Abbey Amber 11/04/12 + Pics & now with brett

[leedsbrew]

Well yesterday I managed to get the first brew day in since LB Jr arrived! I have had a re-culture of De Dolle yeast from lancsteve for ages so decided to go for something belgian!

Final Volume: 20 Litres
Original Gravity: 1.054 (although it came out at 1.060
Final Gravity: 1.010 (who knows with this yeast! )
Bitterness: 28 IBU
Colour: 8.4 SRM
Yeast: De Dolle re-cultured from Arabier
Mash Temp: t 64oC


Fermentables

German Pilsner Malt 40.0 %
UK Pale Ale Malt 24.0 %
German Abbey Malt 15.0 %
German CaraRed 8.0 %
UK Wheat Malt 4.0 %
Belgian Biscuit Malt 3.0 %
Sugar - inverted demorara 6.0 %


Hops

Czech Saaz - 3.0% - 30 g - First Wort Hopped
Styrian Goldings - 4.5% - 25 g - First Wort Hopped
Czech Saaz - 3.0% - 25 g - 15 Min From End
Styrian Goldings - 4.5% - 25 g - 5 Min From End


The grist. hoping for a big malt boost from the abbey malt


Temp controller working spot on! now I'm brewing out in the shed It's a lot easier to have more toys set up, cutting down on brew day time!


Mashing low for attenuation as per Brew like a monk advises!


1st runnings, lovely colour


2nd, a lot lighter!


Saaz and Styrian goldings! smelled lovely, and now that I have a vac packer I can re-vac them and bang them back in t freezer!


Had the little pump set up and going @ 15 mins to sterilise with the hot wort.


Sugar in @ 15 mins as well


Cooling took a little over 25 mins which isn't bad for the little SS coil I use! Must try and add some more length to it with some copper micro-bore!


OG sample and the De Dolle yeast. The smell from the starter was defiantly belgian! Unsure as to how this yeast will perform. In the starter bottle it went flipping mental and produced a krausen nearly to the top! No idea about how attenuative it will be, or even if it's just saccharomyces. De dolle used to use the Rodenbach yeast so there is a chance this has all sorts in it! Needless to say the starter bottle and FV are now my dedicated 'wild' kit just incase!


Temp adjusted came out at 1.060 and a mash efficiency of 90%. That's prob due to is being a 2hr mash as the little one didn't settle so I had to go and help Mrs LB! I considered liquoring back but thought better of it! I'll take what I'm dealt!


Re-circuating the copper resulted in very clear wort and virtually no break in the FV!


Filth




And a quick one of the brew shed! Much easier to be out of the house! Still got a bit of re-aranging to do and a sink to put in!

This morning it is fermenting away nicely at 20oC. I'm going to ramp it up a bit in a few days!

Cheers


LB

[phatboytall]

Looks like an awesome brew day! Do you have a beer in mind that you think it might come out close to? Reading that recipe i have no idea what it will be like!

Congrats on the little one too, mine turned up 5 week back, only managed to brew once since! The quicker he is old enough to be involved the better I say! haha

Ed

[leedsbrew]

Cheers matey! and congratulations! Our little lad was born on the 8th March and doing well, if not sleeping that much!

It was awesome, it was chilled out, relaxed with no probs! which was nice.

The beer is kind of inspired by Orval, but it's inspiration only. According to Brew like a Monk Orval used 3 types of base malt and 2 types of caramel malt. It has a sugar addition that is 16% of fermentables and uses styrian goldings and Hallertau.

I didn't want to do an exact Orval clone as belgian brewing is more about creating something of your own.

If you break down my recipe it uses 3 types of base malt, Pilsner, Pale ale and Abbey. I'm hoping the abbey malt will lend a boost to the malt profile. It's basically Weyermann's version of Belgian aromatic malt.

I went for carared and biscuit to add colour, fullness of malt profile and a bit of bread crust toastieness. The wheat malt is just to aid head retention.

I didn't want to use 16% sugar this time, I don't know why but it just seems like loads!

now as for the yeast, I do have a vial of the whitelabs WLP510 Bastogne which is the Orval yeast without brett. I decided against it as I REALLY wanted to have a go with this De Dolle yeast. They used to use the Rodenbach strain until Palm took over Rodenbach and put a stop to it. I dont know if this will come out sour or not so it's fingers crossed and see what happens!

All in all I think it will come out as a nice belgian ambree. When fermentation has finished i'm going to put 5L in a demijon and add some brett just for added interest!

cheers

LB

[FatGaz]

Good looking brew, and great looking brewshed!

Congrats on the little 'un - Hope he has good nights for you - I remember my 1st lad - he was a #**!*~!! at night for bloody ages!

[leedsbrew]

cheers fella! It'll be a propper man cave by the time i've finished!

He's not having the best of nights atm! we look a little zombified

[barney]

Looks a very nice recipe that LB, the sheds great as well. Good luck with the De Dolle!

Oh for a separate brewing area.

[floydmeddler]

Looks like a stunning brew dude. Nice OG reading too! Look forward to watching this one unfold.

[leedsbrew]

Cheers barney!

Well it's going like the clappers now!



smells lovely out of the airlock

[jimp2003]

Great brewday report as ever LB! Congrats to you and Mrs LB on the new arrival! - I thought you had been a bit quiet lately.

I saw Rob at Maltmiller the other day and he let me have a taster of the dark Belgian Syrup he sells now. It was lovely - all dates and fruits. Think I might have to try a Belgian brew soon and stop being intimidated by them...

Jim

[Lime Corridor]

this looks great, keep us updated. Cracking looking brew shed by the way. Are there only beer related items in there? It is just that my man area I have to compete with a bike, tools, lawnmower, chainsaws etc - I am not complaining, but well, you know...

Massive congratulations on the new arrival by the way. Sleep is totally overrated anyway. Seriously, it does get way easier and sleep depravation is a tiny part in the fantastic grand scheme of things.

LC

[barneey]

I spy a workmate.

Congrats regarding LB Jnr, people say it gets easier, then they start walking

[leedsbrew]

cheers chaps!


Floyd, yeah I was very happy with it all! It suprised me how efficient the mash was!

LC: yep 100% brew shed. all the garden stuff is else where!


Just taken an SG reading and the de dolle yeast has chomped through this all the way down to 1.012 in 66hrs! OMG that's fast! Proper brewery yeast at work!

Taste is still very yeasty but VERY belgian!

[leedsbrew]

airlock activity has all but finished. It's having a day or tow for a D-rest then will be chilled prior to bottling. Think I'm going to brett 10L and leave the rest as is!

[TheMumbler]

Is that yeast with or without bacteria? Some of the De Dolle beers are sour...

I am most jealous of your shed.

[leedsbrew]

I have no idea ben! It's from a split i got from Steve. Apparently he cultured it from bottles of arabier and dolle treve trippel. I've taken precautions to ensure no contamination if it is funky, but I'm not bothered either way! nice experiment!

I love my brewshed! small, yet perfectly formed!