Skip to main content

In the Fermentor: A Dog Bit My Enkel, or how to have fun at a brewing party.

I was invited to my first brewing party a few weeks ago. A bunch of people would be brewing beers and I wanted to get in on the action. With only one brewing station setup, I knew the KISS method was important. With that in mind, I threw together this simple Belgian Abbey Enkel (Single) recipe. Enkels; usually seen in the US as an Abbey Blonde or 6, have a lower strength than their Dubbel, Tripel and Quad cousins. Mine is at the lower end of the Single strength scale, with a target ABV of 5.4%. Here's the recipe for a five gallon batch:

Grains:
6 lbs Pilsen Light LME (Liquid Malt Extract)
12 oz CaraVienne
4 oz Special B

Hops:
0.5 oz Sterling: 60 min
0.5 oz Saaz: 20 min
0.5 oz Saaz: 7 min

Yeast:
Safbrew T-58

Extras:
1 lb Clear Belgian Candy Sugar

Original Gravity:
1.052
Estimated Final Gravity:
1.011

Fermentation Schedule:
3 Weeks Primary
2 Weeks Bottle Conditioning

Cost: $15 per case
Rough Commercial Equivalent: Avery Karma: $29 per case
Savings: $14

It was a party, so there wasn't exactly careful monitoring going on. Grains were steeped at ~158F for about 30 minutes. The hops went in more or less on schedule during the 60 minute boil. Candy Sugar was added with 15 minutes-ish left.

I usually shy away from dry yeasts, but I'd read positive things about Safbrew T-58. Rumor has it that it comes from Chimay. Dry yeasts are easier to work with and less expensive (a recurring theme here) than liquid, so I grabbed a pack for the party and gave it a whirl. I was shocked at how quickly the yeast went to work. Within a few hours, the fermentation lock was bubbling rapidly. I was also shocked with how fast it was done doing its thing. After 48 hours, fermentation ground to a halt. I'd read that T-58 was a fast worker, but had low attenuation. I'll report back in a few weeks with gravity readings, tasting notes and a pretty picture.

To the astute reader, it probably looks like I have a love of both Belgian Beer and Belgian Candy Sugar. You would be correct. However, I promise that in the next "In the Fermentor" article, I will be brewing something completely different.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In the Fermentor: Flaming Pumpkin

I'll admit that I'm not a huge Pumpkin Beer fan. I didn't have one on my brewing calendar for this year and didn't have my sights set on one for next Fall either. Then my niece came along and threw down the gauntlet. She asked me to brew her a pumpkin beer and I accepted the challenge. I did a lot of reading to see how to best go about using pumpkin in beer. Some people mash it with the grains. Others add it to the brew kettle during the boil. Some add it to the primary or secondary fermentor. The consensus from professional brewers appears to be adding it to the mash, so I took the same approach. The pumpkin was cooked ahead of time by my girlfriend to soften it, convert some of the starch and help release some of its sugars. It then joined the grains in the mash. I really want the pumpkin pie effect here, so I've thrown in all of the requisite spices toward the end of the boil. I've also gone with just enough bitterness to balance the sweetness of the ...
4 comments
Read more

Birthday Brewing: Dark Session Saison

I've been asked to brew all of the beer for my friend's Birthday. It's in mid-August, so I have to get everything going right now . There will be five beers in all: Dunkelweiss, Wit, Saison, Dark Saison and Kölsch. Rather than post all of the recipes at once, I'm going to spread them out into separate posts. My Session Saison and SMaSH Kölsch were already underway before I was asked to brew the other beers. The Dark Saison below is an extension of the Session Saison. I've expanded the original recipe to make a darker beer. CaraMunich Malt adds a little caramel sweetness, while Carafa II brings a light dark chocolate edge to the brew. The rest of the beer is as it was before, with the same hops and yeast. Adding extra grains does push the alcohol content up a bit, but the beer still shouldn't break the 5% ABV mark. I'm anxious to try my two Saisons out side by side and taste the difference that two extra grains can make. For five gallons: Grai...
Post a Comment
Read more

Out of the Bottle: Insert clever use of the word Wit here

My latest Wit was a hit at my friend's birthday party. He especially liked the beer's citrus components. Others found it to be light and refreshing. I heard no Blue Moon comparisons, which actually made me quite happy. Compared to My Wit's End , this beer is much closer to style. Unmalted Wheat is part of the reason, as there's much less grainy sweetness at work. Instead, the beer is crisp and dry. The bitter orange peel really does its thing. The peel's sharp flavor melds nicely with the sweet orange peel I also used. Coriander pushes the beer's spicy character along. If I were to change anything, it would be to dial it back a notch or two. Some light sourdough aromas round out the flavor and aroma. Despite the relatively low ABV of right around 5.0%, the beer sports a fairly hefty body. Overall, I'm quite happy with this Wit. Next time, I'll hold back on the coriander. Maybe I will even take a shot at a Turbid Mash, which sounds like a great sub...
Post a Comment
Read more