My First Belgian Dark Strong - For Your Review

Hey everyone - could use your thoughts/advice/experience regarding my BDS recipe below. I am putting the dubbel on the backburner for late summer and getting this bad boy ready, with your valuable insight hopefully. Thanks in advance for any input you may have!

I call it:

"You just listen to the old Pork Chop Express here now and take his advice on a Dark and Stormy Night"

I got in the mood for brewing this while savoring a Rochefort 10 and watching one of my favorite Carpenter flicks. Just so happens that we're brewing this tomorrow night, and it's supposed to storm like hell.

Boil Size: 8 gals
Batch Size 6 gals
80 min boil
Estimated OG: 1.113
Estimated FG: 1.028
ABV: 11.15%
IBU: 25.7
SRM: 36.75

Wyeast 1762 for 3 days at 65F
Wyeast 3787 to bat cleanup - in carboy for 1 month until primed with 5oz cane, .75 oz turbinado solution in bottling bucket, added to 22 oz bottles with a couple 12 oz for bi-monthly testing. Plan on tasting at 2, 4, 6 mo. Save one for a year.

Fermentables:
10lb Castle Pils 2-row - 39.4%
6.45lb Rahr Pils 2-row - 25.4% - decided to up base, couldn't get more Castle in time.
1.5lb Special B 5.9%
1.25lb Caramunich II - 4.9%
1lb Unmalted Wheat - 3.9%
.5 Flaked Oats - 2.0%
.25 De-bittered black
.5lb D-45 Candi Syrup - 2% - 16 min boil
.75 D-90 Candi Syrup - 3% - 14 min boil
1 lb D-180 - 3.9% - 8 min boil
2.15 lb Clear Candi Syrup - 8.5%
1/2 tsp Wyeast Nutrient dissolved in 8 oz water - 10 min boil

Mash
1. 125F 25min rest
2. 135F 45min
3. 145F 80 min
4. 170F Fly Sparge
5. Batch sparge until reach desired clarity

Hops:
1 oz East Kent Goldings -55 min (4.8AA) 10.86 Total IBUs
1 oz El Dorado -12 min (15.3AA) 14.84 Total IBUs

I do not yet have enough experience to comment on your recipe, but love the Big Trouble reference for the name!

Maybe something like this as part of the label:
http://www.redbubble.com/people/superiorgraphix/works/2120175-pork-chop-express-jack-burton-trucking?p=sticker

My thoughts..

Your BU/GU ratio is too low. You could use some more hops to increase the ratio. The norm for a BDSA is .297, right now you are at .227.

Also, only a month before bottling is too short for a brew that big. I would recommend putting in a secondary for a couple more months before bottling. I very rarely secondary my brews but big Belgians like this will benefit from some extra aging before bottling. Then after bottling a few months before tasting is good. At the about 4 month time the flavor really starts to shine. It can continue to change for a long time. I have a few that are over 2 years old and are very good.

Sometimes for a beer that big I like to hold off on a lot of the sugar during the boil. Let the fermentation start and go for several days and then add some more sugar to the fermenter. You can even do a couple of feedings. Put some in the boil and then add a couple of additions several days apart.The theory on this is that the yeast will eat the more complex sugars first and then you feed them desert after that. Lot's of opinions on this but I find that it works well for me.

Good call on keeping the original ferment temp low for a few days. 1762 can really create fusels if allowed to get too hot too fast. The 3787 will handle higher temps after that. GIve it plenty of time to finish. 3787 can go fast for a while and take a long time to get the last few points of attenuation. That is why I recommended giving it a longer time in the secondary. If you bottle a beer like this too soon, you may be surprised by loud noises of exploding bottles.. Make good size starters for both yeasts.

botigol said:

I do not yet have enough experience to comment on your recipe, but love the Big Trouble reference for the name!

Maybe something like this as part of the label:
http://www.redbubble.com/people/superiorgraphix/works/2120175-pork-chop-express-jack-burton-trucking?p=sticker

Click to expand...

that's what I'm talking about!

beergolf said:

My thoughts..

