer making. Then, once the beer is ready to consume, you get to drink out of a challace and of course there is the semi sacrid ritual of opening the corked bottle, pouring etc. As long as the beer is good tasting, there are not really any rules to follow you get to express your creative urges, it is just great fun.

[RichardG]

Many thanks steve & BW (I know you're a big fan of the type). Initially, I aim to keep it relatively simple and see how it pans out. After that, who knows?

[floydmeddler]

Here is my current Belgian (still in secondary). I've more or less recorded every step:

viewtopic.php?f=24&t=30611&hilit=+belgian

[pantsmachine]

Yeah, then you can start to have some real fun and add wild yeast and or bacteria. Then there is the wood aging as well as using various fruits, spices and wierd sugars. On top of that, you might indulge in some blending, just like the guys that make Scotch. Hell, it's like the Disneyland of beer making. Then, once the beer is ready to consume, you get to drink out of a challace and of course there is the semi sacrid ritual of opening the corked bottle, pouring etc. As long as the beer is good tasting, there are not really any rules to follow you get to express your creative urges, it is just great fun.

This is just a guess........... You like making Belgian beers don't you?

[mysterio]

Hell, it's like the Disneyland of beer making.

[Barley Water]

Actually, I just love making beer, period. I have been doing this hobby for a very long time and I am still completely obsessed. Maybe I over simplify but each major beer making country has it's unique pleasures. I always thought of German beer as very process oriented, the grist formulations are pretty standard but the key to success is in having very good brewing technique. Beers from the UK however are relatively easy to do from a technical standpoint but the grist formulation and hopping and how it all comes together is all important. Flavors derived from the yeast make more of a difference also in my opinion which is why I don't understand why you guys over there are not more into the liquid yeasts since the selection is so big. American beers are very much like doing British styles however we tend to go to extremes, especially in the area of hopping. Interestingly, American beer generally uses pretty clean fermenting yeasts and most domestic base malts are pretty bland in comparison to those found in the UK for instance. Surprisingly, I have not spent alot of time with many of the American styles as I am not a hop head although I think that may well change as sometimes I just want something bitter with alot of hop flavor (although Imperial IPA's don't do that much for me). The allure of Belgian beer is that there are so many variables to control and explore which can have a gigantic impact on the flavor of the finished product. To me, Belgian beers are about both technique and recipe formulation. Two brewers can take the exact same ingredients in the same proportions and come up with two very different beers depending on how those ingredients are handled in the brewhouse. With Belgians, you are rarely trying to clone anything in particular rather, you try to come up with something great which is unique.

You might find this last statement crazy but I started off in this hobby making a British pale ale and if I had to choose just one beer style to drink, that would be it. Three or four times a year, I find myself making my favorite bitter which is a London Pride clone (in fact, I have one in secondary right now waiting for a tap to free up). I guess some things just never change.