Anyone brewed a good De Konick type pale ale recently?

[Manx Guy]

Hi,
The title says most of what this thread is about...

I have a little experiemnt going ( an old lager kit being fermented with wyeast kolsch yeast - I only did a 800ml starter, though I'd use this as a good starter... lol

Any way after I brew my AG kolsch I'd liek to have a crack at the De Konick...

I 've heard that the Antwerp yeast is very clean and somewhat 'un Belgian'...
So maybe a kolsch type would suit it?

I've seen alsorts of recipes on other forums including grains like vienna and munich...
All I know for sure is that its about 25 IBU and 22-24 EBC in colour with saaz as the only hop...

Can anyone point me to a recipe that they've tried and will get me close?

Many thanks!

Guy

[steve_flack]

Kolsch would work but try and get hold of WLP515 Antwerp Ale which is a platinum strain available in Nov/Dec this year. It's the real thing apparently.

I've had a go at a brew but it turned out too much like a bitter. I think you'd do better to stick to biscuity malts rather than caramel - Vienna, biscuit that sort of thing.

[Manx Guy]

Hi,

Thanks!

I was thinking along the lines of :

Pale Ale malt 76%
Vienna Malt 20%
Aromatic Malt 2%
Carafa II 2%

The carafa is to bring the colour round to the right area, as I dont think British Crystal is right for this beer...

As for hopping I'm not sure whether to use just the one addition at 75/90 mins or go for a little addition at 15 mins...
I will use just Saaz in this beer the ones I have in are at 3.1% AA



Guy

[Swoonara]

You really need some Caramunich in there to get the dark maltiness. This was my recipe...

Lager Malt 48%
Vienna Malt 39%
Caramunich II 8%
CaraBelge 5%

Saaz 4.4% 90 mins 40 grams
Saaz 4.4% 30 mins 15 grams
Saaz 4.4% 15 mins 10 grams

Final Volume: 25 Litres
Original Gravity: 1.049
Final Gravity: 1.012
Alcohol Content: 4.8% ABV

Bitterness: 24 EBU
Colour: 26 EBC

Pilsener malt would be better and the wlp515 is pretty essential. The CaraBelge was just there out of curiosity and was a mistake, as mine ended up a bit too malty. Otherwise it was really rather good and improved a lot after a few months lagering.

[steve_flack]

As I mentioned above I think crystals makes it too much like a under hopped bitter. Maltiness isn't the same as sweetness. With crystals you add a lot of the latter. If you want maltiness you're looking at Vienna, Munich I and II or the aromatic/melanoidin malts.

[TheMumbler]

This is De Koninck type thing I brewed. The recipe discussion thread is here and there were some helpful pointers.

Remember that Belgian pale malt is pretty malty in character, it is something like double the ebc of maris, so you will want a decent chunk of vienna if you are using MO as your base. I wouldn't go with crystal personally.

I thought mine was a nice beer but I won't know how much it tastes like the real thing until I try some. lancssteve got me a bottle when he was ordering from beers of europe, so I can finally have a taste and also also see how it compares to the Palm I grabbed last time I was passing through Brussels airport.

[Manx Guy]

Hi guys!
Thanks for your comments some useful info there...

I'm hoping to use up what malts I have in stock, I happen to have some caramunch (from Munich Dunkel recipe that I never got round to doing)
So I'll have a play with Beer engine and see what I come up with.

Still toying with ordering the antwerp yeast from the malt miller (if he has any)

Guy

[steve_flack]

BrewUK have just started stocking the Whitelabs yeasts as well (they do Wyeast too).

I think it's worth using the Antwerp as it's a bit less crisp than a Kolsch yeast and not as clean. I liked it so much it's one of the strains I keep on a slant.

[Manx Guy]

Hi

Thanks for your assistance!

Good to hear from you 'themumbler', good to meet you at the NCB event the other week!

Here is what I went for (Brewday is Monday):

Pale/lager Malt 57.8%
Vienna 22.2%
Munich 11.1%
Caramunch 8%

Hops: Saaz at 90 15 and zero minutes for a toal of 26IBU(calculated)

WLP515 ordered from H&G! and should be in the fridge when I get home from work (SWMBO text & said ther is some muky yeast for you)

I've also made some adjustments to my hopstopper as it was more of a wort stoppper...

Deadspace is now ~2.5l form 4litres previously...

BREW DAY & UPDATES HERE : viewtopic.php?f=24&t=45861

Many thanks again !
Cheers
Guy

[Manx Guy]

I brewed this and the brew day is here:viewtopic.php?f=24&t=45861

Just waiting for the yeast to settle out before bottling...

Hopefully another few days at~15C should hep the yeast drop out so its clear enough for bottling

Anyone who has used 515 before got any suggestions?

Guy