Your BU/GU ratio is too low. You could use some more hops to increase the ratio. The norm for a BDSA is .297, right now you are at .227.

Also, only a month before bottling is too short for a brew that big. I would recommend putting in a secondary for a couple more months before bottling. I very rarely secondary my brews but big Belgians like this will benefit from some extra aging before bottling. Then after bottling a few months before tasting is good. At the about 4 month time the flavor really starts to shine. It can continue to change for a long time. I have a few that are over 2 years old and are very good.

Sometimes for a beer that big I like to hold off on a lot of the sugar during the boil. Let the fermentation start and go for several days and then add some more sugar to the fermenter. You can even do a couple of feedings. Put some in the boil and then add a couple of additions several days apart.The theory on this is that the yeast will eat the more complex sugars first and then you feed them desert after that. Lot's of opinions on this but I find that it works well for me.

Good call on keeping the original ferment temp low for a few days. 1762 can really create fusels if allowed to get too hot too fast. The 3787 will handle higher temps after that. GIve it plenty of time to finish. 3787 can go fast for a while and take a long time to get the last few points of attenuation. That is why I recommended giving it a longer time in the secondary. If you bottle a beer like this too soon, you may be surprised by loud noises of exploding bottles.. Make good size starters for both yeasts.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up on the IBUs and additional age time - I will def move to secondary for additional month+

Your beer, you do what you want, but:

- Why both wheat and Oats. I'd just have half pound of one of them and be done.

- Why the black? I'd just stick with the Special B and Caramunich.

- You will finish lower than 1.028 if the yeast can keep going. I think you really want to end up somewhere south of 1.015. I think you will do that with an alcohol tolerant yeast. Both those yeasts may crap out on you before the beer is finished.

- When adding a secondary yeast, it is difficult to get it to work when the abv is in the region of 12%. It could just die due to the alcohol.

- Make a big starter.

- I think I would dial it down a bit. Pushing above 12% tends to have it's own problems. Aim for something like 11% abv. Assume you can get the FG down to 1.010 (which you might with all that simple sugar and low mash temp .... which is how I like them), and then figure out a target OG. Something like 1.095.

- Get the temp high after the first few days to make sure the yeast dry it out.

Good luck!

Calder said:

Your beer, you do what you want, but:

- Why both wheat and Oats. I'd just have half pound of one of them and be done.

- Why the black? I'd just stick with the Special B and Caramunich.

- You will finish lower than 1.028 if the yeast can keep going. I think you really want to end up somewhere south of 1.015. I think you will do that with an alcohol tolerant yeast. Both those yeasts may crap out on you before the beer is finished.

- When adding a secondary yeast, it is difficult to get it to work when the abv is in the region of 12%. It could just die due to the alcohol.

- Make a big starter.

- I think I would dial it down a bit. Pushing above 12% tends to have it's own problems. Aim for something like 11% abv. Assume you can get the FG down to 1.010 (which you might with all that simple sugar and low mash temp .... which is how I like them), and then figure out a target OG. Something like 1.095.

- Get the temp high after the first few days to make sure the yeast dry it out.

Good luck!

Click to expand...

thanks! - I have found to get a bite from the unmalted wheat, while getting a silky mouthfeel from the oats - it's almost like an element of enjoying white wine or ginger ale obviously minus those flavors. Maybe it sounds crazy, but I've used them in the past 3 brews so I'm stickin with it!

someone mentioned using De-bittered and being curious - I couldn't resist using something I haven't used before and thought it might add further complexity to the usual dark fruits/toasy bittersweet chocolate.

I am worried about the yeast, but mostly because I've never used either before - I think with patience and time - what would you say to just putting them in there together? Or, would it just muddy it, cancel 1 out, and obviously each likes a little different temps to start . . .thoughts about that? ''

I will def get into the upper 70s with this one - like around 77/78.