What is a belgian dark strong?

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photogscott

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I'm going to do a Belgian DS roughly like a traditional commercial beer. These are a lot darker than the BJCP style guideline
Why is there such a huge difference between BJCP (22 srm) and commercial types (42 srm)
 
Mostly because real breweries don't compete in homebrew competitions. I've never seen a BDSA that was 42 SRM. Where are you getting that number?
 
Vital Statistics: OG: 1.075 – 1.110
IBUs: 20 – 35 FG: 1.010 – 1.024
SRM: 12 – 22 ABV: 8 – 11%
 
My numbers come from "Brew Like A Monk" the classics from Belgium such as Rochforte 10 are 40+ srm

Huh, that does seem odd. I've had a number of those beers and they don't seem to be as dark as listed. In fact I had Chimay blue very recently. I'd call it a dark amber yet in the book it's listed at 40 SRM. To me that should be black.
 
I wonder if it's a typo in the book and they meant 40 EBC? There's no way Rochefort 10 or Chimay Blue are 40 SRM, but 40 EBC (20.3 SRM) seems about right.
 
Well for the Blue it says 40 SRM/80 EBC. I agree something is off.

Edit: actually I just saw the author makes a note about color in the beginning of the book. He said beers were tested using EBC method and converted to SRM, then makes the note that Westvleteren 12 comes out at 79 EBC or 40 SRM but has a reddish hue. His summary is "As with so many aspects of brewing Trappist and abbey beers, it can be best to set aside preconceptions." Then he says to open one of the real beers to check for color if the one listed seems high.
 
JuanMoore said:
I wonder if it's a typo in the book and they meant 40 EBC? There's no way Rochefort 10 or Chimay Blue are 40 SRM, but 40 EBC (20.3 SRM) seems about right.

Don't think it's a typo because the book lists both numbers.
 
So it sounds like if I clone a Belgian DS I would enter it as a Belgian specialty due to the color. 40+ SRM should be pretty much jet black!
 
If you're going to clone a Belgian DS, I'd clone the actual color of the beer, not the numerical value that one particular reference gives it, and I'd enter it as a Belgian DS. Here's a picture of Westy 12 and a picture of the BJCP SRM chart. Sure looks closer to mid 20's SRM than 40 to me. :shrug:
Beer-of-the-Week-Westvleteren-XII.jpg

180px-SRM_color_chart.png
 
Yea, I'm guessing that's a typo/copy-paste error. BDSAs are not jet-black. I entered one in a competition that WAS that dark, and got marked way down for it.
 
If you are not brewing for a competition, I would not woory about the color, but the flavor. I did a BDSA that had 2 lbs of D-180 in it. It is very dark (brew software puts it at 32srm) but it is very tasty.
 
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